The AT&T Battle Ends

Well, it's finally over.

A lost rebate check, three months of missed payments, one FCC complaint...and today my private battle ended.

It's not about winning or losing. It's about paying a fair price for cellphone service.

AT&T gave me back my 4200 rollover minutes. I have all you can eat texting. I don't have data nor do I want it. The cellphone bill stayed around 65 bucks. Tolerable for 7 hours worth of prime time talk each month. They couldn't find my phone rebate check so they applied that missing 100 bucks to my bill.

I was happy with the outcome today and I paid the remaining 108 bucks on my bill. The standoff is over. I will retain my good deal for about 10 months and then the contract will be over.

Data is where the dough is. The talk and text only cellphone market has been penetrated and saturated. I expect data plans to get very expensive. That's the next growth market.

I am not under any illusion that any of the big carriers are really that much better than the others. I've had three carriers and they've all been about the same. What bothers me most is the extent to which these corporations will go to gouge their customers. It's that all pervasive greed thing which never seems to go away. Instead of calling it greed, we call it business. Like it's a virtue or something. I don't want to have to make a car payment for cellphone service. With individual plans hitting 150 bucks a month- its not too far off.