Easily Reduce Your At t Wireless Bill

It is absolutely amazing how much money people waste when it comes to their wireless bills. Not long ago I used to work for At&t as a retail sales consultant. I hadn't worked there long before I noticed how much families were overpaying on their bills.

Here is a list of Several Steps you should take to start saving money off your you At&t cell phone bill:


1) Find out if the company you work for gets a discount through At&t.

Many large companies have big business accounts with At&t. At&t gives these large accounts discounts and they also pass the discount down to their employees. This is called a FAN discount. My wife currently works for Wells Fargo. Right now Wells Fargo employees receive a 27% discount off of their bill. Check to see if your company qualifies. Government employees, your monthly discount is 15% off.

Note: These discounts change every month and they DO NOT apply to the entire account. Only the primary lines, and features $30 and higher get discounted (excluding the iphone data plan).


2) If you qualify for a FAN discount, see if you can combined features to take advantage of some savings.

Let's say you have a single line on your account. Now let's say you have unlimited texting for $20 and basic internet for $10. If you qualify for the FAN discount, neither of these two features will receive the discount. Ask your rep if you can bundle features. There is a bundle that includes these two features above for the same total price of $30, but now it will qualify for the savings. If you are a Wells Fargo employee, this one simple change will save you over $8.10 every month, or $97.20 a year.


3) Am I getting charged for unauthorized subscriptions?

Subscriptions are becoming increasingly popular, and they are a huge headache. If you see a commercial that says "Text this number to receive this free ringtone", don't do it. Many children are guilty of this one. By sending that text message, you have just accepted a monthly subscription for $9.99, $19.99, or $29.99. If you have these on your bill, call 611 and let customer care know that you didn't sign up for it. Have them place a "Permanent Block on all 3rd Party Charges". Customer care is usually pretty good about giving you these credits back. I have seen accounts with upwards to $100 in identical subscription charges in a single month.


4) Are you on the right plan?

If you are rolling over 500 plus minutes every month, than you are on the wrong plan. Reducing your plan will normally save you $20 a month. I have had families drop down 2 or 3 plans, saving them about $40 to $60 a month. Go into once or twice a year just to make sure you are on the right plan. If you are using a lot of minutes, ask your rep about the free A-List feature that allows you unlimited calls to certain numbers.

5) Are you using those features?

If you paying for services you don't need, then cancel them. There is no penalty for cancelling features. If you have roadside assistance, insurance, internet, text messaging, tv, xm radio, or any other feature that you don't need, call customer care and cancel it.


6) OOooops, you have overage fees! Yikes!

Let's say you went over on your minutes, say 200 mintues, the overage fees can be around $90 for the month on top of your regular bill. I seen a daughter run up a $1,000 bill for going over on text messages. I have seen another young girl who racked up a $7,000 phone bill for throwing her sim card into an iphone that she bought off of a friend. At&t is surprisingly very forgiving and is usually willing to help. If you increase your plan and have customer care back date that plan change, it will cover those overage fees. They will only do this once, be certain not to let this happen again--kids especially.


7) Are you on seperate plans?

Often I see couples or famlies on seperate plans, but this can be a big waste of money. By transferring all the lines under one account (preferrable under the person that qualifies for a discount), you will almost always save money by being on a multi line family plan.


8) Is your plan out of date?

Often times plans will decrease in price. This may be a promotional price that will not be around long. Check with your rep to see if you are current. The unlimited calling plan that used to cost $99.99 this time last year, now only costs $69.99. That's a annual savings of $360. Once you switch to that new promotional plan it locks you in, even if the plan goes away.


9) Often calling Mexico or Canada?

There are new plans available that will allow you to call Canada or Mexico without charging you international long distance rates. Some plans also allow you to travel to these countries and make calls without getting roaming charges. This can save you a ton of money.


Warning: You will still get international Data roaming charges if you use the internet out of the United States and you are on one of these plans. International Data Rates are very pricey.


10) Ditch your Iphone or PDA phone!

The Iphone is a very cool phone. I have never seen a phone pull someone away from another carrier like the Iphone. Unfortunately this cool phone comes with a heavy price tag. The $30 Iphone Data plan is required if you have this phone. The same goes for the Blackberry and any PDA smart phone. Just to have these phones cost customers $360 a year ---PER LINE. That's almost $400 on top of what you pay for the basic service. If you are hurting financially, this should be the first expense to go. It can be termarary. Once you are financially back on your feet, you can reactivate that phone again and start surfing the internet on your cell phone again.

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I hope this infomation helps. I love to see the look on people's faces when they save a large amount of money. I am no longer in the cellular industry, but I am open to answer any questions that you may have. Feel free to email me directly at: dale@instantbillrelief.com. I currently work in the Debt Settlement business now, so I have a habit of wanting to save people money.