Is this unreasonable? UPDATE

[Mskanga]

DH has and I have both cell phones, we have verizon america's national plan ( or whatever it's called ) , and he uses his phone for his job 90% of the time and 10% for personal. His company calls him constantly on the cell phone anytime, after work and weekends. Now I'm getting really annoyed , not at the fact that they use the phone, but at the fact that we pay for it. I told dh he should ask his boss to pay for part of the monthly fee, and he gets mad at me.
I know he's the manager and all that, but the company should either provide him with one , or pay for a portion of my fee, is that unreasonable? It's not my company!
UPDATE:
DH spoke up and not only I'm shocked that the company agreed to pay part of the monthly fee for the cell phone, but they also gave dh a corporate credit card. He doesn't travel for the company , someone please tell me why they gave him a credit card?. They said it's actually cheaper for them to use my cell phone than it is to get him anything else, so they will gladly pay the $30 bucks a month , they even asked him why he didn't say anything before.
I will never understand the way some things are done with his company.

 

[browneyes]

Some companies will pay the monthly fee.

 

[Simba's Mom]

No, I don't think it's at all unreasonable. DH did the same thing. In his case, the company wouldn't pay for it, so he changed his phone number, and only one person at work has it with strict instructions not to gove it out. DS wears a pager 24/7 so that his company can reach him. When I asked him about it, he said "They pay for it, so I guess it's OK".

 

[Steve H.]

They should certainly pay at least a portion of it -- if nothing else, they should pay for any portion of the bill that exceeds the monthly allotment of minutes. DW has two cell phones now -- one primarily for business (95% or so) and one purely for personal calls. It makes it easier when she's putting in her monthly work expenses.

 

[CEDmom]

I don't think it's unreasonable. What would his company do if you decided to get rid of the cell phone because you don't use it much for personal calls?

 

[Mskanga]

The problem here is that I can't show them how much they use it timewise because my plan allows 400 minutes and he has never gone over that, but still, if they use it for their convenience , they should pay for it.
When I had AT&T they used to use my minutes and then when the phone would be used for personal use the third week of the month , we would get charged for our phone calls. I basically forced dh into talking saying something, they used to pay for my calls without a problem because they had used up all my time that month. I think it's more dh's problem speaking up than anything else, if he doesn't tell them anything, I will. If not, they can get him a cell phone.

 

[Steve H.]

Originally posted by Mskanga
I think it's more dh's problem speaking up than anything else, if he doesn't tell them anything, I will. If not, they can get him a cell phone.

I don't know your DH's company, but most company's probably wouldn't appreciate their employee's spouses questioning company policy on these things. If your DH doesn't ask about paying for his cell charges, I wouldn't advise going to them yourself.

 

[Mskanga]

Steve , usually when I tell dh that, it pushes him to speak up , I never had to speak up , but I had to push him to do it.
This will keep him going.

 

[AirForceRocks]

If the company told him to get a cell phone so that he is available, then I would agree that they should pay for it. If your DH just went out and got a phone, then gave his employer the number so that he can be reached, I don't see why they should pay for it.

And I agree 100% with what Steve said about you not contacting his employer. I think that could really make things tougher for your DH.

 

[Silky]

I also am provided with a free pager but receive no reimbursement for cell phone expenses.....

 

[Mskanga]

Actually the way this whole thing started was , as a manager they should be able to reach him anytime, and the company of course knew he had a cell phone and they asked for the number, dh gave it to them ( big mistake ). Let's see what he's going to do now.

 

[Lanshark]

DH has always had a cell phone paid for by the company. His is probably about 90% business and 10% personal use. His cell plan has 1200 anytime/anywhere minutes a month.

Make you take it off on your taxes as an unreimbursed business expense if they don't agree to pay.

 

[Rajah]

I don't think it's unreasonable at all.

I, too, would suggest that either he ask the company to pay for it, or change the number and *not* give the new number to the company then tell them if they want him to have a cell phone for work purposes, they provide it.

 

[addicted_to_WDW]

If you're incurring no additional expense, I see no point in asking for reimbursement. Your husband purchased the plan and then decided to give his phone number out. He's staying within the alloted minutes, therefore he is not paying more because his employer calls him on his personal cell phone. If the business calls caused him to go over, I'd then ask to be compensated for the overage only.

 

[AirForceRocks]

I agree 100% addicted_to_wdw.

 

[house_of_princesses]

Well, I have recently become "the boss". My DH was paying for 12 different cell phones. His sales people, plant manager, etc. When he died, I needed to cut back expenses, and one of the first things I did was look at the cell plans. Not an easy thing, determing work vs. personal time on the phone. If they require him to 'wear' the phone, they should pay. My people need their phone to conduct business (MY business) so I pay.

When all is said and done, though, be happy he has a job and is willing to work at it. I think I'd be more upset with my DH being on call 24/7 than worrying about the bill. Ask him to turn it off during family time, and leave it at that.

 

[disneychrista]

If he didn't have the cell phone would they call your land line to get a hold of him? Would you be inclined to think they should pay a portion of your monthly phone bill for your land line if they did?

If you ever go over your minutes then I would deffiently have work reimburse you for this time. If you were going over the minutes on a previous plan and then switched because of it then you should have had your husband go to his work then and asked for an "allowance" for the differece between the plans.

 

[GladysK]

My DH canbe reimbersed up to $200 a month on his cell phone bill.

 

[snoopy]

Olga, if he works for a large company, they probably already have a policy on this. I know at the company I work for you have to be at a certain level of management (executive and above, I believe) to get reimbursed for a cellphone. If I ever make calls from my cell phone (or home phone) that are work related, I then put them on a time and expense report. They are reimbursed, I'm just not allotted a cell phone to use. Perhaps the same policy exists for your husband, it can't hurt to ask.

 

[Mskanga]

Actually the company is large but his division is not , and he's the only one in charge which is the reason why they want him to be available all the time.
I'm not saying don't use it , but if they want convenience, they should pay for it , not me. Funny that they never use the land line , they probably think he may not be home, and they probably think with the cell phone , they can always get him wherever he is.