 pnh102Reptiles Are Cuddly And PrettyPremium
join:2002-05-02
Mount Airy, MD
1 edit | Carriers Will Be Forced To Change quote:
With subsidized netbooks now all the rage, expect a lot more of these kinds of stories.
People simply aren't going to pay insane amounts of money for overages even if they agreed to them in the contract. I don't see how AT&T could realistically collect a $17k debt considering most people do not have the type of credit needed to pay that kind of an expense.
Even if AT&T and other carriers forced such users into collections, they would still take a massive loss. I predict that over time, carriers will adopt a model under which a given user's account balance would be restricted to a certain maximum per month. If the user's account balance for whatever reason hits that amount most access would be cut off unless the user personally approves it.
Carriers would not do this to protect their customers though, they would do it to protect themselves from having to write off these types of overages. As another poster pointed out, no business that operates using credit allows any customer to spend an unlimited amount of their money because it exposes the business to massive losses, and cell providers should be no exception.
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Blagojevich / Madoff 2012! |
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| said by pnh102: quote:
With subsidized netbooks now all the rage, expect a lot more of these kinds of stories.
People simply aren't going to pay insane amounts of money for overages even if they agreed to them in the contract. I don't see how AT&T could realistically collect a $17k debt considering most people do not have the type of credit needed to pay that kind of an expense. Even if AT&T and other carriers forced such users into collections, they would still take a massive loss. I predict that over time, carriers will adopt a model under which a given user's account balance would be restricted to a certain maximum per month. If the user's account balance for whatever reason hits that amount most access would be cut off unless the user personally approves it. Carriers would not do this to protect their customers though, they would do it to protect themselves from having to write off these types of overages. As another poster pointed out, no business that operates using credit allows any customer to spend an unlimited amount of their money because it exposes the business to massive losses, and cell providers should be no exception. I just had a terrible thought.
I know when cell phones get stolen people often make long distance calls to far away countries with huge bills.
Now the concern is that they could use my PDA/phone to down load huge amounts of data!
And with no way to put a cap on my phone, I could be ruined times 2.
If cell phone operators can know exactly how much data your using to charge extra for it, then they can install caps to prevent huge/excessive overage charges.
Even in the best of times, adding up all my credit cards together did I ever have a $32,000 un-secured credit line. How in the world is that even possible for a phone? |
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pnh102Reptiles Are Cuddly And PrettyPremium
join:2002-05-02
Mount Airy, MD | said by averagedude:Even in the best of times, adding up all my credit cards together did I ever have a $32,000 un-secured credit line. How in the world is that even possible for a phone? IMO it should not be possible.
While I do believe the people who legitimately ran up these overages should be expected to live up to the terms of service to which they agreed, I do not realistically expect most people hit with these huge overages to be able to cough up the kind of cash needed to pay these bills.
If things like subsidized netbooks do take off, the carriers will find this problem multiplied significantly and will take huge financial losses because of it.
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Blagojevich / Madoff 2012! |
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patcat88
join:2002-04-05
Jamaica, NY
kudos:1 | Remember what killed Amp'd. |
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Rob2647
join:2008-08-12
Rochester, MI | reply to pnh102
Sprint has account limits for their customers. WTF AT&T? It's like idiocy protection. |
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pnh102Reptiles Are Cuddly And PrettyPremium
join:2002-05-02
Mount Airy, MD | said by Rob2647:Sprint has account limits for their customers. WTF AT&T? It's like idiocy protection. I never knew that about Sprint.
I suppose AT&T and other carriers would have to sustain major writeoffs with these overages (I am not calling them excessive) before they might change their minds.
I also don't buy the argument that cell phone carriers in different countries cannot share account information. If you roam in another country, the local carrier knows if you are a valid customer of your home carrier or not. There's no reason that account limit information cannot be shared either.
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Blagojevich / Madoff 2012! |
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Reviews:
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| said by pnh102:said by Rob2647:Sprint has account limits for their customers. WTF AT&T? It's like idiocy protection. I never knew that about Sprint. I suppose AT&T and other carriers would have to sustain major writeoffs with these overages (I am not calling them excessive) before they might change their minds. I also don't buy the argument that cell phone carriers in different countries cannot share account information. If you roam in another country, the local carrier knows if you are a valid customer of your home carrier or not. There's no reason that account limit information cannot be shared either. I agree that account limit should be shared.
It should be a simple look up, validate number for billing and check limit - done. |
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 fatnesssubtleJanitor
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said by pnh102: I predict that over time, carriers will adopt a model under which a given user's account balance would be restricted to a certain maximum per month. If the user's account balance for whatever reason hits that amount most access would be cut off unless the user personally approves it. If businesses do that they'll probably hide the "magic" dollar amount that will get someone cut off, and badly communicate the cutoff reason.
If customers could set their own "warn me when over X dollars" limit, it might be easier.
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goodbye dad |
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pnh102Reptiles Are Cuddly And PrettyPremium
join:2002-05-02
Mount Airy, MD | said by fatness:If customers could set their own "warn me when over X dollars" limit, it might be easier. All it will take will be a few massive losses on these overages for the company to impose their own hard limit. Frankly I am surprised more companies have not followed Sprint's lead and covered their own butts in a similar manner.
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Blagojevich / Madoff 2012! |
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Rob2647
join:2008-08-12
Rochester, MI | reply to pnh102
Yup, my first few months my account limit with Sprint was 600 bucks. I think it's higher now. Also I think you can request one to be set too. |
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