intl V

So today I get my cell phone bill and it’s $120. One hundred and twenty dollars. I have never had a cell phone bill over $50 my entire life. I call Sprint (need a snarky new name for them) and ask for the explanation. Apparently, Sprint bills you for the current cycle, PLUS a month in advance whenever you change your plan/get a new phone. Usually I’m diligent about knowing these types of things, but I was not aware of this. If someone had told me when I went to get my new phone, I would have gone elsewhere. Maybe that’s why no one told me. Or maybe it’s so common that everyone is presumed to know already, and I’m just out of the loop. Either way, we need to petition our congressmen to get a bill going to regulate these damn cell phone companies. There probably already is/was a bill, but it obviously left out an important part.

The whole thing stinks. It’s all set up so the wireless companies never break even or (god forbid) lose money, only profit in some way, shape, form, or fashion. Pretty slick! Imagine if every business ran that way….

McDonalds - They charge you for your meal, PLUS a future meal that you haven’t even eaten yet. A “meat & soda credit” in case you go vegetarian/healthy and stop eating at McDonalds.
The Doctor - You go in because you have the flu and you get billed TWICE, just in case you change insurance carriers, or in case you DIE. A “health credit”.
Jewelry Store - You go to buy an engagement ring and they charge you for TWO rings, just in case in case you get dumped or divorced. A “future fiancé credit”.

You see how absurd the entire thing is, yet we are all SUCKERS AND CHUMPS for not doing anything about it. Especially in these times, we all need our money for right now, not so some company can hold onto it interest-free for the future. This even could seem like it’s walking the line awfully close to breaking some sort of financial rule. I Googled “is it legal for cell phone companies to hold your money interest free just because they say it is in their contract” but nothing came up. I can write an outrageously scammy contract too! I could get people to sell me their firstborn sons for a bean burrito, but that wouldn’t be legal, so why is this?? We gotta write letters and make calls! It’s not like our congressmen and women are doing anything better with their time. They need do something nice for us for a change, instead of something nice for their own pockets! Maybe this is the FCC’s jurisdiction, in which case, I give up. My internet provider won’t let me access their complaint page on broadband.