How To Negotiate Text Overage Fees

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Have you ever gone over your texts and realized that your bill was going to be super high? Wireless phone companies these days charge a ridiculous amount of money every time you text over your allotted package. The fees according to the popular wireless services can range anywhere between .05 to .15 cents (in America, not too sure about other countries) per text received or sent! I truly wonder how much it costs them to send and receive texts and if these companies are just gouging us for every penny. Here is a simple way I negotiated my text overages and how you can too.

What Can You Do?

I was there with you. I had a text plan that cost $5 and  only allowed 250 text messages to be sent or received and .15 cents after every text over that. I checked my text usage by (if you have Verizon) pressing “#data” and press send which gives you exactly how many texts, how many pic’s you send and recieve  and when your usage resets. I went over by 500 texts and another $75 dollars out of my pocket. I looked at it in disbelief and called the company right away. These are the steps I took to get my $75 in overages and paid only $10 dollars.

• Call your company right away. A quick way to get a person immediately is by using Gethuman.com Their listings tell you exactly how to get to a person and buttons to push to get them quickly.
• Be nice and cordial and ask your customer representative how his/her day is going. Do not disrespect them. They are people too and I know it’s frustrating to get someone overseas but have patience and be extremely nice to them.
• Tell them your story and ask them what other text packages there are. Once you find something that covers your text overages, ask them if they could prorate it for you to cover the texts that you went over on. This way you are only paying the difference in text packages vs. the per text overages. Surprisingly, they usually say yes. If they keep claiming they can not do that, kindly ask for their manager and see if they can help you out. They are there to try and keep you as a customer. They want to make you happy.
• If your customer service representative helps you, thank them for doing a great job and see if you talk to a manager to explain what a wonderful experience it was to be helped. It makes the customer rep. feel good and the manager would no doubt give recognition of that fact. As small as it sounds, it really makes people’s days. After working in hospitality, positive feedback always put a smile on my face and motivated me to try even harder.

I know these companies seem to be gouging you for every penny. If you work with them, they will work with you. They want you as a customer. It may be intimidating to call to ask them to negotiate your text rates but It really works and you can save a ton of money by doing so. I found out that by only paying $10 dollars more for the next text package, I could save $65 dollars in overages.  If it came down to it and you realized you didn’t need the higher text package, then just call them back the next month and bring it back down. I am not one of those people that have unlimited texting nor do I need unlimited texting. For those of you that have it, you wouldn’t have to worry about it. For those who don’t, they can benefit from this. I hope this helps for those that were not “in the know.”