First off, let me explain that ALL wireless phone companies charge you for state and federal taxes on your regular phone bill. Assuming that you're only expected to pay $39.95 and not a penny more would be like me going to the doctor for an annual check up and assuming that the bill would be the same as it was the year before. I should ask too if you do the same thing with your home phone bill, or your car payment.

After you start to owe a certain amount, your phone service is shut off. This problem is compacted by the fact that if you make a late payment or under payment you may be subject to additional fees (as stated in your contract). Being a Cingular customer myself, I've read the documents. Now, had you actually opened your bill you might have noticed the taxes that need to be paid. For example there is a 9-1-1 tax that pays the government to keep 9-1-1 services operational. Obviously 9-1-1 operators don't volunteer their time, so somehow the government who pays them has to find a way of paying for the work they do, so for every phone line there's a tax. There are many other taxes too, most of which get spent paying salaries in Sacramento to people who find more creative ways of taxing you for living here.

I feel sorry for you, but if you haven't looked at your bills until now, I can only suggest you switch to another carrier that promises you the moon and can deliver on it. I do not work for ANY phone carrier, nor do I have any vested interest in your case, I am just suggesting that you do like the rest of us and look at you bill from now on. At least when you do that, you can call and question your wireless carrier and ask them about the additional charges. Personally though the only carrier I've ever had problems with is Sprint. (They shut off my phone when I owed $0.93, I needed to call for a tow truck and I was broken down about 50 miles east of Park City, UT [My truck would not start]. It was winter [about 20 degrees outside] at the time and I spent the night in my truck. The road was closed all night and was finally helped at 11am the next day.) .... Luckily I regained feeling in my extremities!

Regardless of whether or not your phone was shut off for owing $0.93,  the 9-1-1 services you spoke of are still operational even when your service is "disconnected" for non payment. You might have tried dialing 9-1-1 from your cellular. Betcha woulda worked.....

In regard to looking at the bill each and every month you get one, I couldn't agree more. Anyone who belives there will never be an error say....7 months ago...that will cost that person hundreds today...is living a pipe dream.

As far as that goes what about those stinkin credit card companies..we applied for one and never used it...they kept sending us a bill we kept tossin it in the trash..never looked at it because we figured nothing spent nothing owed..then one day one of their lawyers called..he was very nasty at first because he was just taking the bill and their report at face value.

We finally had him pull up the history and believe it or not he agreed we owed nothing..he said he woud rectify it and if anything changed he would get back to us. That was a month ago so we are still waiting..still no bill and no phone call so Im hopin we are in the clear.

They should make a law when these companys hound innocent people and destroy their credit and it turns out to be a false hood on their part..they should pay us the money they say we owe them as a penalty for screwing up.It might make them start double checking their files

 

Thanks for the comments. I didn't mention that I could usually log into cingular.com and see my bills in great detail. Expecting (not assuming) the paper bills to match the online versions, I usually don't open them. My apologies for not being clear.

I asked our intelligent Bakersfield audience to give some free advice and ideas on what I should put onto the proposed agreement, but nobody has so far. Here is the "new & improved" agreement containing what I think is important to me.

Anyone else wanting to stand up for their rights should be advised that what I've done may not be applicable in your case. Especially now that on the new phone bills is this notice:

NOTICE OF DISPUTE RESOLUTION AGREEMENT IN CONTRACT

We are pleased to advise you that Cingular has revised the ARBITRATION CLAUSE in our standard Wireless Seervice Agreement to make it even better for consumers. The revised arbitration clause can be found at www.cingular.com/disputeresolution. This revision is effective immediately.

I'm no lawyer and don't play one on TV, so I can't give any legal advice. BUT, when I finish posting this I'm going to google and learn which is better for consumers:

A.) The Right To Enter Small Claims Court, or

B.) Mandatory Arbitration Agreements

Anyone wishing to offer some additional info about the new agreement is encouraged to do so promptly. Thanks everyone.

ckbsox, 9-1-1 doesn't respond unless it is an emergency. Had my truck been on fire like I wanted it to be, they might have shown up. Unfortunately, they won't show up if it's just engine trouble.

