<p>ADDED DATA PLAN_As some of you might remember my D recently replaced her broken cell phone with a phone purchased on ebay. She purchased an older model of the Blackjack. She does not have a data plan and does not plan on using it as a smartphone.
I just received an email from ATT stating that they hope we are enjoying our new smartphone and they would not want us to not get the optimal use out of our phone. In light of this they are doing us the “favor” of adding a data plan to her phone bill. I will need to call them but has anyone else had this issue. They do require you to add a data plan when purchasing a new smartphone from them. I don’t see how they can require it when you did not buy the phone through them at their discounted price.</p>
<p>Mom60, my DH bought an ATT phone in the store even and didn’t want or pay for the data plan. You just need to call and tell them thanks but no thanks!
Also, I really scrutinize my ATT bill. There are often errors. Most common is a charge for something I supposedly downloaded or subscribed to. I now have all our phones set up to block all of that nonsense unless a particular four digit pin is put into the phone at the time of purchase. Saves a lot of hassles.
I think they call it a parental block but I call it an employer block. LOL></p>
<p>I think some phones automatically connect to the data network. If your daughter’s phone does, it could end up costing you $1,000’s without the data plan.</p>
<p>ATT has been extremely good to me about adjusting charges on the bill when I call and ask very nicely. This includes a lot of unintended/accidental overseas calls when my daughter was traveling abroad (like when my d. rolled over on her phone in her sleep and accidentally triggered the autodial). </p>
<p>That being said… they do seem to be able to pile on the charges for various features and plans. I’ve been with them a long time and their willingness to make adjustments when asked may simply be a result of the fact that I pay them so much $$$ already that its worth it to them to give back a little every once in a while to keep me as a customer.</p>
<p>The woman I spoke with at ATT was very nice but could not help me. Basically they are charging $30 for data for any smart phone regardless of where you bought it or if you want data. Lots of complaints on the internet. I think I will look into filing a complaint with the FCC as someone suggested in a PM. Even if you have a smartphone in your family that was purchased under the old rules if you switch it to another family members phone number they want to begin charging a data fee.
The people she bought the phone from on ebay are willing to exchange the phone she purchased for another phone. It is just a pain in the neck. She has adjusted to the new phone.</p>
<p>Verizon is our provider, and when we recently went to replace my son’s phone, the majority of their new phones are also smartphones, and the user is REQUIRED to pay for the data plan in order to use the phone. There are some phones available for purchase that are not smartphones, but not many, and the features aren’t very good.</p>
<p>Do most people just pony up for the data plan? I’m disappointed that I am unable to get a phone I like and then decide whether or not I want a data plan. The cell phone companies sure do seem to have people over a barrel on this.</p>
<p>Momlove- I 100% agree. I don’t want to commit for another 2 yrs to get a simple Samsung flip phone for free. I think that I didn’t have any luck with ATT and our bill since they know you have no where to go. Every other carrier requires a data plan for their smart phones. When my younger D got her Blackberry from ATT they did not require a data plan. Now even the one’s that don’t require Data require a texting plan. Which luckily we already have and use.</p>
<p>I just went through the same thing with Verizon…a used flip phone my S tried to reactivate required a $9.99 data plan because it has an MP3 player. Tried telling them I did not want to use the MP3 thing, gave them 0’s on the customer satisfaction survey (they did call about that!), but to no avail. I refuse to pay anymore that what I’m paying now…$165 a month for 3 phones with texting is enough and we don’t do anything on the phones but talk and text. I was considering switching to ATT as I get a 12% employee discount on monthly bill, but if their data thing is $30 a month…:(</p>
<p>sk8rmom- I think a flip phone with ATT does not require a data plan. It is only the “smartphones”. Though they have other phones that require a messaging plan. Luckily if you have a family text plan you are okay. We pay $20 for unlimited texting on 5 phones.</p>
<p>We have flip phone with Verizon with MP3 players and do not pay the $9.99 data plan. D & I have NV3 phones and S bought some phone over the internet. We pay just the basic phone for 700 minutes + an extra 250 messages for each S & D. Sometimes we have randomly been charged for data access & they always admit it looks like it was a mistake & re-credit us (generally just punched the wrong button).</p>
<p>I’d call & ask to talk with the manager. Somehow it doesn’t sound right. I don’t use the MP3 player, but think D may. It’s more than I want to deal with. I actually had them disable some functions so I don’t accidentally use them & that’s cut back on the random data access charges.</p>
<p>To get unlimited texts for $20, is that grandfathered in from an old plan? We pay $5/month for each kid to have max of 250 messages/month. It works.</p>