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Confused about my monthly bill/activation fee?!?!?

Finally got an iPhone 4 on August 30th... paid $120 to activate it and for the phone! Which I thought was a VERY good deal. I've had the phone for 12 days no and decided to see where I'm at on my bill. I was told by the representative who helped me that I was only going to have to pay around 90 bucks a month... 60 for the monthly bill and 30 for data package! Sounded do-able. UNFORTUNATELY, I'm checking my balance that I'm going to owe on the 29th and it says I'm going to owe $160.86. I am so *****, I can't afford this!

TEC Asurion $9.99 - Asurion 09/05 - 10/04 (month in advance) $9.99 WHAT IS THIS?

Cellular Service - Activation $35.00 AND THIS? Since I already paid the activation fee when I bought the phone...

Nationwide Talk & Text 450 08/30 - 09/04

$11.95

9.99/mo / 6 days on new plan

Nationwide Talk & Text 450 09/05 - 10/04 (month in advance) $59.99

I don't understand why I'm getting chaged seperately for that.

Can anyone PLEASE explain all of this to me??? THERE IS DEFINITELY A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN 90 DOLLARS AND 160 DOLLARS. :smileysad: UGH

Comments

brandct

The TEC Asurion is insurance on the iPhone 4 you should be able to cancel that when ever you want. I know there is a 30 dollar activation fee through Verizon, so that really does not explain the 35 dollars you was charged for activation. Where did you guy this phone this could help out as to what price the phone was?

Also if you was going from a non smart phone to a smart phone the bill would be higher the first month because you have to pre pay on all the bills so you would have to make up for that the first month. When making a big chance in the plan your first months bill is usually quite a bit higher then the other months.

Hope this helps

Brandon

Tidbits

Are you sure you paid the activation fee? The iPhone 4 is $99 so if you did pay the activation on that day it would already be larger than $120. Also you bill is prorated, and also billed in advanced(which all carriers do unless you are on prepaid). The bill will be around the price you were stated without fees and taxes(varies by state).

ElizabethOley

Ya it was pretty dumb of me not to remember that I got insurance for the phone! Anyway, I checked out my receipt for when I purchased the new plan and as it turns out, I didn't pay the activation fee that day. Or so the receipt says. My total came out to $140, after taxes, and apparently the tax was $40 itself because you're actually paying the tax of the phone's full retail price? (Still confused.)

I actually opened up a whole new plan when I got the phone. It's the unlimited text and data 450 or something like that. The bill for the plan is going to be 59.99 a month, and the data package is 30.00, insurance 10.00, so I should be expected an around 100.00 monthly bill, right??!?! Or am I mistaken.

I've been on a plan with my parent's all my life, and this is my first time dealing with a cell phone bill. If I have to pay $160 a month for ONE cell phone, that's a bit extreme for my budget and I'm definitely going to have to cancel my plan, regardless of whatever the deactivation fee might be.

ElizabethOley

What does "prorated" mean?? and I live in California, does that mean I'm going to have to pay the fees and taxes??

ElizabethOley

I bought the phone in Apple Valley, California.

Tidbits

Ok there are a few things.

California you pay tax on the full price of the device and not the subsidized/discounted price(State Law).

prorated means that say you have 2 weeks in the billing cycle you will pay 50% of what your bill will be per month. Since this is your first bill it will be 50% + 1 full month(advance) for service. after that it'll drop down to what you were quoted per month+ fees and taxes which varies by state. In Hawaii for example I pay like $15 for fees and taxes(4% sales tax, and the rest or state/government, and Verizon fees). The activation fee you only pay once.

brandct

Great Reply.

You had to pay the taxes on the full retail price of $549 dollars. Your bill should be considerably lower in the second month.

NuDroidUsrr

brandct wrote:
The TEC Asurion is insurance on the iPhone 4 you should be able to cancel that when ever you want. I know there is a 30 dollar activation fee through Verizon, so that really does not explain the 35 dollars you was charged for activation. Where did you guy this phone this could help out as to what price the phone was?
Also if you was going from a non smart phone to a smart phone the bill would be higher the first month because you have to pre pay on all the bills so you would have to make up for that the first month. When making a big chance in the plan your first months bill is usually quite a bit higher then the other months.
Hope this helps
Brandon

Verizon has a $35 activation fee, not $30

unknown

Prorated means you only pay for the number of days in the month you actually had the plan, For example, if your normal bill for one month was $120.00 and you actually only had the phone and plan for 15 days of that month, you would only be charged for 1/2 months use, or $60.00.

But like Tidbits said, Verizon bills you in advance, so, (again assuming, for example only, that your normal one months bill is $120.00) if you had the phone and plan for 15 days of the current months billing cycle, Verizon will charge you (on your 1st bill only) $60 for the 15 days of the current month, and then $120 for the next months service, or $180. (Plus the cost of the phone, activation fee, + taxes and any accessories you purchased, unless you paid cash at the time of purchase) Obviously, the 1st months bill is always larger than normal. The 2nd bill you receive will be whatever a normal months service will cost you. (in my example, $120 plus taxes and fees, but of course, yours will be whatever plan you agreed to) According to your post, it looks like about $100 plus taxes and fees.

brandct

Yeah I realize that now I was thinking upgrade fee. Easy to get confused with all the fees lol

gina7239

There's 2 activations fees one if your on your own plan then one family share.

vzw_customer_support

Hi ElizabethOley,

I know the first bill always feels overwhelming. Most people have been able to answer bits and pieces of your bill but let me break it down for you. The details below are based on the dates you provided.

Activation fee = $35.00 is billed once when you start a line of service

TEC Asurion Insurance = $9.99 is complete coverage (Insurance and Warranty) on a monthly basis. You only showed dates from 9/5 to 10/4 (this is your full bill cycle) but since you started service on 8/30 if the insurance started then, you should also have the cost of $1.93 to cover insurance for the first six days of service (8/30 to 9/4).

Nationwide Talk & Text 450 = $59.99 a month. You were billed the $59.99 for the full cycle to come from 9/5 to 10/4. You were also billed $11.95 for the days already used of service from 8/30 to 9/4.

2GB data plan = $30.00 (not in your description but based on your details this should also appear) a month charged from 9/5 to 10/4 for the first full month to come. $5.81 should also have been billed for the data plan active from 8/30 to 9/4 for the first six days of service.

In the future your bill will be just $59.99 $30.00 $9.99 = $99.98 before taxes. Taxes depend on the area where you live as they are controlled by federal and state government. This should help ease your mind with the future charges.

Thank you

MariaC_VZW

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