Senator Targets 'Bill Shock' With New Bill

There's a difference here. Your electic, gas, and water company don't charge you a set monthly price for an allowance of utility, then slam you with overage charges if you exceed that allowance. You pay for exactly what you use, so the months that you use less, you pay less, and vice versa. Cell phone companies don't give a refund or credit on months that you use less than your allowance. If you've ever 1. had a crazy bill or 2. felt sympathetic to a customer who had a big bill because they were either misled or taken advantage of, then this doesn't sound like a bad idea. This falls into the category of things that people (or companies) should do anyway just because its a good thing to do, but it shouldn't have to be mandated by the government. If a carrier just decided to do this and then publicized it, they would gain a competitive advantage in the market, and within a year all the other carriers would do it to. If any major carrier just said Hey, from now on we're going to do this, everyone would love the idea. We just have a knee jerk reaction when the idea comes in the form of legislation.