Cell phones....ARGH...I am getting rid of mine

[RCT]

I am getting rid of mine...somehow we used minutes we didn't have stocked....so...we owe a huge bill this month...I love the free weekend minutes...but this just stinks...seems that something is always wrong on our bill or we just don't know how to use it here....always had great luck with it in the country...now that we are in a city...we pay twice what we did in CNY....and I feel like I use it less. So I am thinking of getting rid of it...heck there are phones everywhere....right...we pay 39.95 per month plus what ever we go over...I hate that....thinking of maybe the prepaid thing...but really just getting rid of it...

ok...hard to let go of a habit....anyone else NOT have one....??? did you give one up...do you miss it?

tia

[AnnW]

Get a better plan!
Heck..we pay $70 a month for TWO phones and have a gazillion anytime minutes and free long distance.

[JeannieOR]

I mostly like mine. I go for days without using it, but when I need it I really need it. we pay for the cheepest plan with the smallest number of anytime, anywhere minutes and I've never gone over. We took our long distance provider off our home phone and now make all those calls on the cell. I don't know how much it costs, but dh says our total phone bill is only a little higher than when we had no cell phone and paid for long distance on our home phone.

My main problem with the cell is the reception. I keep mine off rome because the cell will constantly search for the best reception and sometimes it will be coming from a tower that's out of our roming area. (Those roming charges can really rack up your bill.) It usually works ok until I'm at the college. The building has thick conctete walls and I have to go outside to the parking lot to make a call. I usually can't receive calls when I in the bulding either, except of course at highly embarrassing moments. Once I forgot to turn my cell off before class and it rang in the lecture hall. To make matters worse, the ringer was set on high. Dr Mark shot an evil glare in my direction and I grabbed my backpack and ran outside. Even worse, the cell continued to ring in the lecture hall and I then relized that I left it in my coat which was still inside at my desk so I had to run back inside and grab that too. I'm just glad that Dr. Mark has 100 students in that class and can't remember who the heck I am.

[Diane]

OMG... no CELL PHONE? NO WAY!!! I couldn't imagine life without one! LOL Like Ann... we have the two phone plan with a gazillion anytime minutes with free long distance. I can always leave the house knowing that I can be gotten ahold of any time... just in case something were to come up that we were needed for. When my dad was sick we wouldn't have been able to go anywhere if it hadn't been for the cell phone. We would have had to sit by the phone at home waiting for it to ring. That and as the girls were growing up... it was nice that they could call us any time and we'd always be there. No way... The thought of not having a cell phone almost scares me and to be honest... I'd probably pay just about anything to have it. LOL LOL I hope you can find a way to make it work for you... :)

Diane... :wave:

[darlene]

Believe it or not we don't have a cell phone....never have....don't see one in the future either!

:)

[KarlaB]

We don't have one, but more and more I am wanting one - just need to convince dh of the need.

[RCT]

well in my hast...dh talked me into leaving it alone...we have a good plan...we were just confussed on when new minutes started...NOW I know when....so...he paid the bill and wants to keep it....likes being able to find me...LOL...and vise versa...

I was just so mad and flabergasted that the bill was so high...we never go over...so it was shocking8o Thanks for all your responses....

also....if I got rid of it...then wanted it back ...what a pain and extra expense

[Fern]

I'm like Diane the thought of no cell phone is just to scary to even want to think about. Dh's in on a demo line from work, so we have no bill for it with unlimited time and dd,ds and mine are all on cards. Mine is even on 2 different providers(one is digital one isn't).

[SMB]

I hate phones. Dh got us phones once, I never carried mine, and never called dh on his. He discontinued them now. It was 70 a month for like 700 minutes, who talks that much?
Sheryl:)

[Lynda-WA]

DH has always had a cell phone. It was paid by his old company since he was on call 24/7. Then when he got this new job he wanted it for safety. He has a huge commute so it's nice to know he could call me or someone in an emergency.

I just got one last week. And 90% of the reason why is because the people that work in the office at the kid's school are idiots. Extremely disorganized and blame it on other people (mainly the parents). One year we went on vacation so I sent in two copies of a letter stating exactly when we would be gone and why. DS took one to the teacher and one to the office. We get home from the vacation to an answering machine full of messages asking why DS isn't in school. When I went in and talked with them they claimed they never received the letter. The next year the same thing happened except that I had hand delivered the message myself. When I went in and reminded them that I had turned in a letter, they claimed never to have received it. When I pointed to one of the secretarys and said I had handed it to her in person, she said the school nurse must have misplaced it. Same thing happened this year when DD was sick. DS turned in notes to both the office and the teacher. The teacher sent home her work with DS.

And the only time they should have called us they didn't. When I filled out the forms, I specifically said to call the home number first and speak to the machine as I vet the phone calls. When DD was hurt at school they called the number then hung up when the machine picked it up after two rings. As if I would have answered that soon anyways! So then they dial DH. He was on a job 4 hours away. They told him I wasn't at home so he beleived them. They then told him that DS was fine for staying at school, they just wanted us to be aware he had a cut on his head. So he brings home a note saying they couldn't contact us. So I go in the office to find out whats up. They had transfered all of the info to new cards and deleted out the info about speaking to the machine.

