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Most Cell Phone Users Pay for More Minutes Than They Use, Study Finds

by Terrence O'Brien on March 9, 2009 at 03:08 PM

Americans Pay an Arm and a Leg for Cell Phone Service

It's no surprise that Americans are overpaying for cellular service, but you may be disturbed to learn exactly how much cash you're actually coughing up per minute of air time. A new study from the Utility Consumers' Action Network (UCAN) estimates that people are paying an average of $3.02 per minute of actual talk time.

Of course, that average is skewed by a relatively small percentage of consumers who greatly overestimate the number of minutes they need, and don't use the vast majority of them. But even after removing these most extreme examples, UCAN found that the average consumer was paying about $1 a minute.

Most consumers only use about a third of their anytime minutes, wasting the rest while still paying for them. Of course, you can place a lot of the blame for this at the feet of cellular providers, who structure their plans to dissuade customers from choosing cheaper options. For example, if you want to take advantage of AT&T's unlimited nights and weekends offer, you're required to sign up for a $60 plan with 900 anytime minutes.

Even prepaid plans, which are often cited as a good way to save money on a cell phone plan, aren't really cheap. While less pricey than regular plans, they're still not nearly as cheap as a land line, which costs around $0.10 a minute.

You can cut costs by closely examining your bill, figuring out how many minutes you use, and seeing if it's possible to switch to a cheaper plan. Don't be afraid to call customer service, either. After all, they're there to help you, at least in theory. Just don't let them distract you with offers for other plans. Let them know that you want to reduce your bill and stick to your guns. [From: LA Times]

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Tags: billing, bills, cell phone, cell phone service, CellPhone, CellPhoneService, cellular plans, CellularPlans, customer service, CustomerService, money, prepaid, recsession

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