According to the Better Business Bureau, cell phone companies receive the highest number of consumer complaints.

These days, cell phone bills are full of undecipherable fees, surcharges, and penalties.   You’ve probably heard of activation and termination fees. But here are some you may not know about. Such as a “new handset fee” or “handset update” fee.  

Carmen Balber, Consumer Advocate for

The Foundation for Taxpayers and Consumers Rights says, “There’s two times you’ll have to pay for a hand set. One when you buy a brand new one, when you’re getting brand new service. The second time, you may have to pay for a new cell phone is when you’re upgrading your service. Consumers, who want to change their service, buy a new phone to upgrade into a new network, and as a result, they are often being charged a $15 fee to $30 fee in order to upgrade their service.  Frankly, I think it’s a ridiculous charge.”

Your cell phone service provider charges you the standard texting fees. And if you enter a contest, you’ll be charged extra fees.   

And when you’re watching TV and pitched the chance to win thousands of dollars by sending in a text, those text messages, though they may be fun, end up costing you more than you may think.  

The TV shows disclose the fee, but who can read the tiny disclaimer on the screen? The TV shows come up with the prize money by the fees they charge when you text.

“You’re going to pay 10 cents of text messaging for accessing premium content. For instance, in a case when you are voting in a contest for a television show, that television show is almost certainly charging you to join their contest.  For example, consumers pay a $1 a text message in order to enter a contest to win $50, 000,” says Balber.  

And perhaps you thought when you signed up for a national plan; you didn’t have to deal with “roaming fees.” Guess what? “Nationwide” doesn’t necessarily mean nationwide.

“The reason consumers sign up for a national cell phone plan, and then end up paying roaming charges, is because no cell phone company has a network that works everywhere.  You maybe in the mountains of Montana and a local cell phone company has monopoly on all the cell towers there. So, AT&T is going to charge you an extra roaming fee because they are paying that company for you to use your cell phone,” explains Balber. 

Most phones let you select your "roam modes."

You still pay roaming fees if you’re in an area where your provider doesn’t have service towers.  And those could be as high as $3 per minute.  

You may read something like “Your rate plan could be changed if the phone company determines your use of service is excessive, unusually burdensome, or unprofitable.”

Sometimes, if you use your phone too much, you’ll get dinged too. Very likely somewhere buried in your contract, is language that say something like “Your rate plan could be changed if the phone company determines your use of service is excessive, unusually burdensome, or unprofitable,” says Balber.

And if by chance you’re actually owed a credit, good luck getting it.  

“I cannot tell you how many countless consumer complaints our organization has received from people whose e-mails say, ‘I tried to get credit for the $5 extra fee that my cell phone company charged me on my bill but I waited on the phone for 45 minutes and eventually decided it wasn’t worth the wait.’ You can get credits from cell phone companies if you’re persistent. If you ask to talk to a manager, and the next manager, and the next manager, you can get credits and you may actually get that money back on your bill.  But you have to be persistent,” suggests Balber.

Be prepared with your facts and be polite.  Don’t accept a “no.”   

Set aside 30 minutes to an hour to deal with the issue to get problems resolved. Be prepared with your facts and be polite. Don’t accept a “no” – keep asking for a manager with more authority.  

Put in the time – In some call centers, customer service representatives are compensated by call volume. The last thing they want is a long drawn out call. If you’re persistent, it could be cheaper for them to give in to your request then fight you.

Sometimes cell phone companies will decide to resolve the issue rather than face bad publicity about their services. You can also file a complaint with the FCC

If you don’t have success with the phone company’s customer service in resolving your complaints, try writing to the company and cc: your State Attorney General’s Consumer Affairs Office, and your local Better Business Bureau on the letter. 

And if you want to help the cause, so to speak, contact organizations like The Foundation for Taxpayers and Consumers Rights. This may not resolve your particular issue but collectively they work on behalf of consumers.