And it isn't just us either. I volunteer alot at school and have heard a couple of people complain when they weren't contacted about something. For example one parent wanted to know why they had called the grandparents instead of either of the parents numbers. They blamed it on the child and said the child told them mom was asleep and dad was at work. The Dad was like - exactly, Mom was at home and could have come and I have a job that allows me flexibility.

This is just something I need to vent on a bit. When I just went in to update our new cell phone numbers they had me write them on a slip of scrap paper. No wonder they lose the darn things! And to top it off the school forms all assume you work traditional job hours with one number for home and one for work. DH works a rotating shift and like Jeannie, he can't get calls on his cell at work. It's a power plant so its built to last and also contains high tech monitoring equiment. I determine my own hours so they vary each week. Plus part of the day I'm at one number and the rest at a different number. At least this way I've told DD's teacher that she has contact numbers in her backpack. And since I carry the cell with me whenever I'm out of the house, including at work, one of two numbers should always reach me. DD's teacher is very with it. I just have to hope the office doesn't try to handle any phone calls!

We only have the cells for very short calls and emergencies. No chatting. DH would average 10-15 minutes for non-work calls. And I've only made one 2 minute call in the two weeks I've had it. We have no monthly plan fee as long as we have prepaid minutes. Then we pay for the minutes with price depending on area. Since we use so few minutes this works great for us.

Now my home phone is a different story! That bill gets huge! What's the best home phone plan for calling mainly one out of state long distance number? I've considered getting a phone card and using that from home? We need the home number for dial up internet anyways and I don't want to go cell for my long distance.

[KarlaB]

Grr about your dks school!!! :{ How frustrating!!


Originally posted by Lynda-WA
Now my home phone is a different story! That bill gets huge! What's the best home phone plan for calling mainly one out of state long distance number? I've considered getting a phone card and using that from home? We need the home number for dial up internet anyways and I don't want to go cell for my long distance.

We bought a phone card at Sam's and re-new that as needed. It's an AT&T card and we pay less than 4 cents a minute! I had big long distance bills and this has been a HUGE savings for us! We do have to dial an 800# and a code every time we call long distance, but I have it memorized and it doesn't phase me. I also use the card when we are away from home or if I am out and about and need to call my mom, etc. :)

[Mickey]

We have Cingular...unlimited mobile to mobile for $10/phone/month extra (in addition to our plans), which includes Southern CA and Northern NV and it's nice to be able to call each other when dh is away. The only problem is that the coverage isn't very good. Drops out a lot (maybe because of the mountains?). They have some rollover plan now (unused minutes rollover to the next month), but I haven't really looked into it yet.

[AnnW]

Originally posted by Lynda-WA
! And to top it off the school forms all assume you work traditional job hours with one number for home and one for work. DH works a rotating shift and like Jeannie, he can't get calls on his cell at work. It's a power plant so its built to last and also contains high tech monitoring equiment. I determine my own hours so they vary each week. Plus part of the day I'm at one number and the rest at a different number. At least this way I've told DD's teacher that she has contact numbers in her backpack. And since I carry the cell with me whenever I'm out of the house, including at work, one of two numbers should always reach me. DD's teacher is very with it. I just have to hope the office doesn't try to handle any phone calls!



I have noticed in the last couple of years, the information cards at our schools have changed to include lines for pager and cell numbers. Heck, the elementary school directory has our email numbers and the middle school has includes cell phones numbers.

[Marla]

We both have cell phones. Dh uses his a lot for business. I don't use mine that often. I mostly have it in case of emergency (because I am in my car so much for my jobs).

Both schools, camps etc have a spot on the application form for cell phone number. I think it is a good idea in case the parent is not at work or home and they must reach them immediately.

[Lynda-WA]

Originally posted by AnnW


I have noticed in the last couple of years, the information cards at our schools have changed to include lines for pager and cell numbers. Heck, the elementary school directory has our email numbers and the middle school has includes cell phones numbers.

Then your schools are far ahead of any of the ones my kids have been to! There's a spot for a work phone and one for the home phone and one unlabeled spot for each parent. For each emergency contact there is only one spot. And that's AFTER changing to new forms! Last year I had to write the info about vetting calls up the margins of the paper. DH's pager went down the side of the margin. Our first emergency contact has a cell phone, a work phone and a pager. I ignored the part where they asked for his address (what do they need THAT for?!?) and put the various phone numbers there. I even put little numbers in circles to show which contact number should be number one, which tried second and so on. When they got new forms during the year they didn't transfer ANY of that. And as we are a family were both parents work non-traditional scheduals - that just doesn't cut it. If the office was half ways with it, the form wouldn't be a problem. I mean first off they get rid of the contact info. Then they call the house, leave the phone ring two times, and hang up when the machine picks up. To me any reasonable person would realize that not many people can answer the phone within two rings. They should have spoken to the machine even though they had thrown away the extra info that we vet calls. I made it to the phone in time for them hanging up. And then to tell DH that I wasn't home! They honestly think that if someone doesn't answer the phone in two rings they aren't home!? If DH had known what they had done he would have called me. But they specifically told him I wasn't home.

Many of the day sleepers I know have machines and listen to see if its an emergency. They don't even get out of bed just listen. Imagine you received phone call everynight while you were sleeping and 99% of them were non-emergencies. Legitimate calls but not emergencies. Would you jump up to answer the phone everytime or just listen in a half doze to see if you kids needed you to come? I haven't heard of anyone in a traditional setting having a problem. By that I mean that if the parents work, they work traditional days in a single location.