I can't believe this is true, but I'm sure the readers of this forum will correct me if I'm wrong.

For our Verizon account, our Unlimited Minutes begin at 9 PM, and if I place a 30-minute call beginning at 8:55 PM, Verizon charges the first five minutes of that call against our Anytime Minutes (or "Peak Minutes" as Verizon calls them), while the balance of 25 minutes that occur after 9 PM are charged against our Unlimited Minutes.

With Sprint-Nextel's "Business Essentials" plan, our Unlimited Minutes begin at 7 PM, but if I begin a 30-minute call at 6:55 PM, Sprint charges ALL 30 MINUTES AGAINST OUR ANYTIME MINUTES, because the call was STARTED before 7 PM.

The same is true on two of our Nextel lines where we pay $10/mo/line to have our unlimited minutes begin at 6 PM. If I begin a 30-minute call at 5:55 PM, all 30 minutes are charged aganst our Anytime Minutes Pool. At least this is what the Sprint-Nextel CS agent told me today.

If it is true, I realize I SHOULD have known this by reading the fine print with Sprint-Nextel, but I thought all phone companies quit that type of "Charges are based on when the call was STARTED" type of charging YEARS AGO.

So I'm already kicking myself for not knowing this about our Sprint-Nextel service, but I have to ask, am I the only one that did not know this is the way Sprint-Nextel charges for minutes used? Or is it because my current plan was started two years ago in 2009?

Or maybe it's one of the stealthy ways Sprint-Nextel keeps their prices low compared to ATT & Verizon.

Any insight will be appreciated.