Cell phone companies stink

You know, they charge you for airtime…so if you call someone and they don’t pick up so you hang up – it still counts against your time cause you were “on the air”.

Same thing applies when you call someone and it goes to voicemail. Except you need to listen to their greeting, then info from the stupid cell phone company. It’s a scam. You don’t have to listen to all that.

Blogger Jeremy Toemon runs down the three-key combo that will cover major cellphone carriers in the U.S.: One Star Pound. When you call a friend and want to leave a VM fast:

• Step One: Push 1. If your friend is on Sprint (or possibly Verizon, but not always), this skips the greeting and you are done, skip to End. IF you hear a message that says “One is not a valid option” skip to Step Three below, otherwise continue to Step Two.
• Step Two: Push *. If your friend is on Verizon, you’ll hear the beep, and can leave your message. Skip ahead to the end now.
• Step Three: Push #. This works for both AT&T and T-Mobile subscribers, and you’re all set to go.

So just remember One Star Pound (and listen to what happens in between). NY Times technology writer David Pogue is so incensed by carriers upping minute usage with lengthy automated messages he’s launching the “Take Back the Beep” campaign. Here’s how to let your feelings known to your carrier about wasting your time on the phone.

(via Smarterware.org)