What reminded me of this is when I got home and opened up my landline phone bill from the major carrier in the US. I normally pay X a month - same amount month after month. It never changes more than a penny or two. This month, my bill was X + ~$5.00 which got my attention. I'm an "annualized" type of guy, I look at things on an annual or on-going basis. What is something going to cost me for a full year. There are all sorts of seemingly innocuous things that we get ourselves into on a "monthly" basis. That extra ~$5.00/month turns out to be ~$60.00/year - which is real money. I'm not "tight" and my shoes don't squeak when I walk, but I am prudently frugal and also "risk averse".
Turns out this extra $5.00 a month by the major phone provider is a "minimum" usage fee plus surchrges, recovery fees, and taxes on a service that I don't even use - long distance. I use my mobile phone and SKYPE for long distance calls. Thus, I am being charged for something I don't even use. Thus, I cut the cord and have gone rogue and no longer have a land line at home. It was a convenience - a few people still called me on it - but mostly it was telemarketers that refused to obey the "do not call list" so that they could sell me something, reduce my credit card debt that I don't have, give me some politico message or want donations.
It's not really an inconvenience not having a land line as I have this neat phone setup that allows my mobile phone, via BlueTooth, to "tap into" all of the phones in the house. I have a number of phones through the house and garage that automatically connect anytime my mobile phone is in the house. Thus, I can answer my mobile phone anywhere in the house or make a call from anywhere in the house via mobile phone. Therefore, I don't have to carry a mobile phone from room to room. It's really quite neat and inexpensive.
Doing a quick search of the Wild West Web, turns out many consumers across the land are enraged by this fee for not using and are en mass cutting the cord. One has to wonder what marketing genius came up with this "revenue enhancement" plan - it seems like it might backfire.
So, let me assure you, at Synchro32 we have NO HIDDEN FEES, COSTS, NON-USAGE SURCHARGES, etc. READ MY LIPS - NO HIDDEN FEES! Our contract is a simple one page document which is defined as the terms of business and it is not even in fine print. Our price schedule is visible for all the world to see on our web page and we make them freely available in multiple currencies.
So, what's next - I expect the major communications provider to sneak a charge into my mobile phone bill of "no land line fee". :)
Until next time, see you on down the road...
Shane Allen / Head of Synchro32 North American Operations.
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