DoctorMason,  So you're telling me that you looked at your bill online? But when somebody says, "Normally I save them unopened in a pile, since my bill is supposed to only be $39.95/mo." it usually indicates they assumed the bill was $39.95 and no more. It also indicates that you do not regularly look at your bill. If I were Cingular's attorney I could easily win this case, plus get my fees for a wrongful lawsuit.

Your first mistake was not reading your bill. Your second and most costly mistake was posting your dispute online. Obviously you did not understand the agreement you signed (paying applicable taxes, late/underpayment fees, etc.) and assumed that your bill was exactly $39.95/mo. You said you had seen your online bill which you supposedly learned was different from your printed bill, but they both reflect the same database that has your billing information.

I would be willing to bet my car that both were the same (at least within a few cents of one another.)

“There are many other taxes too, most of which get spent paying salaries in Sacramento to people who find more creative ways of taxing you for living here.”   “Regardless of whether or not your phone was shut off for owing $0.93, the 9-1-1 services you spoke of are still operational even when your service is "disconnected" for non payment. You might have tried dialing 9-1-1 from your cellular. Betcha woulda worked...”   After reading the above, I powered up my phone, dialed 9-1-1 and it rang! I immediately hung up, so can’t say if I reached a local service or something national.   “Personally though, the only carrier I've ever had problems with is Sprint; They shut off my phone when I owed $0.93.”    I’m sure there was more to it than that. We all know people who’ve told the phone company “Say listen, Here’s my $45.75. I’m short $0.93 this month but promise to pay it on the next bill.” Your “credit” with the phone company is at least whatever amount they expect you to pay monthly, so shutting you off for such a small amount doesn’t seem legit, especially if they then charged you the $36 “restoration” fees. You can read several credit related articles on my site, and maybe some of them will assist you in the future.   And, where Anonymous commented, “We finally had him pull up the history and believe it or not he agreed we owed nothing... He said he would rectify it and if anything changed he would get back to us. That was a month ago so we are still waiting... still no bill and no phone call so I’m hoping we are in the clear.” Click on some of the credit report ads on my site, and you’ll be able to learn the truth, whole truth, and nothing but the truth.   Don’t know if any of you are aware of this, but if you want to do the same, you can contact this firm for assistance.

murphyslaw, My engine would not run at all so that'd be 100% out, what does "20% out" mean? And no it's NOT an emergency, I was not in fear of my life, I was damn cold, but I had a 30 degree sleeping bag (a sleeping bag that was could keep a person warm down to a temperature of 30 degrees). California law does not apply in Utah either smart guy. Even if it could be considered an "emergency" nothing could've been done. Most roads in the area were closed due to heavy snowfall, and weren't opened till morning. True, if I had cut an artery they would've gotten a snow plow in front of the firetruck, but I don't think they'd risk it because my fingers and toes were cold.

If I were to use your logic, we would have the KCFD running down to the grapevine every time it closed due to the weather (And no they don't, I've gotten stuck there too before. And there were people who ran out of gas.). The fact is that people get stuck in the snow, and they get cold, but they don't die in one night as long as they stay in their car (running or not). You've obviously spent a majority of your adult life in this area of California, because people in colder climates are used to this sort of thing. That's why people in cold climates take blankets with them on long trips, along with water and snacks... just in case.

DoctorMason, I know 9-1-1 would have worked. As for why I owed the $0.93 and my phone was shut off was because I was unable to make the payment before that (I was out of the country). I can't remember the exact amount I owed when I paid it, but we'll say it was $234.46 (for the month I owed and the next month). I paid $250 (at one of those ATM-like machines) and left for Denver later that day. (That's when I had the engine trouble.)  (KEEP IN MIND THIS WAS 2001, not 2006 and we had different laws at the time, not to mention that if you had nation-wide coverage you paid more than those who had "regional" coverage. My regular bill was about $100/mo give or take $20. Also I was on a pay-before plan, where you paid for the month before you used it, but it wasn't a "pre-paid" where you buy phone cards. I'm talking about the days when you paid extra for roaming and long distance if it was to a landline, or another cellular company.)

