Verizon is trying to tell me that if I do any of the following on my Blackberry, I am charged a minute of usage:
- Hit "ignore" when I receive a call
- Allow a call to ring through to voicemail
- Call my phone number from a land line to check voicemail while phone is on

I frequently hit "ignore,” especially for unknown numbers - each time, I received 1 minute of usage charges. Every time my phone rang through to voicemail, another minute of usage. That old trick – a trick VERIZON told me about - of checking your voicemail from a land line to avoid usage charges to *86? 1+ minutes of usage!!

Is anyone else having this experience? First tech told me this wasn’t normal, now second tech is telling me it IS normal. This just doesn’t seem right to me! It is adding up in overage fees on a calling plan I used for two years previous to getting the Blackberry without ever coming close to going over.

EDIT: This is not normal (and I have a voice+data package, I do not know how anyone would "pay as you go" with a blackberry device) and I finally got Verizon to agree with that. They seem to think it is an issue with the phone, and have sent me a replacement handset. We shall see if this solves the issue.
How did I know? $300 worth of 1-minute calls would, I assume, alert anyone looking over their bill (especially when some of the calls were from my work phone as I checked my voicemail!).

They need to fix that for you, doesn't seem normal at all.
Good luck.

Back in 2001, I cancelled my Verizon service simply because of these issues. (Charged airtime when someone left me a voice mail, etc).

Maybe it's a bug in their billing programs. *shrug*

I would think that is illegal. They can't charge you minutes you aren't using. File a complaint with the better business bureau. Nextel and T-mobile definitely don't do that!

I would check the Terms and Condition of the contract you sign or the ones they posted on their website to see if it make reference to it. I know that in Cingular's tems & condition, it says "unanswered calls that ring more than 30 seconds are charged airtime."

Also, I'm curious how you determine that they were doing it? Did you note specific date and time of call where u know it didn't go through or are you just going on the presumption based on the number of minutes you used.

If they are really charging you minutes for unanswered calls. I would check the FCC's website or your local state's regulatory agency that governs telecommunication as I am sure they have same rule banning that.

About a year ago I was with Nextel, and if you didnt have a voice plane on Nextel service they would do that.

I had a 7520 for awhile that I primarly just used for work email, but I kept the phone turned on for emergency use... ie I left my cingular phone at home. I would get charged 40 cents per minute so calls were short. Everytime I had a wrong number I would hit ignore, so not to answer it but my bill I got charged 1 minute or 40 cents for the incoming call.

Now I have a Cingular 8700c with voice/data all in one.

Exactly. I have a feeling our comrad here is either on some weird kind of Pay As you Go no contract/no month to month voice or per minute/call billing monthly plan; where NO VOICE minutes are included.

Double check that if your contract is done what plan or package of minutes do you default to! This should shed some light on what is going on. Speak to 2nd/3rd level support. Have them quote you specific times/dates/# of the incoming call. Check your BB call logs. Check your previous bill (or current if you're setup for online billing). Its all about the details & the #'s.

Even pretend that you're niave ... and when you have a specific statement that goes against what you CAN proove on their contract/rules then you have the power to call their "bad". Then have them retro fit current & previous charges to reflect the error IF! its theirs. Of course allow them a good 24-48hrs to research it - but make them have specifics when they contact you stating its NOT their error. then you can cross-reference with the data that you have.

Oh how I hate Verizon. I'm amazed how many people put up with their crap.

I've never had this problem with VZW. I have no voice plan on my BlackBerry, and I've called myself to check voice mail, let calls go unanwsered, and hit "ignore" when a call has come in, and never been charged airtime for any of it.

What their doing is screwy, keep fighting em'.

Ditto, minus the "I've called myself".

They are all the same. It is just different versions of bending people over. It is why they have all rely on contracts.