User Panel
Posted: 10/16/2008 2:36:58 AM EDT
I was sitting here, and reading up on water heaters. All is goodish.
My just turned 10 year old came out crying a while ago. She got a text message on her phone at 2 fucking 25 AM saying her account was at a 0 balance. She was scared. I have 5 lines on Verizon, and have had an account there since '91. I went to add her to the account last Aug, on her birthday, and they said I couldn't add a 6th account. (on this plan) I was advised to get her a "pay as you go" account, as her usage would be minimal...I did that. Apparently sending a bunch of messages and phone calls to her favorite grandma sent her over the top of what I had pre paid. No big deal, let ME know, I'll take care of it. Messaging a 10 year old at 2:25 sent me over the edge. I just got into a HUGE phone fight with people I don't care to do business with anymore. I'm beyond mad at this point. Patronizing monkey that was trying to placate me, while taking the tone that I was a pre-paid plan loser... how CLEAR is "DO NOT MESSAGE MY 10 YEAR OLD AT 2:30 AM.. EVER!!!??" |
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I'm 99% sure the process is entirely automated. No one (no person) messaged your daughter at 2am in the morning. It was simply an automated process that happened to be triggered at that time.
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Great........Verizon just bought out Alltel , I have been with them since 93.....
I have something to look forward to ! |
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Why doesn't everyone have a cell phone? They're possibly the most useful thing ever. I haven't had a land line in about 3.5 years. Good for younger kids to have a direct and immediate line of contact to their parents as a "just in case" sorta thing. My sister would call and say she was staying after school, riding home with a friend, would call while at a friend's house to let us know her plans etc. This way, kids and parents can be in contact with each other whenever and wherever no matter what's happening. |
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Yeah....dude, it's not like they have a bunch of idiots standing by to personally text you when you exceed your usage. Relax a little.... Why a 10 year old needs a phone is beyond me, but I suppose a topic for another thread.... |
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You must not have kids..... |
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It is mostly likely a triggered message. Might want to find out why they messaging at 2 am...
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She doesn't need one. Some of her older brothers did, because they were on traveling teams with sports. She uses hers to have a "intercom" to Grandma for the most part. She also likes to take pictures, and send them to me. |
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Oh, its absolutely 99% automated, as it took me 45 minutes to get to a real person. I had to say I wanted to buy something to actually talk to a real person. |
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Uh....I have 4, none of which need or have a cell phone. Again, that's not the issue. They can't just turn off their automated process for your kid you know? What do you expect them to do? |
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THIS is my issue. DO not message ME at 2 AM. They have never done that. To message my little one then... I'm going to have something to say. |
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This was my first thought as well. I have a 7 yo and she'll be getting a cell phone when she has a job, not before. |
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yup, and not to be rude, but, I think you're over reacting a bit. |
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2 AM? How would you like that? just curious, how old are your kids Roland? |
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How would they know that a kid was using a phone and to send the message to a third party? Course I don't get why the message goes out at that time anyway. Verizon is a bunch of a-holes anyway, nice to see wireless is just as bad
Some interesting study lately (don't as me to find it as I am too distracted from multi tasking) showed that "multi tasking" ie playing on the internet and talking on the phone, hurts student's performance. I suspect it was probably easier to get your home done back when we had party lines and no one had a phone. |
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My oldest are 9 (twins). Would I be pissed? Sure, but I wouldn't call because it's automated and there wouldn't be anything they could really do. I'd say to them "boys- it's 2:30 AM. You got a text. It's not a big deal. Go back to sleep." |
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Just be glad it isn't Sprint. We were two weeks late with a payment from work because of a dispute, and they started calling our phones in the middle of the night. It's easier to ignore an automated message than the live (and pissed off) people Sprint hires. The ring from a text message is also much less annoying.z
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I have had cell phones with all the major carriers out there, including their pre-paid services.
They ALL send informational text messages around 2-3 AM, it is automated and annoying. I just started setting my phone to stun at night. YMMV, but none of the pre-paids are going to be any different in my experience. |
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Maybe I am. Her phone was supposed to be an easy way to contact her while out in the neighborhood, and a fun way for her and my mom to communicate, nothing more. Scary messages at 2:25 am weren't part of the "sell" |
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Are you sure the kid wasn't sending a text at 2am, and got this in response because she just sent the last one you paid for?
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My 10 year old has a cell phone and I would not want it any other way. Granted currently it is one of those little 4 button things where you program in the number and when she pushes the button it calls the programed number however for Christmas we are planning on getting her a normal cell with all the buttons.
