Google Voice - got charged $60.??????

[DroidMastar2]

Friends and Family has nothing to do with text messages anyway. Texts to F&F numbers still count against your Verizon plan.

If you use GV none of them count against you.

-Joe

People stop blind posting... this thread has nothing to do with making calls... only Texting via Google Voice

 

[droidx2010]

Here's an important consideration: if you don't MAKE SURE you give your friends your Google Voice number, they will in all likelihood text your normal cell phone number (20 cents right there). If you get their text, and without noticing the icon of the program you use to send your reply--Google Voice is a classical phone handset inside a circular "call-out", the default Android program is called "Messaging" and is a smiley face inside a rectangular "call-out" (THEY LOOK VERY SIMILAR)--your outbound reply will be another 20 cents. That handles threads that begin as an inbound text to your normal cell phone number.

What about if you send out a text from Google Voice? Two things can still go wrong. Either your text pal may send a response to your cell phone (which is pretty unlikely) or they will hit reply, which means it goes to to your Google Voice number. As several here have noted, it's probably the case that you have texts set up so you get a copy to your cell phone number (another 20 cents).

Turning off this copy is not so easy. The only way I've been able to do it is with the following:

(1) Log in to Google Voice on your computer.
(2) Go to "Settings" (upper right corner), select "Voice Settings"
(3) Under the "Phones" tab, find your cell phone
(4) Select the "Edit" button
(5) There is an option called "Text Settings"
(6) Is "Receive text messages on this phone (mobile phones only)" selected? If so, turn it off! That is probably the problem.

This should solve the problem for texts that are correctly routed to your GV number, BUT REMEMBER: you have to make sure everyone uses your GV number to send you texts (or have Verizon turn off texting to your cell phone number) or you'll probably continue to pay for texts when you shouldn't!
-Matt

Yup - Your #6 "Receive text messages on this phone" was checked. I unchecked it. So whoever receives my text msgs from gv should reply to only the # they are receiveng the text msg from, right? I'll be golden?

 

[cgrimm9]

could you not use the app. but instead use skyfire and just go to the website that has google voice to send and recieve texts. would this not be a free way to receive texts.

 

[jermad14]

I didn't read all the posts, but if OP hasn't answered yet this link might help.

Cost : About Google Voice - Google Voice Help

 

[droidx2010]

could you not use the app. but instead use skyfire and just go to the website that has google voice to send and recieve texts. would this not be a free way to receive texts.

I'm confused. Why would I go to the website to send/receive texts? You do texts from Dx. Maybe I just misunderstood your comment. My apologies.

 

[cgrimm9]

i thought you where getting charged i was trying to see if there is a way around of getting charged per text thought maybe that would work. but not very friendly though.

 

[Big Fate]

Why don't you just get verizons unlimited plan? What plan do you have?
Sent from my DROIDX using DroidForums App

I have 750 shared minute plan w/ my wife, wife has 250 txt limit for $5 extra.
I really don't feel like paying over $100/mo for 2 phones if I can help it. The unlimited plan I thought was expensive, isnt' it?
W/out the texting going over, my bill's around $80/mo. for 2 phones (one Dx & one chocolate).

Thats a good price actually for 2 phones....

Unlimited is 99.99$
Kinda steep compared to my last set a phones but I dont ever worry about going over on anything. But yea man I'd call up, sucks to hear that

 

[Quicksilver7714]

Why don't you just get verizons unlimited plan? What plan do you have?

Sent from my DROIDX using DroidForums App

It's expensive. For two lines the base unlimited talk and text plan is $149.99 and that does not include your $29.99/month data plan per required line, either.

Trying out Sprint for a month. Sent from my Evo using Tapatalk. 4G is pointless when you don't live in one of the few available network areas.

 

[Quicksilver7714]

Unlimited is 99.99$
Kinda steep compared to my last set a phones but I dont ever worry about going over on anything. But yea man I'd call up, sucks to hear that

Are you unlimited talk, text, web/email on one line?
If so do you live in california?

Trying out Sprint for a month. Sent from my Evo using Tapatalk. 4G is pointless when you don't live in one of the few available network areas.

 

[JPD_X]

Need more info.

Everybody is trying to solve a problem here which it seems we are not sure of what the problem really is.

You didnt specify but that charge came from Verizon and not Google, am I correct?

