Wireless Industry Study Says Bill Shock is Good for You
Wireless Industry Study Says Bill Shock is Good for You
Posted 03/09/2011 at 3:30pm
| by Ryan Whitwam
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At first glance, a new study commissioned by the wireless industry seems reasonable. The study was done by Recon Analytics based on data acquired by Neilson Company. The numbers indicate that only 0.3% of US wireless customers would benefit financially from switching to a higher voice plan, rather than paying occasional overages. Sure, the numbers don't lie, but it’s the conclusion of the reports that's got us scratching our heads. Apparently, you like overages.
The study concludes that since overages are, on the whole, not damaging, the FCC should not enact consumer protections against them. The authors of the study asserted that mobile users were intentionally incurring overages because it was the most efficient solution for them. The FCC has been considering forcing wireless companies to help customers avoid so-called Bill Shock by notifying users of impending overages.
This idea is being called out as a non sequitur by most. Just because a customer incurs overages does not mean they are doing so intentionally. They may just lack the proper tools to curb their usage. The study does not go into detail as to why notifying customer would be a bad idea. It simply claims that consumer choice would be damaged by overage notifications. Color us baffled.
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March 10, 2011 at 12:30pm
People take the price point that is the cheapest and closest to what they are going to use. All this really seems to say is there are not enough packages for people to choose from. .. If there are packages (a & b) and you are going to use more than a and less than b or (a<x<b) it makes sense to choose a. That would be planned overage. Or if it is known by the consumer that they are going to incur and overage once or twice a year that does not make their annual cost meet or exceed the next tier package planned overage could be a good choice.
-This Report provides strong evidence that consumers, especially those who repeatedly go into overages, are effectively creating their own price plans. –
This may be true but there is no way of knowing through the method taken. The consumers were not polled their bills were looked at. The only conclusion that can be safely made is for most the price points of the plans were correct. However, for many the plans did not meet consumer needs.
aarcane
March 09, 2011 at 6:56pm
I'd far prefer a hard cutoff at overage time. "to continue using your service, you must contact a customer service representative by pressing #whatever to purchase extra minutes". selling minutes 100 at a time or 1000 at a time would provide options for those who still want to go over on occasion because it's the best option, while allowing the rest of us to make the decision as to whether or not to upgrade our plan or just do without for that one day.
Techrocket9
March 09, 2011 at 6:52pm
Why is it bad for the government to force people to do things?
Because it is the government forcing people to do things.
Ghok
March 09, 2011 at 7:22pm
Assuming you're talking about this story, what people are you talking about?
arosadler
March 09, 2011 at 6:34pm
That's why I love my carrier. US Cellular already notifies me before we go over our minutes. They've done it for a long time. I just wish they could grow into being one of the larger carriers. But that's just for phone selection, they roam off of Verizon's network, so I'm pretty much covered. And most of their plans are national.
CaptainFabulous
March 09, 2011 at 5:58pm
I stopped right after "a new study commissioned by the wireless industry". Do we really expect the outcome of such a study to be anything but ridiculous?
someuid
March 09, 2011 at 5:19pm
It is a sad day when a wireless company is convinced they are the Bringers of Consumer Choice and Economic Freedom.
Either that or they are attempting to redifine the word 'liar'
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