Jordan Independent - phones - Comments

One of the reasons this sort

Katrina Styx — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 14:43:22 -0600

One of the reasons this sort of billing goes on, I think, is because too many people won't do what you did, elkes4, and take action. I've been guilty of it myself, every now and then; pay a couple extra bucks for a practice you don't really agree with, or spend the time you would have spent arguing on the phone and waiting out hold music to manage what seem to be more pressing issues?
Not saying it's okay at all, but complacency is one of the biggest factors when it comes to what companies can and therefore will get away with.

(Katrina Styx is a staff writer for the Jordan Independent. She can be reached at kstyx@jordannews.com.)

For the most part, I am just

elkes4 — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 13:59:11 -0600

For the most part, I am just kind of tired of the surprise billing that is going on now that the companys are either trying to recoup their losses or pad their pockets. I did inform the BBB about it, not for me, my bill was low, but for those who will eventually freak out when they get their bill. I was politely blown off by them, not Minnesota, but the state that the business is in. I think there may be a class action against them once some lawer wants a few bucks. It is unfair for any business to operate in this manner and I can only hope that more of the decent humanity concerned business thrive instead of failing in this economy. Support the Good Guys, Buy from decent people!

One complaint I have about

Mathias Baden — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 12:00:16 -0600

One complaint I have about text message disabling, which I did until recently, is that there is no reply message to those who text you saying that you do not have text messaging. So a bunch of people have assumed that I received various messages that I didn't get -- invitations to parties and whatnot. Sad.

Since late November, I've enabled unlimited texting, because I'm coaching a volleyball team of 15-year-old girls and it's the only way they communicate. It's practically impossible to get out information to them effectively without it.

(Mathias Baden is the editor of the Jordan Independent. He can be reached at editor@jordannews.com.)

It is not the first time

elkes4 — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 11:53:50 -0600

It is not the first time they have done something like this and yes, it is sprint. I just don't like some of the business practices that go on. not all companys are this way. I had to call them and have it blocked, but only after they started charging which was new. I think they might be trying to make up profits from a bad quarter, maybe they think the private sector is doing well? (sarcasim if you can't tell) I am taking it as a lesson to watch how I am billed and don't want other people to get ripped off, expecially with the economy the way it is, I know they are in the business of making money, but geez, we are all in the business of surviving.

If it helps anyone you can

bucky — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 11:08:31 -0600

If it helps anyone you can contact your cell phone carrier and let them know that you do not have or want text capability on your phone, they will disable the feature.

I was with Sprint for 12 years and had this done. Now that I've switched to Verizon I paid for unlimited text, but asked them to block any downloading so we don't inadvertently get charged.

As for getting out of the charges already on your account, I typically play stupid with the customer service rep. I also ask to speak with a supervisor. State that you don't know why you should be paying for services you didn't request and then wait...the uncomfortable silence that follows is usually between 20 and 60 seconds. Whoever talks next usually loses.

I've always felt it was

Katrina Styx — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 09:34:38 -0600

I've always felt it was silly to charge cell phone users for anything incoming. There's no way we can be held accountable for calls or messages other people decide to send to us.

(Katrina Styx is a staff writer for the Jordan Independent. She can be reached at kstyx@jordannews.com.)

I just thought I would add a

elkes4 — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 21:56:39 -0600

I just thought I would add a note for those of us who do not text. I was going through my bills and noticed a charge for texting on my cell phone bill. I know my wife does not text and I know that I do not. However, I know that some of her friends text her. I called the phone company and waited forever to get through, when I finally talked to a human I asked them if they had started billing for incoming texts? The reply was that if you do not have a text plan with your cell plan you will be charged for incomeing texts. This is Bul%^&&*(() was my reply. It does not cost them anything for their company to use this process and they make enough, I would cancel the phone if I did not want my wife to carry it in the car for an emergency. I think our federal and state reps need to get together and start punishing these companys who rip off the consumers instead of taking campaign contributions from them. I wished the phone rep a Merry Christmas and told her to tell the CEO of the Company to go somewhere warm.

I've always been paranoid

Katrina Styx — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 15:44:53 -0600

I've always been paranoid about dropping my phone in the toilet. I'm not sure I'd be willing to go in after it, even if the water was clean!

(Katrina Styx is a staff writer for the Jordan Independent. She can be reached at kstyx@jordannews.com.)

I never actually said I

Katrina Styx — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 17:13:02 -0500

I never actually said I don't do it.... I just admitted that I think it's dangerous.

That being said, I guess I feel that since I know how dangerous distracting myself can be, using my cell phone in my car is a personal choice. No one has ever told me I'm a bad driver when I'm talking on the phone, and if I did start swerving or not paying attention to speed limits because of my phone, I'd stop using it.

Yes, if I'm distracted, I pose a danger to other drivers. So does driving the speed limit on extremely icy roads. But I guarantee that when winter gets here, somebody will be out driving five over on roads that haven't been plowed yet.

