One of the big complaints many people have always had with cell-phone providers over the years is that they like to charge on both ends, meaning they charge you for outgoing and incoming calls. Now we know not all providers do this because some do offer free incoming calls, but a majority of the providers out there, at least the ones we know of, still do this. The practice of charging on both ends also transfered to SMS messages once that became an option which leaves people forced to pay for incoming SMS messages that they have absolutely no control over. For someone who doesn’t have an SMS plan and gets charged for each message received, this can get pretty frustrating. Is it fair for cell phone companies to be able to charge consumers for something that they have no control over?
People in Mississippi don’t think its fair and they’re doing something about it. In a class-action lawsuit naming AT&T, Sprint, Verizon, Alltel, US Cellular, Cellular South, and Virgin Mobile, they say that carriers are unfairly charging customers for received text messages when they don’t provide the option to turn text messaging off. As part of the lawsuit, they say that people should be ‘entitled to relief from the unauthorized charges, wrongful collection, and unjust enrichment.”
So do these people have a chance at winning this lawsuit? We think they just might. Carriers should either offer the option to turn off text messages (without disabling other data features) or charge customers only for the messages they send out. With incoming phone calls, at least the subscriber has the choice of whether or not to answer the phone call. With text messaging, there is no option…
Source: Engadget
This has been an issue with myself too. Back home in the Philippines, text messaging is almost free. Apparently, a new network provider (new back in 2003, but they’re the newest so far) released some research that text messaging doesn’t cost anywhere near what other providers charge for (1 PHP = $0.02) and should be free. So they offered free text messaging and free calls for $5 a month. Currently, all network providers back home offers free calls, free texts, free 3G video calls, free MMS, well, free everything for as low as $5 to $10. Here in the US, since texting is relatively new, network providers are still trying to squeeze every cent out of their subscribers while they can with incoming call/text message fees.
You have to pay to receive calls over there? And to receive texts? Wow, and I thought you guys were ahead of us in the mobile phone world! No provider in the UK charges for incoming calls, no matter where they’re from, and you’ll only be charged for an incoming text if it’s from outside the country, if at all. That seems totally ridiculous – similar to broadband companies charging providers for people downloading their content as opposed to upload – then again I now see why net neutrality doesn’t seem like a logical choice for your politicians.
Inferno_str1ke, I don’t think you even have to pay to receive them whilst abroad. They do it so you only pay if you have control, which seems like the US phone companies don’t do hence the lawsuit.
What !?????????
Paying for incoming messeges !?
I live in Portugal, and like most euro contries, sms receiving is free and i don’t see any future for it if some crazy manager get that ideia. Simply that would put sms away.
There are some pre-paid subscriptions that allow hundreds of “free” network-to-network sms’s a month.
What i don’t like it’s usual commercial SMS sent by mobile operators. I once complained to one for that fact saying that i didn’t allowed anything like that. Ringtones, wallpapers anda other sh*ts like that … as well as commercial shows and events … They have to pay me for receiving that crap
In the name of unfettered capitalism the US has allowed private companies to dictate the rules for almost all facets of American life. So we have insurance companies setting the standards for healthcare, drug companies deciding which medicines make it to market, airlines basically calling the shots on air safety, and telephone companies imposing an expensive wireless system that lags behind most third world countries.
Wow, I had no clue that elsewhere, people aren’t charged for incoming calls or incoming text messages. Go figure…
I actually had a problem with that where I was getting spammed with text messages, and my provider wouldn’t block text messages unless I turned off my voicemail as well. That’s pretty crazy if you ask me, and so I would love to get free incoming text messages.
W-O-W, how greedy American telcos are, no wonder the penetration rate of mobile phones in the USA is far lower than in Europe.
I feel sorry for you guys, really. I would go crazy if I was charged for every incoming message or call.
AT&T Use to have free unlimited incoming text messages, before they were bought out by Cingular and then bought back.
Just a correction: AT&T did not buy “back” Cingular. After Cingular bought ATT Wireless company (which was already spun off of AT&T, it was a standalone company not part of AT&T), Cingular changed their name to “at&t”, all lower case. AT&T Wireless is gone, and their plans, and their practices. at&t is the new name for Cingular.
Interesting, I didn’t realize the history behind the two companies. I do believe though, that AT&T can be properly used (not just at&t). If you visit their website, they tend to use both. Their logo is the lower case letters while in other places on the site, they use the all caps.
I am having hard time with T-Mobile (not mentioned in this law suit) text messaging. I am receiving over 100 spam messages every month which is costing over $15 a month on my phone bill. I requested change of number hoping that will save me from spam, but they say its violation of contract and they’ll charge an early termination. WT*…!!
What they should do is have some way to block certain phone numbers, and the user should be able to manage them on the account website.
i get charged by sprint for texting and i have a flipping AIRCARD! ther ARE NO KEYPADS ON AN AIRCARD!I told them to turn it off, they said okay i just got my bill, another 20 cents for a text i never ssent and i never got.
And I thought my boyfriend who moved from Greece and now resides in US was crazy. We argued over a phone bill which amounted to over USD 5000 [a month bill] He said that the calls he received from me which accumulated over the course of a month has caused the skyrocketed bill and I thought what a ridiculous reason he had come up with. LOL. Thank God we are still together.