Posted on 04/09/2009 7:51:57 PM PDT by Gordon Greene
CHEYENNE — In one month, a Cheyenne teenager sent 10,000 text messages and received about the same — all while her family's plan did not include texting.
That means the family's provider — Verizon — charged them for each incoming and outgoing text message.
The girl's parents, Gregg and Jaylene Christoffersen, thought texting had been disabled, so one can imagine their surprise when they got the monthly phone bill and it asked for $4,756.25.
"It just hit us like a rock, like you're stepping into a bus," Gregg Christoffersen said.
The bill was legit.
Dena Christoffersen, 13, had apparently been sending most of these messages at school. That's more than 300 texts within an eight-hour period every
Gregg Christoffersen was shocked to see his daughter's texting bill. (9News)day for the whole month. Needless to say, it drew attention away from what she should have been doing: paying attention in class.
"She went from A's and B's one semester to F's in two months," Dena's dad said.
Hours after the enormous bill arrived, Gregg Christoffersen took a hammer to his daughter's phone.
He and Jaylene also grounded Dena until the end of school.
"I felt really bad, and I have learned my lesson," Dena said, with her head down.
Since she lost her phone, Dena's grades have gone up, and the texting is down to zero.
As for the phone bill, the family says Verizon has been willing to knock it down to a reasonable level.
The Christoffersens are asking school administrators at Johnson Junior High School to crack down on cellphone use during school.
I agree. Or when you’re talking to them and they just pull out their phone and start talking on it, without even an *Excuse me while I check this*. They just answer it and walk away from you in mid-sentence, as if you weren’t even there.
Good for you. Most just accept their phone bill. And the phone company survives on this crap. A dime here, a dollar their … a misleading statement … what do they care. Seldom challenged, and when challenged, they give in … well, seldom challenged.
If that is the case how did this girl rackup so much texting when she was in school?
“I agree. Or when you’re talking to them and they just pull out their phone and start talking on it, without even an *Excuse me while I check this*. They just answer it and walk away from you in mid-sentence, as if you weren’t even there.”
I take some flak from customers and even my boss because, except on rare occasions, I ignore anyone calling me if I have another conversation going on. The owner of the company has complained he gets my voicemail when he calls. I very politely explained that if I was with a customer or in the bathroom I would not answer the phone no matter who it is calling. I would, however return all calls.
At least I didn’t get fired. Wouldn’t matter... still not going to be rude.
You can request that Verizon disable texting, but they don’t disable it just because you don’t pay for texting service. If you read the plan information, it clearly states what you will pay per text message. For years, I didn’t pay extra for texting and rarely texted. They charged 10 cents a text. I think they’ve now gone up to 25 cents a text and taxes get tacked on. I’m texting a little more, so I finally gave in and bought 450 text messages a month for $5 extra dollars.
Why didn't they have text messaging blocked on their account.
I have ours blocked on our phones, I don't know anyone that uses them and I got tired of having to pay for receiving advertising plus having to even get it.
<i-phone that grown people are always playing with.
No kidding, it’s the new past-time in faculty meetings.
The dad did well.
I learned form other people’s kids. My kids have only been allowed prepaid phones that they have to pay for.
Then my daughter was a brat and I took the phone anyway.
I think I would give that title to Congress but then I would not want to insult scum.
If they want a phone, get them a cheap Tracfone or some similar pre-paid phone with minimum features. Let them pay for the $19.99/$29.99 cards they’ll have to buy to get minutes.
That way, it comes out of their pocket, which makes them manage how many minutes/texts they burn.
We don't use credit cards to pay bills and are out of debt.
I get charged for text messages Verizon sends to my wireless card for my MacBook. Annoying as hell.
Thank you. It took 63 posts, but someone finally got the answer. If a teenager just has to have a phone, a Trakphone is self-limiting. If they run out of minutes, too bad. They can buy their own minutes.
Just after we got the Verizon family plan, my Daughter rang up about a $100 worth of texting charges the first month.
I called up Verizon and blocked that faster than you can text OMG WTF.
Different district. Other side of the country.
The districts I’m aware of in NY don’t allow the kids to have the phones in class. They can bring them to school but are supposed to leave them in their lockers. If they’re seen by the teachers or admin, they are supposed to be confiscated.
Probably the comment about the bathroom is what saved you. The theater of the mind, you know....
The unbelievable thing is, is that I’ve seen people in public restrooms either enter the stall making a call, or answering it while doing their business.
Just speechless.......
What wireless carrier do you use? I have Sprint... after logging on to their web site I was able to set an option to block all incoming text messages except from several numbers that I will accept.
We have the Verizon family plan. We have two kids in college at different colleges, so we got three phones and my daughter and I share the one. It’s mine by default and on demand. She carries it around the rest of the time.
So far, it’s worked out pretty well, especially since she doesn’t always delete her text messages until the box gets full. It makes for entertaining reading.....;)
Cell phone companies are the scum of our planet.
As for the phone bill, the family says Verizon has been willing to knock it down to a reasonable level.
Did you not read this? It also costs Verizon Wireless a tremendous amount to purchase physical plant and employ thousands to support operations of the largest cell phone network in the country. That is why they charge people for services. It's a business, yet is still willing to assist when things go wrong, as in this case.
Good for them.
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