Verizon Wireless actually got billing correct
A couple weeks ago, I told you that we added another line to our Verizon Wireless Family Share Plan to be my wife’s business line. They tried to pass a $25 “Activation Fee” on me but I refused it and they said they would credit the amount on the next bill. I got signed proof on my receipt that they would do so. They said if it was wrong, to just come in and show the receipt and they would correct it.
I was fully expecting to see the $25 fee imposed on our next statement, and sure enough it was. However, I also saw a $25 credit! The Verizon billing department actually did something right. Overall, I had $43 worth of credits. The next big chunk was a $15 phone number change when I had to switch lines due to an evil phone number. I also had some small adjustments for state taxes and other fees.
The total bill this month is $112. That’s considerably higher than our normal bill and still higher than what I expected for a regular bill with 3 lines. However, I did have to pay more than 1 month on the new line because of the overlap in the billing period. Next month should be closer to $100-105.
I’m inching closer to just dropping our home Vonage line, but that’s the number we’ve given out to everyone instead of our cellphone numbers. It’s also nice to use the Vonage minutes instead of my cell minutes when I’m on hold or a conference call. However, at slightly less than $20 a month, it’s a “luxury” I’m willing to keep for now.
I hope you realize that these little petty amounts you are saving are doing nothing for you because you are not getting rid of your debt. Look at that number to the right…$43,000!!! That is how much non-home debt you have. Ouch!!! You may keep trying to convince yourself that it’s just student loans, but it’s debt nonetheless. I hope you can put in your sights that number and knock it down. I am cheering for you. Ignore the fact that you’re saving a little money here, a little there. The interest you’re paying on your loans just cancel that right out. Not to mention, what happens if Stacey or you gets sick, injured forever, etc? Did you plan for this? I hope. You have to realize that life is not an easy drive. You have bumps, battles, and crazy crap that can come up. It would be sad to see your life go haywire if something bad happened just because you have these stupid debts.
I would also like to see this blog be put in a direction. Right now, as a reader, I feel like I’m just coasting along for the ride, your ride (life). What is the purpose here? As a reader of many financial blogs, most have a purpose. I’m not here for entertainment or wanting to know about your life. Your readers are here for inspiration, how to learn from others what to do (or not do) etc. Anyway, sorry to rant about all this in a post that has nothing to do with this topic, but I wanted to say this. Hopefully I’ll see some change. If not, that’s fine too.
Tyler, I appreciate the rant 🙂 Regarding our debts, my student loan is deferred so it’s not accruing interest. We have 5 figures in liquid savings, we have considerable amounts of life insurance. We’re paying over $2000 per month of our debt down each month.
Regarding a focus for this site, you’re right that I don’t really have one, but that’s one reason I like writing. I was just telling a friend last night that if I ever became a boring writer that didn’t inject any of my personal life into my articles, then I would just stop writing. But I’ll take your comment into consideration and mull it over. You’re onto something there.
I’m right there with you as far as not ever trusting a cell phone company to get the billing right. It happens occasionally though.
In response to Tyler’s comment, I’m sure you’re working on the debt as well, seeing as how the original amount was over $100K. I must also say that it’s not always the best thing to pay off some of the debt. The bars on the right don’t show any cash balances or investment accounts. For instance, I’ve got a student loan at 2.875% that I plan on keeping for the duration. It doesn’t make any sense to me to pay it off when the interest is so low and tax deductible as well. There are many better options available to me to invest and grow my money than to pay off such a low interest debt.
The point is… without any more insight than just those bars on the right, I couldn’t make a judgement call on how you’re handling things.
I can, however, appreciate the differing viewpoint. That’s kind of the point of blogging and we all learn things.
Sprint isn’t any better.