oh boy
http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/telecom/2004-09-12-cell-bill_x.htm
Cell phone switching can cost in billing
By Paul Davidson, USA TODAY
Switching to a new cell phone provider is supposed to be easier than ever due to new rules that let you keep your phone number.
But jilted carriers aren't giving up without a parting shot.
Four of the six national carriers AT&T Wireless, Cingular Wireless, Sprint and Nextel Communications bill consumers for an entire month of service in the last month, even if defectors leave well before the end of the billing cycle.
This year Cingular, which is buying AT&T for $41 billion, scrapped its policy of charging most customers just for the portion of the month that they had service.
AT&T modified its contract last summer to eliminate prorating.
Sprint and Nextel say they have long billed for the entire last month.
While Verizon and T-Mobile do prorate the last month, Verizon last year modified its contract to give it the option to shift gears.
But Janee Briesemeister of Consumers Union, which has gotten several complaints recently, calls the practice unfair: "They are, in effect, imposing a mini-cancellation penalty."
Yankee Group analyst Roger Entner says the providers are short-sighted. "If you kick (customers) in the butt on the way out, they won't come back."
Sprint's Scott Stoffel says, "We clearly spell this out throughout the sale process" and in contracts. Cingular and Sprint say they bill for service a month in advance.
AT&T's Ritch Blasi says a subscription "runs for the full month. It would be more costly to have to prorate millions of customers."
He says his company's decision to change its policy was unrelated to rules effective in November that let customers keep their numbers when they switch to another carrier.
Yet, Briesemeister says, "The timing is very suspicious. I didn't get complaints about this before" number-keeping started.
Landline phone, cable and electric companies generally prorate the first and last bill.
Cell providers prorate the first month of service.
By not prorating the last month, "they're ripping us off," says Morty Kostetsky, a self-described "senior citizen" in Fort Lee, N.J.
When he asked AT&T to cancel one of his two services beginning Sept. 15, the company charged him $35 for the entire 30-day billing cycle, which ends Oct. 11.
Patrick Slay kept his AT&T number when he switched to Verizon Wireless on May 25, but was charged $52 for his last month ended June 17.
"They're trying to get whatever money they can," says Slay, 40, a Nashville career counselor whose bill was adjusted after he complained to AT&T.
Both Kostetsky and Slay subscribed month-to-month, so were not liable for cancellation fees of up to $200 for customers who break long-term contracts.
Even customers who cancel service precisely when their contracts end also can be hit with final full-month charges.
Contract terms and billing cycle dates often do not coincide.
