price gouged on cell phones
@3SnuggleBunnies (16374)
United States
October 18, 2010 3:23pm CST
Anyone else NOT surprised by this? I was reading this article http://www.intomobile.com/2010/10/18/americans-canadians-expensive-bills/ Now what gets my goat is that it's like what 15% of what Canadians & American's currently pay if we lived on the other side of the world for the same features. Sure outsource our work to other countries and then give them the cheaper phone bill??!?! And by this I mean many places when you call customer service it's not someone in my country it's someone on the other side of the world answering the question. So tell me if it's cheaper to have a call center on the other side of the world, long distance must cost next to nothing... just as the cost of cellular services are next to nothing but again we loose jobs & pay thru the nose to keep the same services. GRRRRR....
2 people like this
4 responses
@coffeebreak (17797)
• United States
22 Oct 10
I hate cell phones. I think they are far far to much a used for nothing. But that's another story! This thing about CS being in another country... they are just following suite from other retailers. I called Hewlett Packard about my PC problem to gte them to help me with something....I was on with them for 2 hours doing this and that and about mid way through there was silence while waiting for the PC to do whatever it needed to do and I started chatting with the CS person and talked about the weather and he said he was in India! I was so shocked... you mean we have been on this phone line for nearly 2 hours and you are in India and I am in USA? Yep..that's where they have their CS department. Cheaper labor as cost of living is cheaper.
Cell phone prices are going up...why? cause of supply and demand and because they can. Everyone has a cell.. everyone uses the cell for so many applications, options and reasons and they are always coming up with something new. Monthly service charges have dropped a little in competition but they charge extra for other applications that they know you will buy.
What a scam cell phone industry has become!
@coffeebreak (17797)
• United States
23 Oct 10
Yeah, that contract is a killer. And they are always doing things like charging more for internet access and such. I think cells are so above and beyond ridiculous waste of money. And people just don't get it. My biggest issue is...that tiny little screen. I just don't see how anyone can enjoy reading, watching, playing..whatever they do on a 2/2inch screen! I mean, watching a movie on that tiny screen...I'd rather toss rocks in a pond! I just don't see it! But everyone does it!
And prices will continue to go up as long as people continue to decide that they just can't live without a cell and all the apps! Should have bought stock in a cell phone provider 2 years ago when the market dropped! I'd be on my way to a lucritive retirement right now!
@3SnuggleBunnies (16374)
• United States
22 Oct 10
It absolutly is a scam! You know the cost of the phones when they say charge you $30 for a BB but then you get stuck into a $80/mo contract for 2 yrs.... you are paying for that phone with the excessive service fees, not just that inital $20.
Prices keep going up because everyone wants the latest and greatest. And I admit my hubby falls into that category, despite the fact we usually cannot afford the latest / greatest anything.
Now do you think if we called to talk to a friend or relative in India that we could afford a 2 hr phone call across the globe?!?!?
@dorannmwin (36392)
• United States
21 Oct 10
This doesn't surprise me at all. In fact, it was made so clear to me this summer when I needed to get a new phone. Well, we ended up getting the upgrade on my mother's line but using the phone on my line because I wasn't eligable for an upgrade yet but she was. If I would have bought the phone outright it would have cost me nearly $200, but getting it as an upgrade phone, it only cost me $20 for the phone that I've got now.
@3SnuggleBunnies (16374)
• United States
22 Oct 10
I honestly think they hide the difference in buying the phone outright when you sign a contract. Like my hubby bought his BB outright @ Virgin Mobile for the $300 but you know he's only paying 50% of what he did when he was under a contract and has all the same features so you figure his savings is like $35/mo x12 = $420/yr he paid for his phone and if he doesn't bust it before then and say makes it to 2 yrs that'll be a $840 savings in 2 yrs & $500 savings after the inital cost of the phone.
There are a few ways to work around their scams. I know a friend who does the family thing with her mother too and pays her mom a fraction of what she'd pay if she had a contract on her own.
@jesssp (2712)
• Canada
19 Oct 10
With things like cell phones and technology there will always be a supply & demand situation. As long as people think the MUST have something, companies will charge as much as they can. The only way they'll charge less is if people stop using the services. Although it is frustrating that we pay so much and then when we need service we call half way across the world, and talk to someone who gets paid probably $1000 a year. But still, when it comes to things that people insist on having and really don't need - like Blackberries and i phones - then I find it kind of hard to have much sympathy when they complain about their huge bills and mine's only $10 a month.
@3SnuggleBunnies (16374)
• United States
20 Oct 10
Exactly! But we like our gadgets even moreso if they are portable. Hey I'd like it too but til I make a full time income again I'm SOL. But that's ok by then I'll probably be too stingy to pay for it cause I'm used to my cheap plan.
@hardworkinggurl (37062)
• United States
19 Oct 10
As long as their is demand and need everything will keep going up. Funny how sales and profits go up but never the salaries. 
@3SnuggleBunnies (16374)
• United States
19 Oct 10
I think it took an act of congress to get them to justify why they could charge so much per text message. Now if they'd get off their duffs and work on other things like basic cell service as well as the big one we all worry about is job growth + retention.
