"The company cannot disable text messaging in a phone that is programmed for the feature, according to Kate Benkosky, a public relations representative speaking on behalf of T-Mobile. Nearly all wireless phones in use today have text messaging available."

That's odd. Cingular can delete the "feature"

jcs83md: Verizon does same shiat.

Yep. My parents bought a Verizon phone... when they started using it, they realized that there were a bunch of pictures of some random girl on her friends on it, and then they started getting text messages from a Yahoo alert subscription, and it's 10 cents to receive each message. Verizon wouldn't do anything about it (the best they said they could do was disable all incoming text messages), and my parents obviously didn't have access to the Yahoo account. Luckily, they have another way to unsubscribe using a code sent to your phone if you request it, but Verizon could have been more of a help, since, you know, they were supposed to be buying a new phone.

my t-mobile plan has 250 minutes/nights weekends free/ and unlimited sms messaging. Its old, and doesnt have a bunch of minutes, but the unlimited texting has paid for itself time and again.

/would you like to upgrade your account?
//Farking heck NO!

i pay $5 a month to get unlimited text messages.
i think it's been well over a month since i've sent or received one.
it would be 5 cents a message otherwise.

i'm sticking it to the man.

Pollexabator
On a completely unrelated note, did you know you can use a Google tool to spam your "favorite" T-Mobile customer?

You can send an e-mail to any phone as a text msg. No Google tools required

Verizon signal in my area of NYC and others is less than terrible. T-Mobile has had the most consistently strong signal of any carrier I've used by far. AT&T was OK, Verizon was poor, and Sprint was abysmal.

Kip Furnace- my roommate actually has Cingular and gets remarkably good signal everywhere he goes, but I imagine that would mean there is a tower right near Libertyville here. I have heard some good things about US Cellular and Verizon regarding signals in the Chi area. US Cellular will even let you try them for a month so that you are able to make sure you get service where you use your phone most.

What does it mean when you get a Boobies?

gasconading_sesquipedalian

couldn't this be a way to cancel your service with a fee if you're under contract?

Except for the fact that most contracts have a little article in there stating that the company can change anything in the contract without notice.

I can't believe people actually sign these things.

Fark Me To Tears:

Cingular charges $0.10 for sending and $0.10 for receiving of text messages.

You're getting screwed. My plan is only a year old and I don't pay for incoming texts on Cingular. US Cellular never charged for incoming either.

has anyone heard of or is using cricket phones? Supposedly they're a monthly flat rate like Vonage (except cellular) and they're only available in certain areas....

TableTopJoe

Rarely on Fark have I seen someone miss the point by such a distance as you have.

I worked for Omnipoint/Voicestream/T-Mobile for 4 years in sales, customer service and tech support. As far as SMS goes it is easy to remove from a customer's account. The official reason that T-Mobile gives employees for the inability to remove SMS capability from a customer's account is that the voicemail notification relies on it. But in truth the corporate culture that T-Mobile fosters is one of getting any money they can from a customer. They will randomly change plan offerings to or jack up feature costs and simply say "well it still costs less than our competitor". Their sales division is entirely corrupt and greedy, so much so that I couldn't continue working for them in good conscience.
As far as the service goes...well I've used it for about 6 years now and my wife has had service with them since 1997 and we've never had problems using it for the most part. Though their coverage does leave much to be desired.

There's a good story behind the coverage but I don't feel like typing that much.

dylanthomas wrote:

RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE

How about you read the agreement first? That deal was quite obvious to me when I was a T-Mobile customer
______________________________________________

Yeah, god forbid my wife rely on the representation from the sales people who supposedly know the plans backwards and forwards.

These kind of idiotic and shortsighted money grabbing business decesions are the reason why the mainstream USA is years behind Europe and parts of Asia in mobile communications.

It pains me to see this.

And they wonder why text messaging hasn't caught on here, like it did in other parts of the world.

Twats.

Degenz

Text messaging is useful at times when you need to get in contact with someone, but you can't make a phone call because it's too loud (in a bar) or where it may be innapropriate. Text messaging is much less obtrusive.

