# Charge me for incoming text messages? That I don't want? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [April 13, 2008, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charge-me-for-incoming-text-messages-that-i-dont-want/445127 "2008-04-13T04:39:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2008, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charge-me-for-incoming-text-messages-that-i-dont-want/445127/21 "2008-04-13T13:36:46Z")
[QUOTE=Pixilated] If you dont answer the call and it goes to voicemail, chances are you are charged to check your vm regardless if you wanted that person to leave you a message. [/QUOTE] True, BUT you have the option of not listening to the voice mail. Wand to know what it says, you have to pay, fair enough. Maybe you should be able to see something on your phone that says “Text message from 555-1212” then if you are willing to pay to see what it says, you click okay and it pulls the message from the server. ---
**Author:** ![Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brown_eyed_girl/32/3574_2.png) [@Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brown_Eyed_Girl)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2008, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charge-me-for-incoming-text-messages-that-i-dont-want/445127/22 "2008-04-13T14:31:31Z")
This is why contracts are a bad idea. Once you’re locked in to a contract, the company can pretty much bend you over at will. [Cricket](http://www.mycricket.com/cricketplans/) offers free text messaging on all their plans and if you decide at some point to switch carriers, you’re free to do so. No longer do we worry about using too many minutes, texts or anything really. I haven’t found a downside. I hope the pay-as-you-go model eventually drives the larger carriers to abandon the contract and prepaid minutes models in favor of keeping the customers they keep pissing off with ridiculous fees and charges. ---
**Author:** ![Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brown_eyed_girl/32/3574_2.png) [@Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brown_Eyed_Girl)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2008, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charge-me-for-incoming-text-messages-that-i-dont-want/445127/23 "2008-04-13T14:41:34Z")
Unfortunately, I just noticed Cricket doesn’t offer service in Orlando. Hope you get it soon. ---
**Author:** ![interface2x](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c0e974/32.png) [@interface2x](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/interface2x)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2008, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charge-me-for-incoming-text-messages-that-i-dont-want/445127/24 "2008-04-13T14:51:39Z")
Wow, your friends are assholes unless they later get together with you, say haha, and buy the next round. ---
**Author:** ![Bob55](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Bob55](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bob55)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2008, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charge-me-for-incoming-text-messages-that-i-dont-want/445127/25 "2008-04-13T15:35:57Z")
[QUOTE=interface2x] Wow, your friends are assholes unless they later get together with you, say haha, and buy the next round. [/QUOTE] Yup…it’s probably a little revenge though as I was a pawn in their Photoshopping games against each other - one would request some sort of image of the other to email around, and the other would do the same. So, for the first time they’re able to “get” me, and it appears to excite them. I’m sure they’ll pay me back, but it was them that made me notice this evil loophole in the cell phone system. As **ASAKMOTSD** said, I get random text messages directly from Sprint as well, and it never occurred to me that they’re charging me for those. Pure evil. But yes **Brown Eyed Girl** , I should start looking into carriers that have plans that are more accommodating to their customers, who don’t try this nickel and dime stuff. Hope I can find one. ---
**Author:** ![bufftabby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/77aa72/32.png) [@bufftabby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bufftabby)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2008, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charge-me-for-incoming-text-messages-that-i-dont-want/445127/26 "2008-04-13T15:57:47Z")
The downside to Cricket is their coverage area. Frankly, it stinks. However, if they do cover all the places you go, it’s a pretty good deal. Sprint is pretty much the laughingstock of the mobile industry. If you love dropped calls and a poor coverage area, Sprint is for you. And **Bob** , I think it’s a bunch of crap that they won’t reimburse you for those spam texts. I know of at least one other major carrier that would happily do so, at least the first go-round. Of course, if I didn’t have unlimited messaging, I’d be in trouble with my 1000+ texts each month. I talk less than a hundred minutes though. Too bad nobody makes a plan with fewer than 300 minutes. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2008, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charge-me-for-incoming-text-messages-that-i-dont-want/445127/27 "2008-04-13T16:15:46Z")
