Sure, your grandparents never seemed like the most tech-savvy people on the block, but a recent release by The Seniors Coalition aim to change that. According to them, not only do old folks know their stuff, they want to change things for the better.
A study commissioned by The Seniors Coalition shows that a stunning proportion of cell phone users are woefully unaware of the conditions of the contract they’ve locked themselves into. 40% of users surveyed, for example, had no idea how much they would be charged if they ended their contract early. Similarly, 54% surveyed admitted to using fewer minutes than they pay for each month. Spokesperson “Grandma” Green (seriously, that what everyone calls her) urges customers to try and better under their contracts and plans so they don’t pay out the nose for unnecessary minutes and features, but she admits it can be hard:
Consumers need to have a good handle on how many cell phone minutes they use each month. But who can really blame them for having trouble keeping track of this when they get the gobbledygook bills provided by most cell phone companies.
Now this is a cause we can all get behind. Ultimately, The Seniors Coalition aims to get this information in front of Congress, in hopes that they will crackdown on puzzling cell phone bills and charges as hard as they did on credit card companies. If their hard work pays off, we’ll all be in better shape, and hey, we can show our appreciation to grandma and grandpa by using our new found savings to pick up some bird feeders and prune juice.
Bout time! Good for Seniors Coalition! Us seniors can take action too by doing our research. Being on a retirement income, I have to pinch pennies, so I got myself a nice little Net10 prepaid phone with all the minutes I need for a fraction of the cost of my contract. If I want more minutes, I can add them any time. That’s what you call taking control over your spending.
Senior ought to use prepaid phones. I got a TracFone for my mom and she loves it!
Hey! I have a NET10 phone too, and I love it! Why bother with trying to decipher a bill at the end of each month? It was as clear as daylight that I was paying too much on contract and I immediately started saving at least $30 a month when I switched to NET10. The best thing ever was when I realized that the new prepaid phone had better reception than my old one :-)
My 79 year old mom was on an AT&T paying $60 a month. Many months the minutes went unsued since she only uses her phone for emergencies or to keep us “posted” when she goes out – not often. When her contract expired I suggested she cahnge to a preapdi plan that way she would only buy the minutes she needed. She bought a TracFone at the Dollar store (of all places!) since this is one of her hangouts. She also buys the cards there. Loves the fact that she doesn’t spend too much on a luxury itme (though in my eyes having this cell is really a necessity for my peace of mind).
I have had a Tracfone for a while now and have been very happy to have it but now I just heard about Tracfone’s new offer called ‘Straight Talk’ that is giving 1000 minutes, 1000 texts and 30 MB of data for $30 – wow!!!! I will be buying that from now on because it has got to be the cheapest cell phone option on the market.
I just heard about StraightTalk too – whoever wrote in about it. Can’t see your comment now. I went on the website and checked it out. Are you ready? 1000 minutes plus 1000 multi-media minutes, free 411 calls, no connection fees – $30 a month. You can load up on minutes automatically or on demand. I’m happy with what I have now, but I have to say this looks like a great deal for people who use more minutes than me.