ok,i just got my cellphone bill.. i have two cells,one for me,one for sis.. now i stay within my minutes and she doesnt.. she does well a month or two and then it picks back up.. ok, the bill came to almost 300 dollars. its all toll charges, and long distance charges... its so dumb she cant live within the total minutes i gave her when i took on the 2nd cell... im so mad at her, she says she will pay me, but i doubt it cuz she can barely take care of her own bills.. so guess who get stuck with it?? ME!!!!

Give her another cell, one with a pre-pay card. When she's out of credit, she can't make any more phonecalls. Simple.

johnny, it just pisses me off when she does this.. boy, she cant keep her mouth shut when i comes to the cellphone.. she gets mad at me for being mad at her.. its so stupid... shes 31 yrs old and acts like a teenager, never wants to shut up.. argh....

Maybe a plan change would help. My wife and I both have cells, we're paying about $70/mo for unlimited nights and weekends, no long distance/roaming in what looks like about 80% of the US. 300 free minutes anytime and 500 free minutes cell-cell. She's gabbing all the time on the thing and I don't think we've used up our allowance yet.

How about taking the cell phone away from her?

Maybe not the whole phone, just the battery...

That's what I was thinking.. I would take it away until she paid the $300.

Arion,
I wouldn't just take it away until she pays you, I'd take it away for good! She's an adult with children, therefore she should be responsible enough to keep an eye on how much she's talking and pay for the extra minutes without even being asked. Since she can't seem to do that, if she wants a phone, let her get her own. No point in ruining your credit so that she can gab. JMHO
If she needs one for emergencies, then I'd go with what Johnny said, get her a prepaid phone.

You guys are too nice. If I got burned by a $300 bill with no chance to ever see the money, I'd not only take the phone, I'd tell her that if she wants to make calls she'd better visit 7-11 for a phone card and keep a quarter in her pocket. Failing that, I'd recomend Cambell's Soup cans & string.

Sorry, but $300 is a dent in anyone's monthly budget...

Wow that's too bad arion! It's awful when someone takes advantage of your generosity like that. Clearly she doesn't appreciate how much it costs or how kind you're being because she is not responsible for the bill. Which is bad enough when teenagers whose parents are footing the bill act like that but a grown woman should have a little more idea. I think Johnny's idea is your best bet, get her a prepaid card so when she runs out of credit, she can't make any more calls unless she buys more. She might need the phone so taking it away might not be an option. And if you get her say $100 credit and she runs out in a week, it'll give her a better idea of how much she's wasting.

Wow.. but you are not alone. Women generally seem to care less about the bills.. that cannot be good. I know many people who are having difficult times paying their endless calls, but does that teach them anything? No vice versa, they keep calling even more and the rant starts again. And they are all women. That is just in general, of course..

I usually end up having around 5 dollar monthly bill. [img]smile.gif[/img]

[ 02-14-2003, 04:31 PM: Message edited by: NiceWorg ]

Open case. Remove battery. Remove SIM card. Replace battery. Close case.

No more problem. She suddenly has technical problems with her phone which will mysteriously dissapear when she pays you.

Or, just cut her off and make her get her own phone. When she *has* to pay it herself she may learn her lesson.

NiceWorg, Sorry, but I take offense to that comment. Not only do I care about the bills, but when in college I shared an apartment with 3 men, and I was the only one that took the time to make sure all the bills were paid on time and that everyone paid their fair share. I don't think it has anything at all to do with if the person is male or female, only their level of maturity and responsibility. You may not have meant it that way, but your comment came across offensive to me, enough that I had to speak up to defend my sex. Please don't assume that because one or two women that you have met act one way, that we are all like that, generally or not! Ok, rant off [img]graemlins/rant.gif[/img]
<font color=yellow>Now let's kiss and make up [img]graemlins/kiss.gif[/img] stop by the cafe and I'll buy you a beer to declare a truce</Font> [img]graemlins/cheers.gif[/img]

NiceWorg, Sorry, but I take offense to that comment. Not only do I care about the bills, but when in college I shared an apartment with 3 men, and I was the only one that took the time to make sure all the bills were paid on time and that everyone paid their fair share. I don't think it has anything at all to do with if the person is male or female, only their level of maturity and responsibility. You may not have meant it that way, but your comment came across offensive to me, enough that I had to speak up to defend my sex. Please don't assume that because one or two women that you have met act one way, that we are all like that, generally or not! Ok, rant off [img]graemlins/rant.gif[/img]
<font color=yellow>Now let's kiss and make up [img]graemlins/kiss.gif[/img] stop by the cafe and I'll buy you a beer to declare a truce</Font> [img]graemlins/cheers.gif[/img] </font>[/QUOTE]Ok this is nothing personal. [img]smile.gif[/img]

But I´ve never heard of any guy who would exceed his budget - but I know maybe ten women who do. Just made me thought can it be a coincidence.. well apparently yeah. But in one matter you´re right, being a woman (or african, jewish, venezuelan, blond..) doesn´t automatically mean that phone bills are out of your own control. Women just like to talk more, and theres nothing wrong with that.

[img]graemlins/kiss.gif[/img] Oookay I´ll stop by in the cafe and let´s drink for a friendship. [img]smile.gif[/img]

[ 02-14-2003, 05:03 PM: Message edited by: NiceWorg ]

well she agree to give me money for the bill on the 1st.. so ill be okay, i was upset that most of the calls went down to california which isnt fair. i still get nailed for long distance and toll charges.. so i told her no more, or ill disconnect it.. she said okay...we will see..

NiceWorg, I'm not sure about how many men you are talking but I am confident to say it's not a women's thing, I know a lot of guys who can't take care of money, the same with women.

At the age of 31, she should have her own cellphone and take responsibility for it. Set her up on her own account (perhaps give her the phone as a gift) and be done with it.

Even for blood relatives, that's too much. It's not a right; it's a privilege. And if she disagrees, the prepaid option is right there for her.

Good luck to you in it. Business and family never mix, and when you're paying bills for someone, it becomes business...

<font color="plum"><font color=silver>arion -</font>

I'm a little confused here. WHY are you providing a phone for you 31-year old sister in the first place????

She is an adult and should be taking care of her own responsibilities. It also sounds like this isn't the first time she has "stiffed you" for the bill. So why is it YOUR responsibility to provide her with a phone??

Sorry man, but it sounds to me like sis needs to "grow up a little". I would take MY phone back from her and let her get one of her own. But that's just my opinion.</font>

each to his own i guess. i grew up with family being one of the priority. i live in South East Asia, and from what i heard in the US or other Europe Nationals, most of you people become more or less independent and live seperately from your parents around age 21 or so. it is not the same here where the children get to live in your parents house until you get married. even then you might still get to live with them. (getting married is around 30+) so i, personal opinion, would say that even though your sis lives with you, and providing with the cell, than i guess it is just plain family/brother love [img]smile.gif[/img] . still, your sis does need to grow up which i totally agree with Cerek when it comes with the bill.