Yeah, Fees Suck. We Get It

People love to complain. They complain about anything they feel with no regard to if it is a valid argument or if they are merely talking out of their ass. Hell, I complain but I usually try to withhold such activities for things that deserve it, unlike this Gizmodo article crying about early termination fees for cell phone companies.

Fees are seemingly common for most service companies, at least the ones that I am familiar with. After much pressure from the FCC, cell phone companies began prorating early termination fees, or the fee you would pay to break the legally binding document you signed to start service. Apparently that is not enough as more are calling for additional government regulation for these charges. But, I have a real simple solution if you don't like the prospect of an early termination fee: don't sign a g-d contract. Imagine if you were able to switch companies with ease, not having to worry about waiting a predetermined length of time, with no additional fee for switching other than what you pay for your monthly rate. Wouldn't it be nice if there were such a thing?

Now, I'm not a big proponent of fees like paying money to pay a bill, not with a person but with an automated system or online. But, when you agree to do business with a company, you are agreeing to deal with that company, their fees, their policies, and everything else. You can't sign up for a service, wait six months, and then complain about the very thing that was detailed in your inital documentation because it no longer is beneficial for you. Sure, you can go to someone else, but chances are they have the same exact business practices as well. Is it right? Not really. Is that life? Yep.

So, if you want to avoid fees, look for alternative companies if any exist. If none do, start your own. If the previous two suggestions are too terribly hard, then STFU and pay your bill. Maybe if you get enough ill-informed people like you, you can lobby your congressman or a special-interest group and get the government to step in. At that rate, every industry will be regulated to death with many companies going out of business which will then lead to reduced competition and more bitching. So ... choose wisely.

Why I Hate the Music Industry

Back when I was a wee lad and Napster had first emerged, for all the fun I had finding songs from the radio, acoustic tracks, and bands recommended by friends, I felt a tinge of guilt for illegally downloading songs that some of my favorite bands had spent much time and effort on making. Then, as more and more came out about the music industry, the RIAA and their sue-happy legal team, and the fact that bands don't make dick unless they are super popular made me that much more jaded and more willing to download those tracks (even though I neeeever do anymore).

While a bit of a lengthy read, this article lends credence to the fact that record companies suck for consumers even less than they suck for the bands themselves. Admittedly, I have no idea if this piece is accurate or even applicable to most bands, but if the math is as stated, you'd be better off downloading an album off the internet and mailing your favorite band a check for $5 to split between the members. At least at that point, the record company isn't in the mix to mess everything up.

Can't Pay Your Bills? Pull a Dumb and Dumber!

"That's as good as money, sir. Those are IOUs." - Lloyd Christmas, Dumber and Dumber

California can't balance its budget so the state will be issuing IOUs to vendors and recipients of state aid. This coming after the state held onto tax refunds and delayed payment because the state didn't have the cash to give the taxpayers THEIR MONEY BACK.

I wonder if I can start mailing my creditors and landlord IOUs. Nah, I'm not a Terminator so I guess I'll just have to pay up like everyone else (except government).

The debacle is held up because Democrats in the state legistlature want to raise taxes but Schwarzenegger refuses to and instead wants to reduce spending to close the budget gap. While there have been several (too many to link here) articles from both sides about the effect tax increases have on the ecomonies affected, let's think about this from the perspective of a typical American family.

If you are making x amount per month but suddenly your expenses rise to x + y, can you really go to your company (where you get your money from) and demand more? If so, please drop me a line and let me know where you work so I can get into some of that action.

If you or I were in that situation where revenue was overrun by expenses, you either work more, spend less, or go into debt. California took the third option to the extreme and look at how that's going. I guess the state of California wouldn't qualify for one of those exclusive black AmEx cards now. That would certainly help as long as they paid more than the minimum payment.

Reuters: California misses budget deadline, readies "IOUs"

Don't Pay for Crap You Already Own

Why does this young girl have such a bright smile on her face while she talks on her cellular telephone? Is she telling her parents about her acceptance to Harvard? Was she just asked on a date at the local Starbucks? Is she enjoying the anal-rapage of her bank account? Prior to this conversation commencing, she was treated to the smooth sounds of Jay-Z that she had purchased for the mere pittance of $3.49 from her service provider.

Unbeknown to her (and many others who make up the $600 million ringtone customer base), ringtones are the biggest ripoff since Amway.

In a vintage article from early '06, Wired explains why it is absurd to pay a company for a small fragment of a track that you likely already own. Ringtone prices can range from $2 for crappy, synthesized versions like you might hear in an NES game) to $3 or perhaps even more if you enroll in a sketchy subscription service. If you consider that an average CD is 12 tracks, you would be paying over $30 to purchase a small fraction of a full-length CD. As pointed out in the article, it costs more to download a ringtone than it does to download a legitimate MP3.

All you have to do is purchase a Bluetooth adapter (if your phone is so configured) or a data cable to connect your phone to a computer. Either of these cost around $30. Next, download an MP3 editing software such as Audacity or MP3 Wav Editor, cut down the song in question, transfer it to your phone, and you are good to go and didn't expend $3 in the process.

Now, you have more money to spend on beer, string cheese, or being carbon neutral. Don't you feel better about yourself already?

Don't Neglect Your Bills

As you will see, I am not referring to ex-Presidents which a penchant for dirty deeds in the Oval Office. I am however referring to those pesky compressed wood pulp planes that come in the mail indicating you owe someone for something.

In general, we enjoy receiving mail when it is birthday cards, holiday cards, get well cards or some other correspondence personally created for you. Bills, however fall into an entirely different category. No one likes them. No one wants to pay them. Everyone would rather chuck them in a desk drawer and forget they ever existed. Unfortunately, if you do that, you receive bigger bills which is not good either.

Reviewing bills of course gives you the opportunity to ... actually see what you are paying for. A novel idea, I know. You get to determine if you are being charged what you should be, if your plans or packages have changed, or if there is a legitimate billing error that you should not be responsible for. Most companies however have a time frame that you can dispute a bill if you do not agree with it, usually around 30-60 days. After that time, if you don't agree with it, tough. You should have picked it up before.

Excerpt from T-Mobile Terms & Conditions:

Incorrect Charges. If you believe your bill contains an incorrect charge, you have 60 days from the date of the first bill that contains the charge to notify us or you waive any right to dispute the charge. To notify us, please contact Customer Care at www.t-mobile.com, (800) 937-8997, or 611 from your Phone. We may require you to describe the dispute in writing.

Bonus Tip: If for some reason, you don't receive a bill one month, don't interpret that to mean you aren't responsible for charges listed on the invoice lining the bottom of your mail carrier's bird cage. Instead, you can be proactive and contact the business directly or the post office to check the status of delivery. After all, you surely didn't forget to use the service that month too.