Study: You're Overpaying for Cell Phone Service, Sucka!

Study: You're Overpaying for Cell Phone Service, Sucka!
Friday, February 04, 2011 - by Paul Lilly

You're confused about your wireless bill plan. So much so, that you've gone and chosen the wrong one applicable to your needs. Your failure to accurately assess voice, text, and data usage is costing you big time. Whoa there, Billy! Before you go and fire off an angry comment, remember we're just the messenger, so don't shoot us (and for the record, we don't want you to shoot anyone).

We're passing along what the self-proclaimed "money-saving search engine" called BillShrink is saying. According to BillShrink's latest survey, more than a quarter of a million wireless subscribers pay, on average, $336 too much per year because they're not accurately calculating their voice, text, and data usage.

"Despite the best efforts from the FCC and the carriers to create transparency in wireless fees, we've found that people are becoming even more confused about how to right-size their cell phone plans," said Schwark Satyavolu, co-founder and CEO of BillShrink. "While tiered pricing creates more choices, it makes it paramount for people to accurately assess their phone usage. Even though data usage is surging, the majority of wireless customers are still throwing away money by getting plans with too much data capacity."

Collectively, BillShrink reckons U.S. wireless subscribers are forking over an extra $79 million each year that need not be spent. Part of the reason, BillShrink says, is that people overestimate voice and text. At the same time, they also underestimate data usage and end up paying more for overage charges than they would have had to pay if they just selected a higher data tier to begin with.

Have you checked your cell phone bill lately? Are you overpaying in exchange for a bit of wiggle room?