I later found out that my phone was programmed to shut off because I owed so much and missed my last payment, but I had paid the bills for both months. I was charged a reconnect fee (I don't now how much, but for math's sake we'll say $36.50), so with the reconnect fee and my over payment I still owed $0.93. They would not turn my phone back on until I paid the full amount. When I made it back to Salt Lake City and got my truck fixed, I paid the extra dollar and had my phone turned back on later that day. I didn't cry, bitch or moan, because I was charged a reconnect fee. I paid it and was done.

Yes DoctorMason, I've heard about the mafia having their phones tapped (when they aren't even using it). I've known about doing the same thing for a few years. And I've been doing it using bluetooth since 2004. Perhaps you don't know why my handle is what it is... let me tell you I'm a ham radio operator, which should tell you I have a lot of knowledge when it comes to radios and electronics (a wireless phone is a radio too, actually the new ones are 3 radios, and sometimes 4 or more all built into one small device). I also am I linux user/developer, which lets you know I can hack (grey hat). I understand you're trying to promote your advertisers, but trying to link me to a site in the UK has little to with hardware here. Since the largest networks (Verizon/Sprint/Nextel) in the states use CDMA, where in Europe they only use GSM (in the US: T-Mobile/Cingular).

Hey Skyler,

Only other Ham I've met is George, KG6KGH and woody, his dummy. I do CW @ 10wpm, learned back when I used to SWL. I wanted to teach CW to a relative and stroke victim who can hardly communicate verbally or move around. While a CW keyer on the finger or toes may help, they'd need someone who could read them. Being thousand of miles away, I'd be of little help.  I think CW could help similar victims but believe this to be an impractical idea since so few know CW.

--...  ...--  -...-  ..  .-  --  .--.  .-.  ---  -...  .-  -...  .-..  -.--  -  ....  .  .--  ---  .-.  .-..  -..  ...  -.--  ---  ..-  -.  --.  . ... -  -.-.  .--  ---  .--.  .  .-.  .-  -  ---  .-.  .-.-.-

.... .. .... .. -- --- ... -  .- -- ..-  ... .. -. --.  -... .-..  --- --.  .  -.  -  .-.  -.--  .  ...-  .  .-.

Attention everyone! I know nothing about these coded messages.

-.. .. -..   -.-- --- ..-   .... . .- .-.   .- -... --- ..- -   -- --- .-. ... .   -... . .. -. --.   .-. . -- --- ...- . -..   -.-. --- -- .--. .-.. . - . .-.. -.--   ..-. .-. --- --   - .... .   - . ... - ...   - .... .- -. -.- ...   - ---   -. -.-. ..   .- -.- .-   -. ---   -.-. --- -.. .   .. -. - . .-. -. .- - .. --- -. .- .-..

Here's the story according to the ARRL

Yeah, they've been kicking that around for a while.  I was on the traditionalist's side of the issue, though I have to confess that my own opinion was affected by the fact that I had to pass Code to get my General and Extra.  That's not really the strongest argument, for sure.

I'd hate to see CW go the way of the dinosaur.  It's just plain fun.

 

If stroke victims could learn to communicate using CW, I could chat with a few relatives of mine.

I think it depends on the area of the stroke.  Some take out speech, others take out language.

OK..I give..what is CW?  And what was all the code about?  I'm totally lost on this one.

CW stands for "carrier wave" -- and it's what we amateur radio operators use if we want to communicate in Morse Code.

 

Ahhh...now if you'd said morse code I would have known.    Sorry..I'm haveing an irreverant moment here.  As soon as I saw that a scene from "The Villain" flashed into my mind of Mel Tillis sending a telegraph message from the train station.  Funny scene.

Amateur radio operators talking to fellow hams...  Apologies for the insider jargon that was lost on the non-radio amateur.  :-)

Quoting Rodney King "Can't we all just get along?"