I agree completely that there should be very little problem (technically speaking) for the carriers to provide these notifications as a courtesy to their customers. Most likely it is money that motivates them to fight the idea. Having said that...
On the other hand, what happened to adults being careful with what they are doing? Example: does a bank have to let you know when your checking account gets down to below... 100 or 500 or whatever pre-agreed amount or is it your responsibility to monitor your spending such that you stop writing checks/using the debit card when you are out of money? I have kids on my family plan and I can tell you that I monitor usage on my carrier's web site every few days or so to make sure I am not surprised when the bill comes!
If you give your 12 year old (surprising how many folks do this) a cell phone and don't monitor what they are doing with it (not only for charges but other good reasons), whose fault is the overage really?
I had to laugh at recent ads by a carrier with a family crying HELP! our daughter keeps texting and our bill is out of control! She won't stop! The solution is not to get a better plan, the solution is, if your kid is texting you into the poor house and "won't stop when you tell them to"... TAKE THEIR PHONE AWAY!!!
Geesh!!!
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I agree but...
On the other hand, what happened to adults being careful with what they are doing? Example: does a bank have to let you know when your checking account gets down to below... 100 or 500 or whatever pre-agreed amount or is it your responsibility to monitor your spending such that you stop writing checks/using the debit card when you are out of money? I have kids on my family plan and I can tell you that I monitor usage on my carrier's web site every few days or so to make sure I am not surprised when the bill comes!
If you give your 12 year old (surprising how many folks do this) a cell phone and don't monitor what they are doing with it (not only for charges but other good reasons), whose fault is the overage really?
I had to laugh at recent ads by a carrier with a family crying HELP! our daughter keeps texting and our bill is out of control! She won't stop! The solution is not to get a better plan, the solution is, if your kid is texting you into the poor house and "won't stop when you tell them to"... TAKE THEIR PHONE AWAY!!!
Geesh!!!
Techdirt has not posted any stories submitted by javajim.
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