AT&T has settled a class action suit by providing codes that unlock any phones that were bound to AT&T. That includes any phones but that pesky iPhone, which is bound by an exclusivity agreement that lasts til 2012 but may or may not have already been renegotiated. [More]
cell phones
Man Gets Verizon To Forgive $18K Phone Bill After Four Years
By 5.18.10
Don’t let your child run off with your cell phone. Not unless you want to risk the chance of the whippersnapper racking up $18,000 in charges and having to tangle with the service provider for the length of a presidential term in order to get it overturned. [More]
Verizon Rep Tells Me To Quit After Company Bungles Order
By 5.17.10
Brad wanted three Droid Incredibles as soon as possible, so he headed into a Verizon store and signed up for service. He says the place took his $600 but was out of stock, but Verizon insisted it could overnight the phones to him. Several overnights came and went Droid Incredible-free, and Brad called in to find out the phones were delayed because they were on backorder. [More]
FCC May Require Text Warnings Before You Get "Bill Shock"
By 5.12.10
The FCC is considering requiring cell carriers in the U.S. to do something their European counterparts already have to do: send customers text warnings when they’re about to incur massive charges because they’ve used up all their included minutes or are about to hit a roaming zone. [More]
Verizon, My New Smartphone Has An Incredible Amount Of Bloatware
By 5.5.10
Timothy copied Consumerist on his EECB to Verizon. While he likes his new HTC Droid Incredible a lot, he’s deeply disappointed in how many applications the phone shipped to him with. “Effectively, we are paying you for the privilege of having to repeatedly be harassed by your adware,” he writes. Do you agree, or is Timothy overreacting? [More]
T-Mobile Slapped Me With $800 ETF Even Though I Wasn't Under Contract
By 4.21.10
Jenny signed her family up for non-contract T-Mobile plans, only to have the provider stick her with an $800 early termination fee when she tried to move to AT&T. [More]
T-Mobile Wants Me To Pay $6K For Charges On Stolen Phone
By 4.20.10
Stephanie says a pickpocket swiped her cell phone a year ago and stuck her with a $6,200 bill, thanks mainly to calls to the Ivory Coast, the country so clean it was named after two types of soap. [More]
5 Ways To Save Money On Your Cell Phone Bill
By 4.2.10
Taryn from BillShrink writes in with some helpful tips that can cut your cellular costs: [More]
T-Mobile CSR Politely Asks For My Sprint Password
By 3.30.10
Wilson is switching from Sprint to T-Mobile and fielded an unusual, off-putting request from a T-Mobile CSR: “Please provide your password.” Wilson refused and wonders aloud whether or not it’s kosher to make such an indecent proposal. [More]
AT&T Wireless Directs Salt Lake City 911 Calls To Seattle
By 3.27.10
For some reason that no one has been able to figure out yet, on Thursday night, all 911 calls that AT&T Wireless customers in the Salt Lake City, Utah made area ended up routed to dispatchers in Seattle. [More]
Sprint Tricked Me Into Renewing, Then Hiked Bill 30 Percent
By 3.17.10
Larry says Sprint snookered him into a sucker bet, fleecing him into re-upping his contract, not making him aware that his bill would skyrocket. [More]
Sony Finally Realizes iPhone Exists, Decides To Make PSP Phone
By 3.8.10
With its finger on the pulse of the industry, eagle-eyed Sony developers have uncovered secret knowledge that Apple has released a device that lets you talk on the phone, listen to music and download video games. And as a result, it has decided to give one of its next redesigned PSPs the ability to call, text and email, the Wall Street Journal reports. [More]
AT&T Offers Me $.08 Service Credit For My iPhone Downtime
By 2.25.10
Consumerist reader Aaron wrote in to share his experience of attempting to get a service credit from AT&T Wireless after experience a data outage on his iPhone. On one hand, he was successful in getting some money back. On the other hand, he probably spent more money getting the credit than he received. [More]
Verizon Not Charging Soldiers For Mobile Calls From Haiti To U.S.
By 2.20.10
Verizon Wireless now says that the astronomical bills some customers received after making cell phone calls from Haiti shortly after the catastrophic earthquake there last month were due to a computer glitch. According to the Fayetteville Observer, mobile calls placed in Haiti showed up in their system as being placed in Jamaica. Calls from Haiti to the United States should have been free all along, and Spc. James Crawford does not owe Verizon almost $2,000 for phone calls he placed to his pregnant wife back in North Carolina. [More]
AT&T Stuck My Girlfriend With A Data Plan She Didn't Want
By 2.16.10
David says he lent his girlfriend an old smart phone, then AT&T forced her into a data plan for which she had no desire. A story on Endgadget proves he is not alone. [More]
HTC Says They're Shipping My New Nexus One: I Don't Believe Them Anymore
By 2.4.10
The launch and early customer support of the Google’s Nexus One phone, manufactured by HTC, has been a bit problematic. But let’s try some optimism! Maybe now that the early hype has died down and HTC has had some time to get used to the situation, warranty replacements will take place in a timely fashion! Or…well, as reader Michael writes, evidently not. Update: Thanks to this post, Michael’s new phone is on its way. [More]
Analyst Predicts Verizon Will Break AT&T's iPhone Monopoly In June
By 1.21.10
Canaccord Adams analyst Peter Misek roused the hopes of Verizonites everywhere by predicting Apple will sic its upcoming iPhone 4G on the cell phone company’s customers come June, Tech Trader Daily reports. [More]
Lack Of Google/HTC Customer Service Is Problematic
By 1.20.10
The Google/HTC Nexus One has been out for two weeks now, but the poor customer service vortex has sucked in many Consumerist readers, devouring their access to a functional phone, as well as their 14-day grace periods for returns. [More]
