F.C.C. Weighs Plan to Warn of High Cell Phone Bill
The FCC warned this month that they are seeking some public comments on a plan which would mandate that cell phone carriers notify their customers when they’re running up abnormally high charges for their:
• Data usage
• Roaming
• Other uses beyond what is covered under their regular monthly plan fees
The initiative was outlined by the FCC through the Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau. The plan is intended to help the consumer avoid something that has been coined by the commission as “bill shock”.
The commission has been prompted by the hundreds of complaints that they’ve received from consumers about their receiving of bills with many unexpected charges, with these charges sometimes even amounting to hundreds of dollars. The charges often stem from the customers misunderstanding of the contract terms.
The FCC states that it is an avoidable problem and it’s really hard to disagree with that at all. Avoiding “bill shock” is something that is very good for the consumer and in the end a very good business move for the wireless carriers too. Not only will they be keeping their customers happy but they’ll be keeping their customers period.
European wireless carriers are actually required by law to send their customers a text message when the customer is running up roaming charges or are getting close to going over their limit for data usage. The FCC is issuing a Public Notice to see if there’s actually any reason why the American carriers can’t do something similar as the European automatic text messages to inform their consumers when they’re getting to the threat of having a very large bill.
In order to get more information on the “bill shock” initiative and to find more instructions on how to publicly file your comment can be found on the FCC website.
Related posts:
- FCC Investigating Wireless Industry Billing Practices and Announces Proposal to Prevent Bill Shock
- How to Lower your Cell Phone Bill
- New FCC Rules Prevent Surprise Cell Phone Bills
- FCC To Help Consumers by Fighting Phone Fees
- More Forceful FCC Oversight of Cell Phone Billing Practices Sought
- T-Mobile to Offer a Tethering and Wi-Fi Sharing Plan: Low Cost Data Plan
- Verizon Wireless Admits Wrong Charges and Has A $50 Million Customer Refund Plan
- How to Lower Your Monthly Cell Phone Bill
- How to Choose a Cell Phone Plan
- More Cell Phone Roaming Changes Are Coming
Tags: Cell phone plans