Old Work Tips

One of the blogs that I read... recently had an issue with an excessively high cell phone bill... and because that is what I use to do, here are a couple of tips to help in that area.

1. Always... always check minute usage during the month! If you see that you are going to be going over... have your plan changed to the next highest plan and have them BACKDATE it. Yes... your bill will go up, usually by $20, but it's better than paying a lot of money in overages.

2. If you have a texter in your family, go to unlimited texting. Also, be sure to be aware of "Premium Text" rates... like voting on American Idol...those do cost extra... or the cute little ads on MTV that advertise getting a ring tone by texting to "whatever 6 digit # they have" and it ends up costing you $9.99 per month! You can add a premium text block at no charge. Also... if you have a kid that chats on AOL IM via their cell phone... it adds up! All those little 1 word answers are still messages!

3. When we had kids at home... we made a rule that at least once a week, we got to check your phone for downloads... and you can also add a download block on a particular line. No surprises that way... and if they want to get a game... that it's either subscription (you pay like $3.99 per month) or purchase... (You pay $7.99 and own it for the life of the phone.) Big difference if it's something that they play and use... I own my chuzzle game on my phone... and when I upgrade, I will have to repurchase it... so worth the $7.99 I paid, because I play it all the time.

4. If you do have to do a "backdate" on your cell plan... it should NOT extend your contract, but you may have to stay at the higher rate for 3 months. Then you can have them future date the plan change to the lower rate to start on the next bill cycle date and go to the lower rate.

Those are the basics... if you find that you have an excessively higher bill than normal... something that is not in character with your normal bill... ask them to do a one-time courtesy rework. If you get someone on the phone that does not seem to want to help you... ask nicely to speak to a supervisor. Always remember... that even though you are upset... be nice and don't yell or swear or cuss... I found that the more tenured I became, the easier it was to find workable solutions... you won't always be able to do reworks... but sometimes you can negotiate some of the overages down by adding blocks and asking nicely to speak to a supervisor.

If you did happen to get me... I would do my best to help you with your bill... and find a solution to help you, even if it was just a little bit!

That's all for today! Thanks for reading... be blessed!

~Suzanne