Verizon's cell phone plans, coverage, and support are the best.

If you're a business do not use Verizon for your landlines and/or DSL and/or webhosting. You can not move your business and move your telephone number along with it unless you accept a required five business day downtime in your landline service, or you have to change your number. Completely unacceptable for business purposes - probably fine for residential purposes. I've had nothing BUT problems with regular ol' Verizon. Why they can't have the same level of service as their Verizon Wireless division is beyond me.

Just get rid of your cell phone. Most think its a necessity, but it really isn't for most. I got rid of mine and only use Vonage now, and I couldn't be happier. You would be surprised how much money you can save when you stop wasting it on useless crap like cable tv, eating out, expensive clothes, DVD's etc.

Boobies

Just wanted to see how well this works.

KipFurnace:

Speaking of the Chicagoland area, I have Cingular, and I can't seem to get a decent signal anywhere in Chicago. Does anyone have a suggestion as to which company has a great network in the area?

Oh yeah, Chicago. Go with US Cellular for signal strength. T-Mobile isn't to shabby either. On Cingular now and I don't get signal in my apartment building basement or elevator like I used to on US Cellular (lincoln park area). Cingular doesn't work too hot in my office downtown either.

I really want to hear The_Palidor13's explanation of T-Mobile's coverage issues.

/Not being sarcastic

Degenz...

don't get the text message craze. Why would I want to spend all that time converting my voice to text via phone touchpad on a device designed to talk on?

AMEN!!! Why the hell these people want to text message on a device with which you just dial a number and speak into it is beyond me. If I want to do email, I have a pc.... Get a grip people....

RAGE

seems pretty obvious to me:

http://www.t-mobile.com/plans/NationalRatePlanDetails.asp?PlanID=3222

You should never listen to SALES people becuase thats exactly what they're there to do : SELL YOU to put money in their pocket. Call up the company directly and get what you want.

i'm going to use AOL and send brazilians of text messages to people i don't like...its what Magua would have wanted...

I agree that T-Mobile's coverage in the city (Chicago) is usually excellent, but their coverage in the suburbs varies every 500 feet. Again, in a brick building, never any signal. I had to get a TDS metrocom home phone for $18/month so i can talk in my house.

RageAgainstTheMachine:

Would you trust the word of a car salesman on what your monthly payments were? Or would you make sure it was in writing first?

A contract will always take precedent over the word of the sales guy. You are lucky to get any credit at all for that bill.

You signed the contract stating what your monthly plan was. So fark you for not reading it first.

I don't know about T-Mobile in America but in Germany they're extortionate - to call off peak (yes, off peak) is a euro a minute. Back in Britain on O2 it costs 2p a minute. Bit of a difference there, you German bastards. Meanwhile, US10c is cheap, quit your whining.

This is a good thing. To hell with stupid text messages. Use your PHONE as a GODDAMN PHONE already...
Can we jack the cost for asinine ringtones up to $10 each while we're at it?

Someone want to explain to me while they want to use text messaging on a phone? I would think it would be easier to just, I don't know... call someone? I hear there is this new technology called something like... voice mail if you want to leave messages when they aren't there too.

LittleLotus...My son had a Cricket phone and they are fairly inexpensive. However, their calling area is pretty limited. Once you got very far out of town, you couldn't make or receive calls. He has since switched to Sprint and is much happier with them.

2006-02-08 11:51:01 AM KvanCetre


After reading the article, I realize I could find one of those "send text messages free"(if they still exist) websites and just spam texts all day to people I don't like.

HOW DO YOU LIKE THAT 2 DOLLAR FINE, HUH!

Yea... that's happening to a friend of mine right now... he has T-Mobile and they're being absolute asshats about it. Can't get them to disable text messaging or credit him anything. Funny. Yea... sure. Ass...

I'm generally happy with T-Mobile.

I think I'm getting charged 10 cents for every text message (even the ones from T-Mobile), but it usually adds up to under 50 cents per month, so I'm not terribly bothered by it.

We were talking about this the other day on consumerist.com...