Since your contract is month-to-month, find a carrier who does not charge for incoming text messages. Switch to a plan with them. Port your number over. Don’t tell your “friends” you’re no longer paying for their text messages and secretly feel superior while they continue to text you from a variety of phones you haven’t yet blocked. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2008, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charge-me-for-incoming-text-messages-that-i-dont-want/445127/28 "2008-04-13T16:18:39Z")
Wait, am I to understand you pay to call your mobile message box and listen to your messages as well? Bloody hell. ---
**Author:** ![Pixilated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/aeb1de/32.png) [@Pixilated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pixilated)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2008, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charge-me-for-incoming-text-messages-that-i-dont-want/445127/29 "2008-04-13T17:06:39Z")
[QUOTE=Bob55] **Pixilated** , I don’t think I get charged for incoming phone calls that I don’t answer. If I do, wow, that’s news to me. Add this to my complaint! [/QUOTE] Let me rephrase - your plan may charge you for checking vmail messages that was a result of a missed call, not the missed call itself, and those minutes may or may not fall under package plan. If I’m not mistaken, once you access your vmail the minute ticker starts… so, even if you dont listen to the message but you go in to vmail to delete it, that’s still one minute of usage. Reason why a lot of companies charge for incoming anything - because it makes them money. ---
**Author:** ![Eonwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eonwe/32/240_2.png) [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2008, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charge-me-for-incoming-text-messages-that-i-dont-want/445127/30 "2008-04-14T06:00:18Z")
I’m with the OP, but . . . . . . the cell phone ripoff (or, the price we pay for the convenience of a cell phone) is nothing new. I get charged for calling you, and you get charged for receiving the call. You get charged for receiving texts. As if they take up more bandwidth than a phone conversation. It’s all a game of ‘what can we bundle as a “feature” that we can charge more for?’ ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2008, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charge-me-for-incoming-text-messages-that-i-dont-want/445127/31 "2008-04-14T06:59:22Z")
This, amongst many other reasons, is why I do not have a mobile phone. ---
**Author:** ![brujaja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4af34b/32.png) [@brujaja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brujaja)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2008, 9:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charge-me-for-incoming-text-messages-that-i-dont-want/445127/32 "2008-04-14T09:05:17Z")
Do you get charged for picking up voicemail if you do it from a land line? ---
**Author:** ![Stuffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f17d59/32.png) [@Stuffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stuffy)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2008, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charge-me-for-incoming-text-messages-that-i-dont-want/445127/33 "2008-04-14T14:52:44Z")
I have my kids on a service similar to the one Brown Eyed Girl posted. As far as I can tell they talk and text and send pics simultaneously while eating and playing a video game. [$40 bucks](http://www.metropcs.com/Plans/Default.aspx) a month each. Theirs is the $45 plan but I pay less because I have three phones on the same plan, each additional phone on the plan is $5 per month cheaper. . My wife and I plan to drop ours and join theirs later this month. ---
**Author:** ![scout1222](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/34f0e0/32.png) [@scout1222](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scout1222)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2008, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charge-me-for-incoming-text-messages-that-i-dont-want/445127/34 "2008-04-14T15:53:13Z")
I agree that getting charged for incoming stuff sucks, but I think you should really be pitting your “friends” here. What a couple of douchebags! ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2008, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charge-me-for-incoming-text-messages-that-i-dont-want/445127/35 "2008-04-14T18:12:55Z")
