In this month's Scientific American column I drafted a "Cellular Bill of Rights." It documents all the ridiculous ways that cell phone carriers gouge, cheat and double-bill us.

One of the most egregious tactics—one that's bugged me for years—is the 15-second recording that the carrier makes us listen to when we're leaving a voice-mail message. Especially when you're in a hurry, having to sit through these idiotic instructions is deeply irritating. ("You may begin speaking at the tone. When you have finished recording, you may hang up.") It's also expensive; it's using up your airtime minutes and putting, all told, $1 billion a year into carriers' pockets.

Now, there is a "bypass" keystroke. The caller can press a specific key to skip over the inane instructions and jump right to the beep. In fact, it bypasses both the person's own recorded greeting and the carrier's 15-second recording.

But the carriers don't tell you about the existence of this keystroke. Furthermore, the key to press is different for each company. For Verizon, it's *; for AT&T and T-Mobile: #; for Sprint: 1. (At least in most parts of the country. The keystroke isn't even consistent within each carrier.)

See the problem? To bypass the message all the time, you'd always have to know which carrier the person you're calling uses—which is impossible.

The best way to strike back, therefore, is for you to announcethe keystroke to your own callers. Make it part of your greeting. ("Hi, this is David. Press star to leave a message right away.") If enough people do that, we'll gradually erode the voicemail-instruction cash cow for the carriers. And maybe, just maybe, we'll chalk up one item for the "Cellular Bill of Rights."

7 Comments

1. 1. lamorpa 10:00 AM 5/16/12

   I'm glad for the "When you have finished recording, you may hang up" You don't know how often I finish leaving my message and then sit there for 10 minutes wondering what to do...

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2. 2. grifter1337 10:36 AM 5/16/12

   So when are minutes used with voicemail on a cell? There should't be any minutes used when someone leaves you a message, it's not like the message is sent to a little answering machine on your phone. If it was you wouldn't be charged airtime when you check your messages. The voicemail isn't sent over a cellular connection until you check your voicemail. So how exactly can they justify charging cellular minutes for leaving a message for you on their landline machines? Sounds like another double dip to me.

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3. 3. DougAlder in reply to grifter1337 12:24 AM 5/17/12

   He meant the person who is leaving the message is the one that gets charged - they use up 15 seconds of their monthly airtime waiting to get to the point where they can leave the message.

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4. 4. dhrosier 12:34 PM 5/17/12

   Spam would be paid for by us if the recipient is charged for the text message. More logical method is for the point of origin to be responsible for the text message charge.
   
   The recipient has no control over whether the message is sent. Charging recipients for unwanted messages is more egregious that both sides paying. It is not unlike giving the bums who "clean" your windshield a legal right to collect a fee from you, one of a few zillion metaphors.

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5. 5. dhrosier 12:39 PM 5/17/12

   Lawyers - class action opportunity?
   
   Is it not unconstitutional for anyone to provide a service that has not been authorized, in fact is unwanted, for which the recipient is required to pay?
   
   No, I am not in favor with class actions in general but this would seem to be one which would serve the public.
   

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6. 6. voyager 07:26 AM 5/19/12

   I live in S.E. Asia and travel through most countries here. In all these countries, only the caller is charged for a call. But in the US, unless things have changed since I was last there, both parties pay for a single call. That's got to be the biggest rip-off.

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7. 7. Steve3 04:25 PM 5/21/12

   Yes it's a rip off and common the world over -- but what about all those people who leave a long message as though I didn't know that I was calling them:
   "Hi this is X I am not available at the the moment but I really and truly value you and your call. Please leave a message after the beep and I promise I will call you as soon as I can. Thank you very much."

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