Young Cell Users Rack Up Debt, One Dime Message at a Time

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

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From: Monty Solomon <monty () roscom com>
Date: Sun, 9 Jan 2005 03:50:33 -0500
To: <undisclosed-recipient:;>
Subject: Young Cell Users Rack Up Debt, One Dime Message at a Time


Young Cell Users Rack Up Debt, One Dime Message at a Time

January 9, 2005
 By LISA W. FODERARO

Chaz Albert, a freshman at Mercy College in Dobbs Ferry,
N.Y., is a passionate "texter," someone who loves to send
and receive pithy text messages via cellphone. He does it
at home, at school and at work. He often prefers texting
over talking on his cellphone.

Last month, though, Mr. Albert's habit caught up with him.
Only $80 of his $400 cellphone charges were his father's,
and most of his own, he said, were for text-messaging.

"I was shocked, but I couldn't do anything about it," he
said. "I didn't realize that I got charged for reading text
messages. My dad was just like: 'Hey, it's your problem.
Pay it.' " 

In the last two years, text messages - which cell carriers
generally limit to 160 characters - have become a rage
among teenagers, who embrace the technology as yet another
way to escape a boring class or stay in touch with friends.

But text-messaging, or texting for short, has a downside.
It can be expensive. Although phone companies offer
relatively inexpensive packages - like Verizon Wireless's
$9.99 for 1,000 messages a month - industry experts say
that carriers sometimes fail to draw customers' attention
to the cost-saving deals, and that customers themselves,
especially young people, often exceed the number of
messages allowed. In those cases, sending a text message
usually costs 10 cents; the cost of receiving one ranges
from 2 to 10 cents.

The sticker shock is reminiscent of the early days of
cellphones, when users often were surprised by how much
they were charged for going over their allotted minutes or
for phoning someone outside their calling areas.

Many high school and college students accustomed to sending
unlimited instant messages on their computers do not adapt
easily to text messaging's pay-per-message format, and end
up with unexpectedly high bills when they get involved in
keypad conversations that involve hundreds, even thousands,
of messages a month. The results are angry confrontations
with parents, long-term payment plans and the loss of
cellphone privileges.

...

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/09/technology/09message.html



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