Written by Peter Murphy on Friday, November 9, 2007

A Frightening Mobile Statistic


Mobile phones cause "Bankruptcy" in teens?

How aware of the pricing of premium content, data plans for mobiles are you? Most of us read the fine print and are very careful with our mobile plans/services we sign up for from our service providers. We all know there are lot’s of loopholes, and even covert seemingly innocent, ways that service providers dupe us into signing up for costly services, that we don’t need. The rise of "mobile spam" has seen a spike in people signing up for services that they really didn’t want just by opening a MMS from their service provider. I’ve had it happen myself, and the hoops I had to jump through to remove the service, were excruciating, especially dealing with off shore support. TeenMobilePhone

What about the phones you give your Kids? How do you monitor their usage? A recent article from "The Age" an Australian newspaper really made me aware of the fact that, we value our mobility, but most of us are not highly tech savvy, or speak legal-ese. Legal-ese being the language of contracts.

Mobile phones are to blame for the increasing numbers of young Australians seeking to declare themselves bankrupt, the NSW government says.

Fair Trading Minister Linda Burney said a survey conducted by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) had highlighted concerns about "premium" mobile phone content and the massive bills being racked up – often unknowingly – by users.

As more and more desirable devices, that support more and more services, come on to the market, we are faced with a dilemma. Should we/our kids have a phone that is a phone only, or a mobile device that supports the features that most of us have come to love, and be launched into debt that can be a life long inhibitor?

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tjchan
Nov 9, 2007

Interesting article – fun read…thanks!

I’m more often surprised to see not just Australians, but the world in general having youth who are not financially educated (not saying that I am either but I’m working on it..) but generally it seems that people want to be “the coolest” and they think that having the latest things is the way to go. They convince themselves that the “HAVE TO” have it and they don’t realize the expense that comes with it.

An example is getting an AT&T 8525 for $50 after rebate on Amazon.com. Sure, you get the phone for cheap…but what else does it do to you? Not only do you have phone service, but you also need a $40 data plan a month (which is like having a whole separate other plan), and you are locked in for 2 years.

Do you really need that? Well, certainly it’s neat, but for all the hassles and stress it causes (like the need for a second job to be able to pay for luxeries), is it worth it? Well, it’s one sure way to put our future generations into financial bondage not to mention destroying their credit at an early age. People need to learn to be fiscally sound.

Lastly, as my mom always says regarding purchases in which I say “Wow, I saved $35 on that purchase!” She would respond “You would have saved more if you didn’t buy it in the first place.”


pedah
Nov 10, 2007

Great reply Tim, an extension of my musings

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