Baby Center

This day started out really nicely – with a wonderful massage by Lynn Moody, the best massage therapist on the planet.

My day deteriorated once I got home, though. My husband and I both got messages on our phone AND our computers that we had exceeded our data allowance and were being charged extra for the month for our phones.

I immediately felt guilty, since we got an iPhone 8 for me this month and I’ve been looking at it, playing with it, and trying to figure it out. I couldn’t figure out how to turn OFF the things at which I looked. Lynn helped me with this this morning, showing me how to tap the home button twice to pull up what was still active and then to swipe each one up to the top of the phone to turn it off.

What I found out, though, was that the usage problem was caused by my husband’s phone. (He still has an android and almost never uses his phone. We got it solely so that when we’re not together, we can call each other, if needed.) The lady who waited on us in the local AT&T office was more interested in her long, black, pointed fingernails than in our problem. She said, “Call Customer Service.”

I got online and talked to a chat person who was very nice, but unable to help with the extra charge or the reason behind the problem. I then got another cup of coffee and called customer service. I got a very nice man who was unable to determine what the problem was on my husband’s phone, but DID arrange for a credit for the surcharge for going over our data limit. He then passed me on to the Tech “Big Guys.’

The “Big Guy” turned out to be named Mary. When I told her that my husband’s phone was android and said, “4G LTE” at the top of the home page, she directed me to settings/mobile network. We discovered the button was in the ‘on’ position and was charging us even when the phone was not in use. There was a peak in usage yesterday from 3pm to 6pm, but we have no clue why that was. We turned the button to the ‘off’ position and we think the problem is solved.

The mystery remains. The phone sits on a shelf plugged into the charger. I have to remind my husband if he leaves without me to take his phone. He gets a lot of calls, all of which are wrong numbers. He doesn’t call or message anyone using that phone unless he is trying to talk with a tech about a computer problem – something that happens maybe once a year.

Fingers crossed the problem is solved. We seem to be out from under the extra charges and we think (hope) whatever caused it is fixed. My husband was ready to blast everyone and is very appreciative that I spent so much time, effort, and patience to get things solved.

I now know how to check our usage online. I now know how to make sure the mobile network button is off.  I feel as if I have earned my salt for the day.

The only problem is that all my get-up-and-go got up and left…..