You need to use the Google Voice App to text for free, or forward through your email. There is no other way to receive texts. Once you forward to a mobile number you will be charged. If you receive notifications via mobile text you will be charged.

My Google Voice line is dedicated strictly to texts. As well it also forwards my texts to my email which aggregates things quite well.

Using Google Voice any other way would incur a charge since you are either forwarding to your mobile via text or using your phones text messages thinking they are free because you "use" Google Voice.

The answer is not that simple reading your original post.

If you thought you get text message as part of your data plan, you were misinformed. Data does not include text messages.

As I said previously you either need to be using the app or forwarding them to your email. You will not incur any charge using them this way. Call Verizon and have them turn off txt messaging on your phone, its that simple, so you don't get charged for any text messages to or from your mobile.

I couldn't really tell if you were complaining about texts not being included in your data plan or if you were trying to figure how to use Google Voice in that regard.

 

[droidx2010]

i thought you where getting charged i was trying to see if there is a way around of getting charged per text thought maybe that would work. but not very friendly though.

My apologies. I didn't think you read the thread. I'll be friendlier next time. I'm actually, a nice person.:icon_ banana::icon_ banana:dancedroiddancedroid

 

[droidx2010]

Why don't you just get verizons unlimited plan? What plan do you have?
Sent from my DROIDX using DroidForums App

I have 750 shared minute plan w/ my wife, wife has 250 txt limit for $5 extra.
I really don't feel like paying over $100/mo for 2 phones if I can help it. The unlimited plan I thought was expensive, isnt' it?
W/out the texting going over, my bill's around $80/mo. for 2 phones (one Dx & one chocolate).

Thats a good price actually for 2 phones....

Unlimited is 99.99$
Kinda steep compared to my last set a phones but I dont ever worry about going over on anything. But yea man I'd call up, sucks to hear that

Call Verizon up about my texting being charged or what? I don't think they'll give me a break if I'm trying to get around using their service. They'll probalby laugh at me.

 

[gadgetrants]

Yup - Your #6 "Receive text messages on this phone" was checked. I unchecked it. So whoever receives my text msgs from gv should reply to only the # they are receiveng the text msg from, right? I'll be golden?

Yep. My wife and I had $10 in text charges for the first few months, until I figured it out. But a telltale sign (as mentioned by several people above) is that every time she texted me, I got TWO notifications (one was from GV, the other from the built-in text app). That was pretty annoying (I wasn't aware of the charges yet!) and figured out how to eliminate the duplicate (hidden deep in GV's settings).

Now we've set GV as our default text app on our phones, and created shortcuts to each other's numbers on our homescreens. No more mysterious text charges.

(BUT she STILL has friends who text her cell phone number! ARGH!! :icon_evil

-Matt

 

[JohnnyD359]

I didnt know the android phones were available without unlimited text and internet...I have both,and wouldnt think of having to worry about how much i use my device,I got it to use it...we have 1400 min with 10 friends and family numbers...we never even get close to our minutes every month..

 

[gadgetrants]

I didnt know the android phones were available without unlimited text and internet...I have both,and wouldnt think of having to worry about how much i use my device,I got it to use it...we have 1400 min with 10 friends and family numbers...we never even get close to our minutes every month..

Not quite...let me see if I can break this down:

(1) Verizon smartphones require both VOICE and DATA (internet) plans. I think I pay something like $30 for voice (500 minutes) and $30 for data. As of the last few years, Verizon's data contract says "unlimited data"--which has caused HUGE debates on this forum re: what "unlimited" means. Kind of a moot point--everyone in a plan right now gets to keep it, while new plans will soon offer two "metered" or tiered data plans at $15 and $30.

(2) Having texts (either a small number, or "unlimited") requires a third charge in addition to voice and data. That is totally OPTIONAL. As you've probably seen here, many use Google Voice as their primary text app, which is free (when used correctly!).

(3) Friends and Family. Basically you get to select a few numbers you call often, and get to call them with no charge to your minutes. Where it gets interesting is that some GV users arrange F&F so that their outbound calls routed through GV use a F&F number, hence no minute charges for all their GV-routed calls. =) Too much fuss for me...like you, we stay way under our monthly minute limit, so it's not worth the trouble for us.

Hope that clears a little of this up!

-Matt