cell phone dilema
 

My dad just called and because my friends never call my room I went over on my cell phone about 1,200 minutes. How do I explain to everyone that they have my cell # in case of emergencies, not for whenever they want to talk?

Do you have conditional call forwarding? If so you can add that to your phone and when only give out your dorm #. If you didn't answer at your dorm it forwards the call to your cell.

wow, 1200 minutes??? looks like you in a bit of a pickle

do you get free nights/weekends? tell them not to call you until then..or when they call, just send them to your voicemail.

i am the queen of going over my minutes every month...never quite by that much, but only because i have free nights and weekends. the best way to not go over the minutes is KEEP THE PHONE TURNED OFF!!!!!!!! i have an hour commute and i always want to chat, so i put the phone in my back pack....on the floor. it is there if i need it, but i can't get to it while i am driving down the highway.

my friend also is not so great about staying within her alloted minutes. she sent all of her friends a group email that basically said, although she loves talking to us and would like to talk to us all the time, no matter where she was that (insert carrier here) always wanted money. she just asked us to call her hardline except in case of an emergency. just be honest with your friends....and KEEP THE PHONE TURNED OFF!!!!

DID I MENTION TO KEEP THE PHONE TURNED OFF!!! i am serious...this is the only way i have found to keep from spending $200/ month on a cell bill.

Also, if you're a complete addict I know in my area AT&T has a $99 per month unlimited plan. Get that and shut off your home phone.

I don't know if you have the option, but when I used Centennial, part of my plan was Free Incoming Calls.....which saved my a$$ when my dad got the bill!!!

Otherwise that, I agree with the TURN IT OFF!!! theory.

Re: cell phone dilema
 

GIRL...how the hell did you do that? :eek: Yeah, you might wanna turn that off, there might not be a nice way to say it, but if you are fortunate enough to have your father still paying the bill...you are either gonna have to cut back or do without!

My phone was my graduation present. My dad got it for me so i could keep in touch with people from home (mainly him). I have to keep the phone turned on because for some reason I don't have voicemail, and last time i didn't have my phone on my grandfather died. it would be so much easier if there was a verizon tower in Athens so that my call waiting would work. Apparently my dad thought we had free nights and weekends so he's calling verizon today. Part of the problem is that i talk to a good friend every night (he's beong deployed in the next two days to the middle east) but we don't talk THAT much, and never before 9:30 PM.

if you have verizon then you should have free nights & weekends.. i work for vzw in the customer care dept... if you don't have a tower in town and are on "extended network" mobile to mobile, call waiting, call forwarding, caller id, and voicemail indicator may not work. you do have voicemail though, every single vzw plan includes it...

i'd say just dont' answer the phone unless it's an emergency.. activate your vmail with a msg that says "hey call my on my dorm phone.." and gives the #..

I definately agree with turning it off. I always do that when I know I'm getting really close to my daytime minutes.

Something else you could do is just ask them when they call if you can call them past 9 if you have more or free night/weekend minutes.

Unlimited mobile to mobile minutes have saved me many times from going over my daytime minutes! With Sprint, it's only $5 more (at least w/ my plan) and since they are unlimited I can call my family or boyfriend or friends w/ Sprint for as long as I want :)

I don't see any reason for you to turn your phone off. I think keeping track of how many minutes you use is the best way to go. I have Sprint and I have am able to check my minutes on the internet, by automated message, or even calling a live representative if need be. You need to find out what your plan is, and monitor your own phone habits. If somebody call you during your anytime/day minutes, ask them to call you wherever you are at the time, or ask if you could call them back when you can get to another phone. I am sure most of your calls aren't "emergencies." Rather than sending out a mass e-mail, or anything to that effect, as they call, simply say something like, "Hey, I'm sorry. I don't have unlimited minutes, so do you think I can call you from another phone in a while?" Perhaps that way you can be subtle, yet they still get the hint. :) Best of luck! I've been where you've been, and it really sucks. I'm sorry.

Yup... I'd say if you can't have the phone off, at least save people's numbers onto the phone, so that you can see "hey, Suzie's calling me" and then just call her back from your dorm room (or wherever) phone. then you can see also if your dad or someone who is likely an emergency is calling, and use your minutes there.

I already do that, but since i don't havea tower in my area it doesn't work. Thanks for all the suggestions. I just told my big about it and she seemed like she was mad at me, which i don't understand, because she calls my phone more than anyone else.

Kappatarzan- maybe i just don't know how to activate my voicemail. i've had the phone for a year and i have yet to figure that part out. you're right about everything else though. caller id and everything doesn't work here, although it works if i go about 1/2 hour north or west.