Bill Shock
bill shock – the unwanted surprise of a large monthly bill. Bill shock is most often associated with mobile phones when users incur excessive roaming charges while traveling.
This has affected a quarter of travelers, according to comparison site Uswitch. An FCC Survey indicated that 30 million Americans—or one in six mobile users—have experienced “bill shock
Telecom companies are notorious for issuing crazy bills, often without warning that egregious extra charges have been accumulating. Five years ago, the FCC (US agency) was interested in imposing regulations so that companies couldn’t induce “bill shock,” which it defines as:
sudden and unexpected increase in monthly bills that is not caused by a change in service plans. Bill shock can occur for a number of reasons including unclear or misunderstood advertising, unanticipated roaming or data charges, and other problems.
While the regulations do not appear to have come to fruition (how shocking), the FFC.gov website even has advice for consumers who have experienced bill shock calamity, plus awesomely helpful tips like “If you are an infrequent phone user, consider a pre-paid plan. Because you ‘pre-pay’ for all your minutes, these plans make it impossible to go over your set limit.” 🙂
An FCC Survey indicated that 30 million Americans—or one in six mobile users—have experienced “bill shock,” a sudden and unexpected increase in monthly bills that is not caused by a change in service plans. Bill shock can occur for a number of reasons including unclear or misunderstood advertising, unanticipated roaming or data charges, and other problems.
It can be difficult to know when you’re running up a surprisingly high wireless bill, especially if you don’t monitor your usage or receive automatic usage alerts.
The FCC’s Consumer Task Force recommends these strategies to avoid bill shock:
- Understand your calling pattern for making voice calls, and ask your carrier for a plan that would be best for your kind of use.
- If you are an infrequent phone user, consider a pre-paid plan. Because you “pre-pay” for all your minutes, these plans make it impossible to go over your set limit.
- Understand what your roaming charges are and where you will incur them.
- Understand your options for data and text plans.
- If you are going to use your mobile phone outside the U.S. for voice, email, and other services, make certain to find out beforehand what charges may apply.
- Ask how your carrier can help you avoid bill shock – with phone or text alerts, by letting you monitor your account online, or by giving you other information.
Traveling internationally
If you are traveling to Europe (from the EU!), you should be able to use your phone as normal without fear. However, there are still some loopholes, particularly if you use a very large amount of data back home, as free-roaming comes with a ‘fair use’ policy.
For trips outside the EU, some providers are better than others for travelers, and some popular holiday destinations are hugely expensive when it comes to roaming charges.
For companies with employees traveling internationally, the ability to stay connected with mobile devices today is imperative. Although these costs typically can’t be avoided, we can help to significantly reduce the overall cost of that corporate conference, an annual retreat away or a lengthy business trip.
No matter if you travel because of business or pleasure: the main thing is you need to be online; for emails, maps, calls, social networks… No need for a phone whose data is “off”.
Before you take your mobile overseas and roam internationally consult us for the best possible solution.
