Chelsea wants to know why she keeps receiving these cryptic text messages from 9099. The messages alternate between telling her new phantom services have been added to her account, and sending her an account PIN and security answer. We thought it was someone trying to gain access to her account, but the PIN and security answer aren’t hers, and the services never show up on her bill.
wireless
Congress Asks Wireless Carriers To Justify Text Message Rate Increases
By 9.10.08
The similar price increases, coming at similar times, Kohl said, “is hardly consistent with the vigorous price competition we hope to see in a competitive marketplace.”
Verizon: 'You've Earned A New Phone' (Just Not From Us)
By 8.26.08
Is this Verizon promotional email being over-enthusiastic with its subject line, or is it actually misleading? A phrase like “you’ve earned a new ___” doesn’t usually get followed up with, “Just pay us anywhere between $100-$200 for it,” unless it comes from a scam vacation offer. Or Verizon. As Bryan notes in his email to us, “The subject line must mean something like when you tell Verizon, ‘You’ve earned my suspicion and contempt.'”
Sprint Says It Lost Some Of Those 2.8 Million Customers On Purpose
By 8.8.08
By all accounts, Sprint has hit an iceberg and is leaking customers like the Titanic, but new CEO Dan Hesse says that they lost some of those customers on purpose because they were just crappy customers. As strange as this sounds, it does match up with what we’ve been hearing from (former) Sprint customers.
Sorry Telcos, Landlines Are Now A Luxury Expense
By 7.28.08
But in this first real slowdown of the wireless age, consumers seem to be saying that home-based telephones are expendable luxuries, like Starbucks lattes or Coach handbags. And it makes sense. Confronted with high inflation, soaring energy costs, and stagnant wages, millions of households are facing choices about which monthly bills to pay and which commitments to maintain. And if it comes down to one or the other, the mobile or the home-based land line, it’s clear which is a necessity and which is an option.
Buying An iPhone 3G Was Surprisingly Easy. Activating It Was Not.
By 7.11.08
As Consumerist’s resident Apple fanboy, I spent the last few hours standing outside an AT&T store waiting to buy the iPhone 3G, then waiting for it to activate in iTunes. Here’s what went down.
Want The New iPhone? Here's How To Escape Your Current Cellphone Contract ETF-Free
By 7.10.08
As the second coming of the Jesusphone 3G draws near, we wanted to remind customers of other wireless carriers that there are ways to escape your existing cellphone contract free of early termination fees, and trade your piddling Verizon, Sprint, or T-Mobile bills for hundreds of pages of gloriously itemized AT&T charges. Or just switch carriers.
EU Pushes For Per-Second Wireless Billing
By 3.17.08
Viviane Reding, the European Union’s Telecommunications Commissioner, is our new wireless hero. She’s demanding that wireless carriers in Europe begin billing on a per-second basis rather than per-minute, because “at the retail level, the difference between billed and actual minutes appears to be typically around 20 percent.”
By 2.1.08
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An AT&T spokesman says yesterday’s data network outages across the U.S. were the result of the cut undersea cable in the Mediterranean that’s caused Internet and phone disruptions across Northern Africa, India and the Middle East. The cable will take 12-15 days to fix, although AT&T’s U.S. network was back up by the end of the day yesterday. [The Seattle Times]
AT&T Data Outages Hit Midwest, AT&T Says Nothing
By 1.31.08
Rick in Chicago wrote to us this morning to let us know that he hasn’t been able to access AT&T’s 3G network all day. So far, AT&T has told him nothing, nor have they made an announcement: “text messaging still seems to work, so they could send out a text message to let people know ,” he IMs us. He got confirmation that it was the network and not his company-issued phone from his company’s tech department. This blog says it’s 3G and Edge, while this blog says its UMTS that’s down and disabling Treos and Blackberries.
Alltel Tells Father They Won't Waive ETF For Soldier Deployed To Iraq Unless He Is Deceased
By 1.26.08
Mark writes in,
My son recently was deployed to Iraq. His cell phone carrier is Alltel. Prior to leaving for Irag, he cancelled his cell phone coverage before the completion of his 2 year contract commitment. As his father, I telephoned Alltell, explained the situation and asked Alltel to have the $200 early termination fee waived. Alltel explained they only waive the $200 early termination fee if the party is DECEASED.
Seriously, that’s just messed up.
$180 In Overages Waived By Staying Calm, Asking For The Supervisor, And Smart Negotiating
By 1.25.08
Dave writes:
I just got a wireless bill from Cincinnati Bell with $180 worth of overages. Thanks to several of the articles I’ve read on your site, I felt confident that I would be able to get them waived. And I did. The one thing I did that I probably wouldn’t have done without your site was when the rep I was speaking with said that she “didn’t have the power” to grant my request (I wanted all of my overages waived if I upgraded my account), I didn’t lose my cool or get upset but calmly asked to talk to her supervisor. Her supervisor offered me what I wanted without ever having to ask! One hundred and eighty, thanks.
That’s the way to do it. If the customer service rep says they “don’t have the power,” then you just simply ask to be put in touch with someone who does. Remaining cool, calm and professional, you escalate to someone with decision-making powers. Also note his successful negotiation tactic…
AT&T May Limit Unlimited Data Plans To 5GB Per Month, Remove Text Messaging
By 1.14.08
IntoMobile writes that an “agent/employee discussion forum at HowardForums has revealed the possibility of new data plans for AT&T.”
Potential Solution To Rogers Wireless SMS Fee Hike
By 1.10.08
A reader tells us that on March 4, 2008, Rogers Wireless will increase the price of international text messaging to 25 cents per message, which he thinks might be another “get-out-of-contract-free” opportunity similar to what Verizon opened itself up to when it hiked its fees this month. However, according to the portion of the contract Andrew sent us, and based on what a commenter wrote on a previous post, we think what might happen instead is Rogers Wireless will simply let you continue under the terms of your old contract if you call up and insist. It’s worth a shot—post how it turns out if you try it.
Items Affected By The Cellular Analog Network Shutdown
By 12.27.07
“In particular, check phones that are kept around as 911-only phones. Such phones, which don’t have a phone number and aren’t initialized with a carrier, were given out by some donation programs that collected old phones.” Less than 1% of cell phones currently in use are analog, but the article points out that that still counts for over a million devices. Anything less than 5 years old or that can text message isn’t analog.
Verizon To Open Its Network To Any Compatible Device
By 11.27.07
Verzon Wireless announced today that it will be opening its network to any compatible device. Verizon uses the CDMA network, a technology it shares with Sprint. According to Verizon Wireless Chief Executive Lowell McAdam, Sprint phones could work on Verizon’s network “if they pass Verizon’s testing procedure.” Sadly, GSM phones used by AT&T and T-Mobile, including the iPhone, can not work on Verizon’s network.
Lots Of Retailers Don't Use Proper Wireless Security
By 11.16.07
The recently reported TJ Maxx security breach—where data on 94 million credit card accounts was stolen in 2003, 2004, and 2006—has ended up costing the company $200 million and counting. But although it’s the biggest example so far of retail data theft, TJ Maxx isn’t the only retailer doing a poor job of keeping sensitive data protected from hackers. One wireless security vendor recently surveyed thousands of stores and discovered that a significant number of retailers don’t practice good wireless security:
By 10.24.07
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Microsoft has said it will not participate in the upcoming wireless spectrum auction, because it wouldn’t help their business model, which is to create and sell software to handset makers. [Reuters]
