Many mobile phone companies make money by tacking on charges customers don’t expect. While most of these charges are not illegal, they can be costly, and are not always completely honest.
Insurance on your phone is one of the oldest moneymakers for phone networks. These days, you can replace your phone more cheaply than you can pay for insurance you probably will never use. You may also have to pay a deductible on the insurance, and many policies only cover extreme damage, leaving you high and dry in many situations. If you really need your phone insured, consider a homeowner’s policy rider.
Avoid text-marketing packages that your network pushes, including the opportunity to receive all kinds of information by text. If you really want to receive these messages, consider whether they’re worth the cost. Before you travel abroad, make sure that your phone is not set to receive callbacks to remind you of messages-calls that cost you roaming fees each time. This should be part of getting the cheapest overseas roaming charge you can.
Don’t access the Internet abroad. You can spend a lot of money “roaming” on the Internet. Know what surfing and accessing email will cost, and switch off services you don’t need.
Watch out for cash back. Some providers offer “cash back,” but only if you return a particular form, at precisely the right time, every month. Most often, customers who do it wrong get no money back, ever. Check these programs out carefully.
Don’t pay extra for paper billing. Some providers have started charging for the bill. If you don’t want to pay for them to send you a paper bill, opt out of this service.
Watch for extra charges and stop them immediately to save significantly on your phone bill.
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