This reminds me of an article I read in the paper this a.m. about advertisers wanting to send stuff (spam?) to cellphones. An advocate for some advertisers’ group said something like, “Opinions appear to be mixed as to the desirability of receiving advertising on cellphones.” Really? Exactly who would be in favor of that? ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2008, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charge-me-for-incoming-text-messages-that-i-dont-want/445127/36 "2008-04-14T18:52:12Z")
[QUOTE=Boyo Jim] You have 10 emergencies a month? Are you Batman? [/QUOTE] Funny, that was my thought too. What, pray tell, is an “emergency” that can be handled with a text? To me and emergency that doesn’t require a call to 911 is not an emergency. HOW DO U STOP A SPURTING ARTERY LOL IM FAINT ---
**Author:** ![Canadjun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/76d3ee/32.png) [@Canadjun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Canadjun)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2008, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charge-me-for-incoming-text-messages-that-i-dont-want/445127/37 "2008-04-14T18:58:34Z")
[QUOTE=Dinsdale] This reminds me of an article I read in the paper this a.m. about advertisers wanting to send stuff (spam?) to cellphones. An advocate for some advertisers’ group said something like, “Opinions appear to be mixed as to the desirability of receiving advertising on cellphones.” Really? Exactly who would be in favor of that? [/QUOTE] The advertisers, of course! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![cckerberos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@cckerberos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cckerberos)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2008, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charge-me-for-incoming-text-messages-that-i-dont-want/445127/38 "2008-04-14T19:01:15Z")
[QUOTE=Sublight] Ditto for Japan, only outgoing calls and messages are charged. [/QUOTE] Thank God for that. Once I got on a spammer’s list and I was getting 10-15 spam messages an hour until I changed my address. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2008, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charge-me-for-incoming-text-messages-that-i-dont-want/445127/39 "2008-04-14T21:16:52Z")
[QUOTE=Bob55] Fast forward to me making the mistake of telling a friend I pay per text. He - knowing how conservative I am with money - thinks it’s funny to text me randomly to intentionally charge me money. Tonight he sent 10 in a row. Regardless of how childish this is, it opened my eyes to a bigger problem - how can a cell phone company legally charge me for something I have zero control over? [/QUOTE] What an asshole. The solution to this is to print out a response to each message, tie each to a rock, and throw them through separate windows of his car and/or house. I agree with you that charging to receive text messages is absurd. I did my best to discourage it among my friends by telling them I don’t like text messages, ignoring text messages I receive, and not sending text messages, but I’d still get a dozen or so each month. Then I got a plan that happened to come with free text messages (Sprint SERO), and I don’t care any more. I still hardly ever send them, though. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2008, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charge-me-for-incoming-text-messages-that-i-dont-want/445127/40 "2008-04-14T23:30:05Z")
I don’t get charged for incoming texts, unless it’s one of those rip-off things that you have to subscribe to, then text ‘stop’ to end (and yeah, I bet texting ‘stop’ works just great). But I just had a very interesting and slightly frustrating conversation with my phone provider. I received two texts in quick succession - both saying: > [@](#): > > Hi from Orange. Over the next few weeks, we will be sending you some great weekly offers. if you don’t want to receive these, simply reply NO by 15 April. Well, I was deeply suspicious of this - what if this wasn’t from Orange at all (sender is just a four digit number - how would I know?), and what if texting ‘NO’ actually starts them sending me messages I do have to pay to receive… So I phoned their customer care - after 15 minutes on hold, I spoke to a young lady, whose first answer was “Well, if it says ‘Hi from Orange’, it must be from us” :dubious: Yeah, because nobody else but Orange could type the words ‘Hi from Orange’, right? Anyway, after I had voiced my scepticism, she did some sort of search and was then able to assure me that _as the sender’s number doesn’t belong to any third party, it must belong to Orange_. Still not really satisfactory, but obviously the best I was going to get. I replied ‘NO’ to one of the texts, as instructed. And shortly afterward, a reply arrived: > [@](#): > > Hi from Orange. Thanks for letting us know. Don’t worry, we’ll keep in touch with our other great offers in the future :smack: Yeah, because ‘NO’ obviously means that. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charge-me-for-incoming-text-messages-that-i-dont-want/445127.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charge-me-for-incoming-text-messages-that-i-dont-want/445127.md?page=3)