Consumer Cellular - Data Overage Charge

[MonaD729285]

I was told there would never be overage fees. That is not true. If you have the 20GB data plan and you go over, you will be charged at $5 per GB for your overage. And there is no way to prevent those GB’s from piling up accept to turn data off on phone  Not only that but you can’t change your plan anytime as advertised. I asked if I could just change my plan to avoid overage charges and was told no. It was explained to me that I could not change my plan until the end of the billing cycle when there was no data usage.  This is a trap. I can’t just change to another company such as straight talk because I bought the new phone from Consumer Cellular and I am locked in for 6 months. I asked to buy out the 6 mos and was told no.  That is a contract whether Cc acknowledges as such or not. If I can get out of this, I will never fall for their lies again. I think less of AARP for promoting their service. 

[ConChi22]

I signed up for Consumer Cellular. After 30 days I knew it was not what we needed. I went on line and thought I had canceled. Then I got a past due bill. I called and explained that I tried to cancel. (I never used the service.) They said they would cancel. Now I am getting a bill for a final invoice. As far as I am concerned Consumer Cellular is a rip-off.

Connie Chisum

[Frozenoem]

I don't know if you have a contract, or if you particularly like your plan, or what you even pay.

I pay $50 per month for 2Gb per month, unlimited calls, and have had no problems - use AT&T.

I do use an iPhone 7 and with my phone I tend to track how and when I use the data charges. For instance to save surprises I turn off cellular data, when in borderline areas, and check on my amount used in settings, cellular - that's also where I turn off/on data as needed.

1/2 Gb would be to small a quantity for me, and would probably be used with the first hour.

Just an idea you might like to increase your amount of use or change plans, then track your data usage. Or kill your cellular use. And just use wifi, when available.

When I say borderline areas, some areas I work and play might be both Wifi use and 15 feet away signal drops and cellular roaming appear, good for derogatory expression. But, can be forced to Accept wifi if cellular is turned off in phone.

Even my older 4S allowed turning off data when required..

Frozen

[sc10]

You are the one paying the bill so you have the final say. If you dislike the accounting practice, just go to one of the many other providers of your liking. There are many plans available now with no overage on mobile data. If you purchase a plan for x amount of data. When you go over the amount, you will still get service with no overage charges. Your data rate will just go down to like 2G speed.

[cat0w]

I can only speak for Straight Talk, which I have. I pay the same amount every 30 days for unlimited talk, text and data.

[gr1916]

I went over my data limit last month by .01 GB or 10 MB. When my plan was automatically "updated", as is their new policy, I went online to check my account and see how much I went over - my plan is for .5 GB each month and the total was .51 GB. This happened on the last day of my billing cycle, October 9th. I contacted CC customer service, received a reply, rechecked my usage online and verified it as .51 GB. Sent another email to CC (below) and asked why, if they have a buffer (they do, which is good) why am I being charged? Their answer is below my email.

Gregory Ritz

Oct 11, 16:57 PDT

This is what it shows on my account for data usage from 9/10/16 to 10/9/16 (direct from my account information on the site):

Data Usage – 0.51 used of 1.50 GB  (this was cut/pasted from their website)

From what I see this would 510 MB based on the conversion from .51 GB to MB.

Can you explain where you come up with the 522 MB figure?

Gregory Ritz

Joshua B. (Consumer Cellular)

Oct 12, 08:00 PDT

Hello Gregory Ritz,
Thank you for your reply. I apologize for the continued confusion caused by this situation. I have attempted to contact you by phone, but I was unable to reach you. I have reviewed your usages and can confirm a total of 522MB, or 0.52GB, was used in this billing cycle. Unfortunately, it appears the total usage amount on your online account may not have updated properly, meaning it is showing a lower usage than it should. However, when adding together all of your usages for the previous billing cycle, the total usage does come to 522MB. If you would like to review this, your usages can be viewed individually through your online account at my.consumercellular.com.

Bottom line, the data listed on their website directly tied to your usage is evidently inaccurate and cannot be taken as gospel, and only the CC customer service has the correct information. Folks, it's "only" $10, but the comparison is startling - say you fill up your car with gas which normally is $30 but today, for whatever reason, it takes $30.50 - so now you must pay $40, even though you only got $30.50 worth of gas! Would you go back to that station?? The telephone companies are playing us with their "data usage" tactics. When you pay for internet access at home, you oay for speed, not quantity. The telephone companies now give us thousands of free minutes, but compensate by quantifying the data you use! Please voice your displeasure at this tactic. They can make it fair by charging you for what you actually use (WOW...WHAT A CONCEPT!) or giving you options for overages that do NOT push your bill higher because their system cannot add.