I look at it like a safety feature so that if she is down playing in the neighborhood park and wants to go to a friends house she can call me and let me know where she is going to be. I can also call her when it is time to come home for supper, etc, etc. Dawn can you talk to the company and see if they will send a e-mail instead texting the phone when minutes are up? |
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I only have two kids , my daughter now 20 yo has had a phone since she was 16 and my son is 12 and has had a phone for about a year now , it's a great way to keep up with your kids !
We can all stop calls in the middle of the night by turning that sum-bitch off..... |
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I don't understand why it's scary. Like a glass of milk, when it's empty, it needs to be filled. Seems like something a ten year old could understand. |
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Had I known she was even close, I would have. I just looked at her bill, a lot of gabbing with gramma, who isn't on the network. Thats gold. Had they sent a nice message middle of the day, I'd have phoned in whatever. 2+AM??? Its just not good business. Her being scared, and crying magnified that to me. My Mama Bear came out. |
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100% sure |
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Thats fine. She doesn't use the phone often. (well. other then chewing up a lot of minutes with grandma) Messaging at 2AM is NOT ok, no matter how you dice it. She isn't used to messages waking her up, and making her worry about making a payment. She isn't currently working, and it stressed her out. She is a little bit of a worry wart. |
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+1 Don't want messages at 2am, turn the phone off till you wake up. |
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What really gets me is "texting" at all. Why in gods name would you want to take five minutes to text something to some one that can just as easily be said in five seconds if you call them?
What in the world did we do BEFORE cell phones? You have to ask that to the person who has one glued to their ear 24/7. My favorite pet peave, driving while using one. Yeah, it's illegal as hell in my state, but people still do it. Oh well, I suppose it's better than texting while driving (which isn't illegal just yet). |
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Could be worse...you could have Springt / NexTel. After having them, I love Verizon.
Just do what I do...turn the damn things off before you go to bed. Otherwise if it's not Verizon sending messages about the balance, it'll evenutally be a text from [email protected] trying to sell her a penis pump or [email protected] selling cheap prescriptions. These companies...they are like cable TV companies. They will all piss you off for something at one point or another. There is no "great", only varying degrees of suck. |
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*Shrug* Verizon has been the best wireless company I have dealt with. I sleep like a rock anyway. No text message or phone call is waking me up at 2am.
Seriously, mountain out of a mole hill. |
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I got a text at 1:45 AM the other morning , it was one of my State Trooper buddy's sending me pics of a naked midget.............I was not amused.......
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You do know the phone probably has a silent feature right? why not have her use it while sleeping or better yet just turn it off? Its not like a 10 year old is going to need to recieve emergency phone calls in the middle of the night. seems like a whole lot of nothing to get worked up about.
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Because Verizon sent her a message that woke her up. |
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+1. I serioously don't see why you're so pissed about this. Relax. Turn the cell phone off. No need to blade at 45 degrees. Disengage. |
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Good advice, I just didn't think I had to with that one, as grandma doesn't call her in any quirky hours. |
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Wow, all of the "automated process" apologists are here.
Automated systems were not passed down from on high! They only do what they are designed to do. "The computer did it, we have no control over that" is a surefire way to get THIS consumer irate with any tech or customer support. If their system cannot be set to avoid sending automated messages between certain hours - the system needs to be redesigned. |
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And then she'll eventually forget to turn it back on in the morning. You shouldn't have to turn off your phone at night just to prevent annoying sales calls.z |
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Then just turn it on when it's needed. That little power button isn't that hard to operate. |
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Because Mom said she can. |
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It is a resource issue: fewer people are using the cellular network at 02:00, it is less taxing on the system to send out automated messages then. I get three automated texts a month: 10th: "Your bill is due on the 15th. Thanks for using Verizon!" 14th: "Just a reminder, we will debit your credit card on the next business day. Thanks for using Verizon!" 16th: "Your bill was paid from CC ending in XXXX. Thanks for using Verizon!" If I'm awake, I pick up my phone. If I'm asleep, I see the message the next day. Theatrics aside, there is nothing scary or "evil" going on here. Is your daughter expecting over-night phone calls? Just turn off the phone when she goes to bed. |
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And why isn't it turned off at 2 fucking 25 AM? My 16 year-old isn't allowed to keep his cell phone in his room after 10 PM. There isn't anybody he needs to be calling after then. |
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Sorry I missed this the first time. Damn I type slow. 100% perfect as to why my kids get phones when they are ready to be out of sight. Its a little bit of piece of mind. I'll absolutely follow up tomorrow, and an e-mail to me would be a much better way of following that account. I hope they are are willing to do that. |
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im sorry for the upset 4XDawn
i've gotten in the habit of turning my phone on alarm only (its my alarm clock as well) i get my facebook, myspace messages forwarded to my cellphone. Lord knows women these days are up past 10pm. my bedtime |
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This. They have no business messaging or calling that time of night. |
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