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AT&T Charges For Checking Voice Mail

R

Resist

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Jan 15, 2008
3,003
93
I am pretty ticked off right now after finding out that AT&T charges minutes for checking our voice mail. They don't consider the number a mobile to mobile call. What a freaking scam to get people to buy a more expensive plan!

I am upset as it is about the high price for their text plans now I have to deal with this. Maybe with all the company lay offs, people will cancel their accounts and the plan providers will be forced to lower plan prices to keep customers.
 
is been that way since forever (pac bell wireless?) here in CA. im pretty sure most if not all carriers charge normal airtime for voicemail checking as well.
 
When I can't answer my phone and calls come in, they go straight to voice mail. When I see I have voice mail I check them. This can happens several times a day. We have a 700 minute Family Plan so between our 2 iPhones voice mail can be called a lot.


We came to AT&T from Verizon and I don't remember voice mail always being charged to our minutes. We had Verizon for 11 years and I know for a fact voice mail was not charged when we started with them, maybe that changed years later.
 
Doesn't the iPhone save the messages locally (i.e. "Visual Voicemail")? That way, checking your voice mail should not invoke a phone call.
 
If you want to save the cost you can always check your voicemail from a landline (no charge). You are paying for the airtime to connect from a cell phone; at&t has always charged AFAIK, at least since the early 90's.
 
If it's a feature they will charge. I can't wait for the day for these stupid exclusive phones go to all carriers so we can have some real capitalism here.

Ug.
 
Folks, hold on a sec. What's all this talk about AT&T charging for checking voicemail when the iPhone has the "Visual Voicemail" feature which downloads the messages locally, hence not requiring you to call any phone number to listen to your voicemail?
 
daihard said:
Folks, hold on a sec. What's all this talk about AT&T charging for checking voicemail when the iPhone has the "Visual Voicemail" feature which downloads the messages locally, hence not requiring you to call any phone number to listen to your voicemail?
Click to expand...

Maybe he's talking about another phone? Besides our two iPhones, we have a Blackberry. You have to call VM to get messages on that phone.
 
I've had AT&T/Cingular forever and it's always been like that. I never expected an iphone to be any different.
 
This is an iPhone forum. You dont pay to get voicemails on the iPhone cuz they are saved locally on the phone...
 
Resist said:
When I can't answer my phone and calls come in, they go straight to voice mail. When I see I have voice mail I check them. This can happens several times a day. We have a 700 minute Family Plan so between our 2 iPhones voice mail can be called a lot.


We came to AT&T from Verizon and I don't remember voice mail always being charged to our minutes. We had Verizon for 11 years and I know for a fact voice mail was not charged when we started with them, maybe that changed years later.
Click to expand...

Are you using the Visual Voicemail feature to begin with on your iPhone? Like what others said, it is saved locally, no need to call some voicemail numbers.
 
Rayfire said:
Are you using the Visual Voicemail feature to begin with on your iPhone? Like what others said, it is saved locally, no need to call some voicemail numbers.
Click to expand...
Well we just press the iPhone voice mail button, I assume that is how it is done.

Again AT&T says we get charged air time for this using the iPhone to check voice mail, unless you do it during the off peak unlimited time.
 
dissdnt said:
If it's a feature they will charge. I can't wait for the day for these stupid exclusive phones go to all carriers so we can have some real capitalism here.

Ug.
82(2).gif
Click to expand...

I agree, it's amazing how much of a stranglehold telecom companies have managed to gain. I'm hoping that these companies eventually just become dumb pipes for information.
 
I believe Visual Voicemail is a data-based service. So, assuming you have an iPhone data plan there should be no extra charges for checking your VM (using the VM tab in the Phone app, that is, and not dialing your phone number)
 
acousticbiker said:
I believe Visual Voicemail is a data-based service. So, assuming you have an iPhone data plan there should be no extra charges for checking your VM
Click to expand...
There is no "charge" but doing so does cost you in air time against your plan's allotted limit.
 
daihard said:
No, it shouldn't. Like acousticbiker says, Visual Voicemail downloads your messages using your data plan.
Click to expand...
Hmmmmm, makes me wonder then if I checked my voice mail by dialing my number and that is the reason I got charged air time once. But I know I have used the voice mail button on my iPhone before.
 
Resist said:
Hmmmmm, makes me wonder then if I checked my voice mail by dialing my number and that is the reason I got charged air time once. But I know I have used the voice mail button on my iPhone before.
Click to expand...


Sounds like your account isn't properly provisioned for visual voicemail. Give AT&T a call.
 
yg17 said:
Sounds like your account isn't properly provisioned for visual voicemail.
Click to expand...
Not sure what you mean by that. AT&T can only connect the iPhones they sell one way.

If it turns out the air times we were charged happened because we dialed our number to check voice mail and not charged for using the iPhone voice mail button, then everything is fine.
 
Resist said:
Not sure what you mean by that. AT&T can only connect the iPhones they sell one way.

If it turns out the air times we were charged happened because we dialed our number to check voice mail and not charged for using the iPhone voice mail button, then everything is fine.
Click to expand...

For the highlighted part, yes you will get charged airtime for that.

If you however use your Phone app, tap the Voicemail, and listen from there, you won't get charged - as this is the Visual Voicemail which is supposedly tied up with your iPhone 3G data plan once you've bought it, which somehow makes no sense why you want to call your number just to check your voicemails if you can do it simply by tapping Phone -> Voicemail on your iPhone (unless I'm missing something here, well probably you're "away" from your iPhone)
 
Rayfire thanks for clearing that up. I am not sure why we called our cell numbers to get our voice mail, to be honest I don't even remember doing it. Maybe we did it out of habit from our other phones.

Here is an interesting tid bit. On my AT&T call record it shows I made a one minute call to voice mail during the week, at 10:06PM. If in fact I actually dialed my number to get voice mail, then why did I lose calling time when this was made during off peak hours? That should be unlimited call rates then, where I wouldn't be charged.

Or is it that no matter when you dial voice mail (not the voice mail iPhone button) it is charged against your plan hours?

Is it possible I had to call my own number to set up visual voice mail and password? I don't remember if I did or not.
 
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