If you're on t-mobile and under contract, you are allowed to get out of the contract without paying the penalty. you have 30 days from the change to 'not accept' the new terms of service.

I like texting for when I'm in places I shouldn't be on the phone (not theaters), or don't need to have a full blown conversation. Riding the bus is when I use it mostly, or in a noisy bar to meet up with friends that are at other places.

Nahbien

Text messages are good if you just want to let someone know something brief e.g. what time you'll be arriving at the station, that kind of thing. Voicemail costs money to hear, so I never leave anyone voicemail and anyone who leaves me any is farked because I'm damn well not going to spend my last bit of credit (I'm on pay as you go) listening to what is most probably just someone hanging up the phone.

I've been with T-Mobile since 1934 and I've never had any problems.

I have t-mobile. Ive never gotten a text message, spam or otherwise. I suppose my phone is capable of sending/recieving them. I wouldnt know how though.

Its a phone, i use it to make phone calls, everything else is just brochure-filler that gets in the way.

I didn't have time to read all the posts so I don't know if anyone mentioned this but...you won't get charged if you don't "open" the tex message. You can easily tell if it is spam without opening it. Just delete, problem solved.

A few months ago, Verizon upped the charge for recieved txts from 2 to 10 cents but didn't bother to mention it. I get my bill online only and it was never mentioned anywhere on the website. I go to pay my bill and my txt costs were over $2.00 (normally around 50cents). I called and asked why I suddenly had more charges and the guy was like "we put notice on the bill" and i said I don't get the paper bill and he was kinda stumped. He offered to credit me for $1.50. I was mad, not at the fact that I had to pay a few cents more, but the fact that they never gave notice. And I've never seen taht credit.

For those asking why you'd want to send text messages:

I hate cell phones and the people who use them loudly in public places. That said, there are times when it is useful to let someone know where you are, etc. That's where text messages come in handy. If you travel a lot like me it becomes even more important. So rather than shelling out for a contract I got a prepaid Cingular phone. The phone was free and I get charged 5 cents per text message. The amount I use it, it works out to less than $10 a month. If I were to make actual phone calls with it, it would cost a minimum of $1 per day. Not worth it to me.

KipFurnace: I have Cingular, and I can't seem to get a decent signal anywhere in Chicago.

If you can't get decent signal everywhere, try a different phone. It can make a world of difference.

T-Mobile is awful. Watch out for their "Hot Spot" service. They charge $29.99/month they say. But then if the month has 31 days, you get an extra fee for the 1st day. They say you get a refund in Febuary because it is only 28 days, but I obviously quit this service long ago.

Plus, their customer service was unwilling to refund the $1.84 or whatever it was when I asked.

They can suck it, I will never use any of their services again.

If you're doing texts & you're not on a text plan then you're just an idiot.

$4.99 = 400 text/pic msgs
$9.99 = 1000
$14.99 = unlimited

Had T-Mobile for 5 yrs. If an extra 5 cents per text pisses you off you should try dealing w/ Sprint. ANY change to your plan restarts your 2 yr contract from the date you made the change. Same w/ Verizon.

Sprint is absolutely the worst farking cell phone company ever. they screwed me out of almost a thousand dollars. it was partly due to me being naive about cell phones. i cant wait to get out of my contract even tho it expired a year ago. farking jerkoffs. i had no problem wit tmobile. i actually have a tmobile phone but my bro uses it and its fine. i want to get verizon but those bastards required heavy deposits when i tried to get it last.

If I want to do email, I have a pc.... Get a grip people....

You have a PC...? In your pocket...? That you can send email from no matter where you are...?

(may I see it?)

i got a verizon razor about two weeks ago. I downloaded the motorola phone tools for 20 bucks. Seems verizon disables the media functions of their razor (v3c). So, you can't download/upload pix, or ringtones with the motorola phone tools. The functions are greayed out. All I did was set up a profile with the MPT for a regular razor (v3) and everything works.

I felt pretty good sticking it to verizon. Love their service, and now I can use the phone like it was designed. There is always a way around things.

Just thought I would share...

I have T-Mobile because no other provider has a plan for casual talking and unlimited internet use priced at $25.