Going on a cruise? Make sure to turn your phone off.

[hookbill]

I'll bite. What does that have to do with the topic???? ^^^^

because the OP mentioned he wanted to leave verizon for the Srint EVO and 4G

OK....It's not like you to just hijack a thread, I knew there had to be a reason.

 

[hookbill]

No talking politics guys. I was worried aminaked that your campaign for this cause would lead to political discussions. Liberal/Conservative....As soon as that pops in that means it's political

aminaked if you want to put that in your signature that's fine, but please stop pushing the cause. It's just going to cause trouble.

 

[sockmess]

but everything connects to the "P" word... oh well, without the subject that shall not be mention.
We are not kids, we are buying smartphones we should be at least somewhat intelligent. No one forced us to sign on with either company be it phone, internet (can't really say cable since they have a monopoly on their respective metropolitan area)
While it would be nice to have companies send us a warning that hey if you do this you will incur charges. I rather go to the company and try to get them to do it rather than go to government and have them impose that.

 

[chtorr281]

Just got back off a cruise last month to the caribbean. Before I left I called Verizon and explored the options. They told me that I could sign up for the international roaming plan (I think that is what its called) for 60.00 and they would cancel it when I got back and pro-rate it. Came out to like 15.00 for the week (me and my wife both did it so 30.00). The Ship I was on had a 1x tower that I was able to connect to while out to sea and each port of call had 3g (Mexico, Caymen Islands, Jamaica). With the data plan I bought I had no worries of that high bill.

Phone calls were still a per minute charge (like 2.99 per min on ship, much cheaper on shore though if an emergency happened) but data was all included.

My wife and I just did that same cruise. Ours was the Princess cruise line, though, and we only had data while at ports in Jamaica and Caymen which weren't 3G but they worked okay. Cozumel and Princess Kays Bahamas had no data, and on the ship you could make calls but there was no data. Still, it was less than $2 per day and worth it for when we were able to connect. And it was nice not to have to worry about getting a crazy bill full of roaming charges.

 

[jsh1120]

for those planning on getting the EVO for 4G i hope you realize that sprint has less then 8% of their network on 4G and that coverage is only in 10 states.


Heres the states they do have coverage in and in most its only in 1 or 2 cities.
Georgia,
Hawaii,
Idaho
Illinois,
Maryland,
North Carolina,
Nevada,
Oregon,
Pennsylvania,
Texas,
Washington.

And that compares to Verizon 4G coverage in how many states?

 

[mcatdtDroid]

The FCC is accepting comments on this very subject right NOW. The 45 day period for this is ticking away. Whether or not you agree, make your voice heard!

The problem in this instance is that there probably still would not have been a notification from VZW about this usage. The usage was for data roaming on a cruise ship. It is entirely possible that the cruise line sent ONE bill to VZW at the END of the cruise for all data that was used during the cruise. How could VZW have even known that any data roaming was occurring?

Also - don't forget that VZW has REAL money in this particular situation, making any kind of a deal much harder for them to justify. No matter what they do for the OP, they still have to pay the cruise line the amount billed to them.

On a side note - VZW does occasionally send text messages regarding usage overages. I used to be on a pay as you go texting plan because I never texted. For a variety of reasons my texting activity went up. I got a text from VZW stating that I could save money if I got one of their texting plans and, if I got it before my billing cycle ended it would be retroactive.

You make a lot of good points. Good to see the voice of reason again.

If the cost for this type of data (from cruise ship) is immediately sent to Verizon, I still think it'd be easy for them set up text alerts. But you're right, there might be some technical hurdles. I would at least like the FCC to explore the feasibility/need for this.

I'm with you on the deal for the OP. I'm not calling for refunds. I just think it would be fair to alert a customer of unusual overages...just like a credit card company does, and how an auto shop must give an estimate. Carriers are abusing their power the way things are now.

I know they alert you to texting overages. I think they should do the same for other data. I think that the FCC needs to mandate this because if it's voluntary, they'll slip up and get off with "oops".

To critics I say it's not hand-holding, it's needed protection from powerful, abusive corporations.

why stop there, I say you go after the evil corportate cruise-line for not posting sufficient warnings that they would be taking you into roaming areas where you would be charged more for your cell phone. They should be forced to pay the bill

/sarcasm

 

[aminaked]

Unfortunately, I've been warned not to comment on this. You win. Interesting how things work out sometimes.

 

[DroidBoy22]

VERIZON DISMISSES $18,000 PHONE BILL |Weekly World News

 

[swaldrop]

To anyone who cares...

I finally made a call to Verizon again. After explaining exactly what happened (again), the CS agent completely understood and removed all charges, no questions asked.

This was the response I was hoping for to begin with and why I have been with Verizon for so long.

Let the hate begin...

 

[Romple]

I don't hate you but here's an angry monkey to set the mood. GGs. (now learn 2 airplane mode imo ;p )

 

[ricks]

It was a great ending. The way it should have ended. Good for you

 

[jroc]

Yea I'm glad it worked out for you. Verizon CS has been good to me, so its no surprise. Especially if you have been with them for a long time. I been with them for many years too. I would assume they wanna keep their longtime customers, and keep them happy.

 

[JayCizzo]

I've had a similar experience with data charges when switching phones between lines. It's crazy how you'll speak to one CSR and they completely refuse to help you and you call back speak to another and they go out of their way to help you. Glad it worked out for you.

 

[mcatdtDroid]

To anyone who cares...

I finally made a call to Verizon again. After explaining exactly what happened (again), the CS agent completely understood and removed all charges, no questions asked.

This was the response I was hoping for to begin with and why I have been with Verizon for so long.

Let the hate begin...

moral of the story...... don't worry about paying for charges you incur, just complain enough to the right minimum wage rep, and they will magically make your charges disappear...

give your mom a razr, she can't handle a smart phone

 

[mcatdtDroid]

It was a great ending. The way it should have ended. Good for you

since when has not wanting to pay for charges incurred, been considered the way it should have ended....


the way it should have ended was, he should have paid the bill that his mother racked up.....


do parents of kids who text too much get to get out of paying their increased bill "because the kids didn't know about the limits"?

Whose fault is it the kids don't know?
Whose fault was it mother didn't know?


I'm sorry it was an ignorant mistake, I don't think she did it on purpose or anything, but bottom line is she is responsible for the activity she does on it.