Cell Phone Minutes Poll

[Trip]

My husband got the cell phone bill, and announced I must be the winner, in the lowest cell phone minutes contest..I said, if it's a cruise,enter my name! I used all of 11 minutes last month....<VBG>

[Fern]

Since we got our new cell phones in early February I've used (TA DA) 14 minutes! (DH has used slightly more.) We have 1,641 "rollover" minutes. Anyone want to borrow my phone? I think I win!

I WIN, last month I used 8 minutes!!!! However my bill came to a grand total of $3608.58. I recieved a call from the fraud division of my provider, about 2 weeks ago, my cell phone # had been copied & used roaming in Mexico. ...glad they called, I would have had a massive heart attack.

jp

[SUSAN CURTIS]

I know about those cell phone heart attacks. I paid my bill on line thru my bank but neglected to add the decimal point. so instead of sending them a check for $37.52 my bank sent them a check from my account for $3,752.00. It took me almost 6 weeks of fighting like hell to get the Phone company to return my money. At one point they even called to tell me they had credited my account $3752 incorrectly and were going to make the adjustment. I told them it was not incorrect I had a copy of the cancelled check for $3752. that my bank sent them in my little hot hand.

[Lombard]

I have a "prepaid" cell phone and it has taken me a year Plus to get through $20 of my $30 credit on the phone.

Some months I never even use the cell phone.
I have only 2 bars when downstairs in my house. The only place in my house that gets good reception is my daugter's bedroom, upstairs facing the northeast.
We have a huge shortage of cell towers, very poor service. Also, because we have no towers and are so close to Canada it is very easy to all of a sudden be switched to roaming, because you've all of a sudden gotten service from a Canadian Cell. Many places have no service whatsoever. This is a real problem, because those are the places if you break down that you really need your cell.

We still live in the semi-dark ages here in some aspects. It can get discouraging.

VTJen

[MichelleP]

I only have mine for emergencies and almost never use it. I hate the reception it gets. I'll use it every once in a while to let Mark know I'm on my way home, but other than that, almost never.

Mark, however, is the cell phone king. I don't know what he has to talk about but he used 335 minutes last billing period.

Cheers,
Michelle P.

[Dorothy]

I can't enter *this* contest - we have gone completely wireless with no land line! We each have a cell phone and a nice little family plan. I don't even want to TELL you about our monthly minutes. I didn't realize how much I talked on the phone until I actually *saw* the minutes each month.....

dorothy

[HaleyC]

I'm with Dorothy on this one. Luckily the person I talk to most is my DH and we talk free. I think we use around 1500 minutes monthly between the two of us though. ( not including calls to other sprint customers)

You folks must not be sharing the family minutes that I share with my two college daughters! It is ridiculous how much they talk to folks. Even though 1 minute calls add up. We share 800 minutes between the three of us and I don't think there has been a month that they haven't gone over. They also have text messaging AND can call me and each other for free (well, we share 1000 between us calls). My mother in law had no minutes on her last phone bill because she has Free Verizon In Calling and the only person she calls is me! I can't wait until December when we can change cell phone plans. My husband thinks you have to wait until your contract runs out to change plans. My understanding is that you don't, but you re-up your contract when you change plans to get more minutes, etc.........He thinks it will invalidate our "new every two" plan with Verizon......oh well, they will soon be home from college and the calling will stop.......no it will get worse because they won't be with all those people they call all the time!!!! OH NO!!

[Angela Z.]

We're somewhere in the 1500+ minutes a month between our 4 phones.
Dorothy, I haven't been brave enough to give up the land line at the house but sometimes I feel like we might as well. I think my brother has done that.
Angela Z.

[UConn1]

I also only used 14 minutes last month - I mainly use the direct connect (Nextel) which is free.

I changed my 500 min per month package to a 200 min per month package and now pay $45 less per month.

It pays to track you usage to see if you are paying for more than you need.

Jodi

Since retirement no use for cell phones. So thats extra $$$ that goes into the "cruise fund"

Jen, I totally understand where you are coming from! Can't give up my landline. We have to go across the driveway to get "out" here. We have terrible TV reception & have a dish to get any service (poor cable available here) I have cows for neighbors but they do not party late 7 keep me awake! No shootings & very little crime in our rural area, so I can deal with poor cell reception. I really hate talking on phones anyway.

jp

VTJen--

You have two bars downstairs in your house? Wow. How many upstairs? You must be able to mix a drink at a moment's notice!