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An extra 6GB of data! I'll take that!

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  • An extra 6GB of data! I'll take that!

    So, my middle child is sometimes a complete jerk. I love him dearly, but he's responsible for 99.9999999% of all my grey hairs. Under normal circumstances all five devices (four phones and tablet), use between 1-1.25GB of data per month. I pay for the 3GB plan just because shit does happen, I wanted a bit of a buffer, and the extra few bucks a month was worth it to me. So, our cell phone cycle started December 2nd. For whatever reason, I got that strange feeling to check my usage this month. Only 9 days into the cycle and we've already used 2.1 GB!!!! So, I go check all their phones so it doesn't seem like I'm singling him out (the router was being wonky, so I couldn't get the individual device summaries to load online). And gee, guess which child has used 1.9GB of data this cycle?

    So, I call Red Checkmark. I briefly explain to the rep what was going on, and ask him if there's anything I can do to avoid having massive overages this month, and explain to him that I'm thinking along the lines of temporarily paying for a higher data plan, or something to that effect. I swear this guy asked me three or four times to be sure I wasn't thinking that there was something wrong with the phone or that they must have done something wrong. I just chuckled and said, "nope. My kid was stupid. He's the only one that did anything wrong." He seemed rather knocked off balance for a few minutes to have a customer that wasn't blaming him. Anyway, I just reiterated that the only thing I wanted was (hopefully) to be able to up my data plan for this month (and that I was perfectly willing to pay for it), and to find out if there was any way to better control data, since my kid had gotten around the parental restrictions on the phone itself.

    He explains to me about a data management program they have and got me set up with that. Apparently it should have been set up when I got the phones at the end of November, but with all the chaos of switching over 4 phones and a tablet, it somehow got missed. Now Red Checkmark will cut off the data to a particular device after limit set by me has been reached. That took care of avoiding this problem in the future. We still have to deal with the fact that I'm nine days into a 30 day cycle with over 2/3 of my data already used. As I was messing with the website, the rep was digging around on his end, and managed to come up with some sort of promo that adds a whole 1/2GB a month for the next 12 months. That gives me a little over one GB for the rest of this month, and with the limits set, middle child is cut off, and I don't really need to worry about the other two (I don't think they've used an entire GB of data between the two of them for the entire time they've ever had a phone.).

    I'm quite happy with the results. The rep didn't have to offer anything for free, nor did I expect him too. I was hoping he could just bump me to the next data plan level for this month, then back down for next month, fully expecting that I would pay the difference. I was quite pleasantly surprised that he was able to fix my problem for free.
    At the conclusion of an Irish wedding, the priest said "Everybody please hug the person who has made your life worth living. The bartender was nearly crushed to death.

  • #2
    Get ready for complaints aplenty from middle child...
    My Guide to Oblivion

    "I resent the implication that I've gone mad, Sprocket."

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    • #3
      Well, he can still use Wifi, but yes, he's already complaining bitterly. Actually, he can only use wifi if he's somewhere that's not the house. He's been cut off from the wifi for another incident (that involved police and broken kitchen things*). It's been a rough week for him.

      Like I said, I love him dearly, but sometimes I wonder if both of us are going to survive his adolescence.

      *He's not a bad kid. He's angry for reasons that would have crushed most people long ago, but he's still trying to wade through. I do hold him to task, but that doesn't mean there aren't occasional incidents.
      At the conclusion of an Irish wedding, the priest said "Everybody please hug the person who has made your life worth living. The bartender was nearly crushed to death.

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      • #4
        Just be prepared for MiddleChild to, uh, borrow one of the others' devices at some point soon. After all, it's not FAIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIR! (Can you tell I help take care of kids from time to time? )
        "For a musician, the SNES sound engine is like using Crayola Crayons. Nobuo Uematsu used Crayola Crayons to paint the Sistine Chapel." - Jeremy Jahns (re: "Dancing Mad")
        "The difference between an amateur and a master is that the master has failed way more times." - JoCat
        "Thinking is difficult, therefore let the herd pronounce judgment!" ~ Carl Jung
        "There's burning bridges, and then there's the lake just to fill it with gasoline." - Wiccy, reddit
        "Retail is a cruel master, and could very well be the most educational time of many people's lives, in its own twisted way." - me
        "Love keeps her in the air when she oughta fall down...tell you she's hurtin' 'fore she keens...makes her a home." - Capt. Malcolm Reynolds, "Serenity" (2005)
        Acts of Gord – Read it, Learn it, Love it!
        "Our psychic powers only work if the customer has a mind to read." - me

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        • #5
          Having "survived" (I'm used to the twitching, now) six teenagers, I've realized that teens doing really really stupid stuff has been evolutionarily selected for...

          To keep their parents from killing them...

          As in: "Something else will get them and *I* won't have to!"
          I am not an a**hole. I am a hemorrhoid. I irritate a**holes!
          Procrastination: Forward planning to insure there is something to do tomorrow.
          Derails threads faster than a pocket nuke.

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          • #6
            Mr. Princess and I share 3gb of data a month. We've gone over the last three months (whoops! That MAY be my fault). I got a text from Red Checkmark the other day offering us 6gb of data for the same price.

            I think I'll talk to them and have them set the data locks as well. I didn't realize that was something they offered.

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            • #7
              He's not going this its not fair route. He's going for the "without data I can't use <insert feature mom wants kid to have>". I make them keep on iMessage so I can see if they've read text messages from me and the find my iPhone app is great for tracking them. What he doesn't realize is that while he is correct in that he doesn't have those things available without data, he's mistaken if he thinks I'm going to be the one to make the compromises because of it. I can't wait for the explosion that will happen when I tell him he's not allowed to go someplace because the find my iPhone app can't be used.

              Quoth WoodenSunshine View Post
              Mr. Princess and I share 3gb of data a month. We've gone over the last three months (whoops! That MAY be my fault). I got a text from Red Checkmark the other day offering us 6gb of data for the same price.

              I think I'll talk to them and have them set the data locks as well. I didn't realize that was something they offered.
              It's a feature they call family base. They have to set it up on your account, and I don't have much experience with it, but so far I like it.
              Last edited by Dave1982; 12-12-2014, 04:19 PM.
              At the conclusion of an Irish wedding, the priest said "Everybody please hug the person who has made your life worth living. The bartender was nearly crushed to death.

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              • #8
                A couple months ago, I replaced my phone. The Red Checkmark rep noted that Mrs. TGK & I were close to going over on the data, so he offered more at the same rate. We're nowhere close now
                Back to the OP, good that you're ready for the drama
                I'm trying to see things from your point of view, but I can't get my head that far up my keister!

                Who is John Galt?
                -Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged

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                • #9
                  If you have not installed it already, look into Onavo.
                  Life is too short to not eat popcorn.
                  Save the Ales!
                  Toys for Tots at Rooster's Cafe

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                  • #10
                    I'm not with Red check mark, haven't been for so long. I'm with the Orange Company with 2 different letters in its 3 letter name.

                    I started out with a 1 gb data plan that i had to get when I upgraded to a smart phone (phone is smarter than me most days >.>), in the 4 years I've had the phone, my data plan has been increasing and my rate plan has stayed the same.....I'm up to 2.5 gb.....I barely ever used .5 gb when I had the original plan....I'm ALMOST tempted to find out how to hook my ipad up to the network to include usage for it when I'm out running borring errands....
                    It is by snark alone I set my mind in motion. It is by the juice of the coffee bean that thoughts acquire 'tude, the lips acquire mouthiness, the glares become a warning.

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