(Katrina Styx is a staff writer for the Jordan Independent. She can be reached at kstyx@jordannews.com.)

That was YOU???? The honking

Mathias Baden — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 14:18:22 -0500

That was YOU???? The honking was inappropriate. Text me next time. I'lll speed up. Ha!

(Mathias Baden is the editor of the Jordan Independent. He can be reached at editor@jordannews.com.)

Boo! I'm sorry, guys, but I

Mathias Baden — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 14:17:26 -0500

Boo! I'm sorry, guys, but I know that I'm in the majority here. The silent people either don't see themselves as distracted or they don't want to admit it. If someone wants to text message, do their makeup, eat a sandwich, intervene in a fight between kids in the backseat, change the radio station, change their clothes, or read a book while driving, they're going to do so. And if they're sufficiently distracted, there's already a law against that.

Cell phone use is another story that is way more justified than other potential distractions. Every year, hundreds of millions of dollars of business is done on the cell phone in the car. Banning cell phone use in cars is, plain and simple, bad economic policy.

Rhetoric and assumptions about accidents resulting from cell phone use are mostly unfounded, but it's true that distracted driving causes accidents. I'm willing to bet that the No. 1 kind of distraction is not cell phone use. It's more distracting to reach for the cell phone than to use it. It's more distracting to dial the cell phone than to talk on it. There are a hundred more distracting things to do in the car than talk on a cell phone.

I don't know why people and especially the government are so offended by cell phone use in cars.

Plus, you guys are no fun. For what do I have a cell phone if I can't use it in the car?

(Mathias Baden is the editor of the Jordan Independent. He can be reached at editor@jordannews.com.)

Thom I completely agree with

Katrina Styx — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 10:29:55 -0500

Thom I completely agree with you. Inattentive driving is incredibly dangerous. A couple years ago I was driving home on an interstate from my job after dark. I wasn't using my phone, but I looked down for just a moment to grab something from the passenger seat next to me, and when I looked up there was a deer on my hood. I never even had time to get my foot on the brake.
Accidents happen even when we do pay attention. I always think about how many times I've had a close call and that the only reason I didn't get hurt (or hurt someone else) was because I was paying attention and was able to react. It's enough to realize how many accidents there could be if we weren't paying attention.
(Katrina Styx is a staff writer for the Jordan Independent. She can be reached at kstyx@jordannews.com.)

I belong to an on-line

Thom Boncher — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 09:39:36 -0500

I belong to an on-line motorcycle safety forum. The two biggest sources of comment are people who make turns across a motorcyclist's path, and cell phone/texting distraction. Mathias you're right that inattentive driving is illegal. Enforcement is what's needed, but enforcement usually doesn't happen until the law or courts specifically define what is "inattentive." Unless an officer knows that a traffic ticket won't be dropped, the stop won't be made.

Composition.Notebook, I suspect you are being facetious about ramming texters. Still, this is a public forum, and what you type may well affect the actions of someone who's not quite as stable as you. People should indeed pull over to text or talk on the phone. Let your example make your point. Don't ride with people who drive distracted.

Last summer, just across the river from Jordan, two teenage girls were killed, and a boy was severely injured when the car they were riding in left the road and rolled over into a cornfield. The road is straight at that point. The weather was good. News reports at the time speculated that the driver was using or sharing a cell phone - in other words, distracted. Corn grows there now, and the memorial is gone. The landowner probably doesn't want to be reminded of what happened. But the rest of us - parents especially - should keep in mind that driving requires full attention. Even if a person can type without looking at the keys, he or she can't read without looking at the screen. A brief moment of inattention in a car is deadly.

I honestly don't believe

Composition.Notebook — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 23:29:20 -0500

I honestly don't believe many people are intelligent enough to know that texting while driving is a distraction. Therefore, the law is good.
When I see people driving down the highway at 60 mph, and they are texting and swerving back and forth, it makes me want to ram my car into them, just to prove a point. It's illegal; it makes you even worse at driving than you probably already are; and it's only one more additional distraction you deal with while driving. The damage to my car would be highly worth the cost if I could save someones life from the moron that's texting while driving.
I honestly think people really could have the courtesy to pull over to the side of the road to text or talk on their phone or deal with any kind of distraction.

We may not need a law

Ruth Anne Maddox — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 12:13:29 -0500

We may not need a law against texting, but people do need to use some common sense. When I'm relegated to driving 45 mph in the passing lane on Highway 169 or I-35, I am none too pleased when I get alongside the clueless driver when I see that he or she (usually a she?!) is obviously texting! Yes, that was me laying on my horn the entire time I passed you!!!!

My daughter can text without even looking at her phone because she knows where the letters are on the keypad of her phone better than she knows the keyboard of a computer. If you cannot text with your eyes on the road, you should probably wait until you stop driving.

And why do we have so many of these odd little laws and are required to buckle up in a vehicle yet motorcyclists are still allowed to ride without helmets?