overage charges reversal

I recently went over my 900 daytime minutes and also forgot to pay one bill as I was out of the country. On realising this I called ATT who initially refused to help and then when I threatened, said they would reverse the late fee. So I paid the additional 250 dollars but continued to search the web and found posts that stated that the rates could be rerated ( or whatever the term is) retroactively if I chose a higher plan. So I called them back and requested the same. The lady initially said she couldnt do it. So I threatened to disconnect and then she actually took 95 dollars off my most recent bill but not off the penultimate bill. She said I did not have to change my plan. I could not understand why she couldn't just change my rate and adjust it backwards as that would have been cheaper for me.
Can anyone tell me if there is anything else I can do to help reduce my bill? I also have been billed international roaming even though I did not take any calls/ text/ but had the cell phone on. Is that normal practice for all carriers?

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Well, she can't back date your bill once it has printed. You had to have noticed the overage by dialing #MIN* (or *MIN#, can't remember what it is for AT&T) before you were ever billed for them to get them reversed.

As far as international roaming, you can be billed just for your phone ringing (even if you don't answer). You can also be billed fees whenever someone leaves you a voicemail when your phone is off but it's in another country.

With Verizon Wireless, my carrier, they only bill you when you actually take the call or send the call.

Originally Posted by nicknrm

Well, she can't back date your bill once it has printed. You had to have noticed the overage by dialing #MIN* (or *MIN#, can't remember what it is for AT&T) before you were ever billed for them to get them reversed.

As far as international roaming, you can be billed just for your phone ringing (even if you don't answer). You can also be billed fees whenever someone leaves you a voicemail when your phone is off but it's in another country.

With Verizon Wireless, my carrier, they only bill you when you actually take the call or send the call.

The highlighted text in red is incorrect. When your phone is off, the call goes directly to voicemail. The call does not travel to the foreign location first. In the United States, GSM phones handle calls the same way as CDMA phones. You are only charged for an incoming call if you answer it. You are charged for any outgoing call in which the other party answers or goes to voicemail. You are charged for unanswered outgoing calls only if you are on the line for thirty seconds or more. Do not let outgoing calls ring more than twenty seconds or so. You will be charged for the ringing time as well as the actual talk time. Try the call again to start the counter over.

You can be billed "airtime" as applicable by the carrier you are roaming on whenever your call reaches voicemail...this happens all the time...even in the United States.

I actually rechecked my facts and with Verizon Wireless, when roaming (domestically or internationally) it is still possible to be charged airtime. Whenever you're in the United States, it comes right out of your peak minutes...when international, it is charged a dollar value.

It mainly depends on the carrier you are roaming on. I know that Vodafone (the biggest international roaming partner of AT&T) charges whenever someone leaves you a voicemail.

Originally Posted by efparri

The highlighted text in red is incorrect. When your phone is off, the call goes directly to voicemail. The call does not travel to the foreign location first. In the United States, GSM phones handle calls the same way as CDMA phones. You are only charged for an incoming call if you answer it. You are charged for any outgoing call in which the other party answers or goes to voicemail. You are charged for unanswered outgoing calls only if you are on the line for thirty seconds or more. Do not let outgoing calls ring more than twenty seconds or so. You will be charged for the ringing time as well as the actual talk time. Try the call again to start the counter over.

We were talking about AT&T. When your phone is off, neither your carrier nor the roaming partner knows where you are. Under your scenario, the roaming carrier could bill you forever if you never turn your phone back on.

AT&T's policies DO NOT count while roaming.

Half the time, Mobile to Mobile minutes, nights/weekends, etc. are not valid even while roaming in the United States. This goes to show that their policies are not effective whenever NOT using their network.

On most international carriers networks, whenever you are left a voicemail, you're charged STANDARD fees for the length of the message (1 minute message=1 minute bill). This is not uncommon and while using AT&T in England (on the Vodafone and sometimes o2 networks) I was contantly billed roaming fees...even though I never placed a call once.

Originally Posted by efparri

We were talking about AT&T. When your phone is off, neither your carrier nor the roaming partner knows where you are. Under your scenario, the roaming carrier could bill you forever if you never turn your phone back on.

Originally Posted by nicknrm

AT&T's policies DO NOT count while roaming.

Half the time, Mobile to Mobile minutes, nights/weekends, etc. are not valid even while roaming in the United States. This goes to show that their policies are not effective whenever NOT using their network.

On most international carriers networks, whenever you are left a voicemail, you're charged STANDARD fees for the length of the message (1 minute message=1 minute bill). This is not uncommon and while using AT&T in England (on the Vodafone and sometimes o2 networks) I was contantly billed roaming fees...even though I never placed a call once.

This only applies if your phone is on and rings and you let it go to voicemail. If your phone is off, no carrier in the world knows where your phone is. The same thing would apply if you are in the Uniited States. There would be no record of a call having been made at all if the call goes straight to voicemail.

Roaming rules only apply if your phone is on in a roaming area. By your theory, you are charged roaming when you are flying over a foreign country with your phone off. AT&T could get a lot of money if that were true.

The domestic carrier makes no money off of the roaming fees they charge.

Originally Posted by efparri

Roaming rules only apply if your phone is on in a roaming area. By your theory, you are charged roaming when you are flying over a foreign country with your phone off. AT&T could get a lot of money if that were true.

Originally Posted by nicknrm

The domestic carrier makes no money off of the roaming fees they charge.

By your theory, AT&T could collect money from foreign carriers for foreign customers flying over the United States. If the phone is off, nobody collects anything from anybody. Both carriers get part of the revenue from roaming charges. If that were not so, T-Mobile (USA) would collect the same fees as AT&T when roaming on a particular foreign carrier. The rates are negotiated between the various domestic and foreign carriers. What you fail to see if that there is no roaming simply because your phone is present in a foreign country. Your phone has to be on and registered with a foreign carrier for roaming to apply. If your phone rings and you answer, you are charged for all the time of the connection. If your phone rings and you do not answer, you are charged for the call going back to the United States to the voicemail center and any connection time both ways. If your phone is off, there is no ringing. The call goes immediately to voicemail without leaving the United States.

We are not talking about making money, we are talking about sharing fees.