The cellular service world is a prime candidate for a makeover; the limited unlimited plans and the prorating and charging for texts and calls you don't want are two examples of the shell game the companies play with their customers. While some carriers have come a long way in the last few years in clarifying their charges, most still have a long way to go.

For example, Verizon imposed prorating on me earlier this year when I switched from a 1,000-text-message plan to an unlimited one. Even though I was under the limit, the company billed me almost $40 for overages incurred because it had prorated my plan. When a carrier prorates a change you make they basically look at how long you've used the service that month, for example half of the month and then charge you half price and half the allowance you would have had. In my case Verizon cut the 1,000 messages to 500 and the charge to $2.50 but in doing so caused any messages already sent to be billed as overages. To complicate matters, even when you don't get billed in that matter, prorating makes your bill jump up because you are being billed for 1 month and a partial month as well.

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Or consider unlimited plans, which seem akin to a one trip, all you can eat buffet! My friends have horror stories about unexpected charges on supposedly unlimited plans, such as data plans with caps or overage charges on unlimited minutes and texting plans.

Another common complaint lodged against cell phone plans is that users are charged for calls and texts they receive, even if they don't want them. While users can simply choose to avoid a phone call, they have no such option with text messages. Instead, they are charged for the text messages, even spam messages, they receive. It's no wonder subscribers are upset when their cell phone bills contain overages.

It happens all the time. One Comcast customer was dumped for using too much web service on a plan he purchased because it was "unlimited." The company told him the word referred to the fact he could be on his computer as much as he wanted, not that he could view as many pages and videos as he wanted. And then Comcast tried selling him a more expensive plan. Infuriated, he fought back, launching a fiery blog and a cutting YouTube protest to tell the world he'd been ripped off. And a consumer advocate was born.

In July, Sprint put a cap on its previously "unlimited" data card usage, following Verizon and AT&T. Now, 5 gigabytes is all you get unless you want corporate monkeys to shut off your supply. Americans aren't the only ones to suffer the bait-and-switch defended by dense legalese and bent logic in the Terms of Service contract: U.K.'s Vodafone puts similar caps on its "unlimited" mobile phone plan, as does Canada's TELUS.

Count on it each election season: Our elected representatives finally get off their duffs and start working on things that will actually affect our pocketbooks.

Early this week, Sen. Herb Kohl, who chairs the Antitrust Subcommittee in the Senate Judiciary Committee, sent a letter to the big four cell phone providers to demand they account for their outlandish recent price increases on text messages. Since 2005, the price of a text message has doubled to an industry standard of 20¢, and perhaps not so coincidentally, it has done so with all four phone providers: T-Mobile, AT&T, Verizon, and Sprint.

Kohl, a Democrat from Wisconsin, demanded that the cell phone companies show him paperwork about their price structures, including evidence of what made them decide to raise rates in such a dramatic way. The rate hikes, Kohl says, were "hardly consistent with the vigorous price competition we hope to see in a competitive marketplace," and he intends to look into them.

After the cell phone plan I share with my sister and parents went over in both minutes and text messages for the second month in a row, I decided to look into the new plans our carrier has come out with in order to save on overages. After I started looking, I found that I could pay the same base price as I am now, but get unlimited text messaging to any carrier instead of the limited version the family had been on.

Cell phone carriers are constantly revising plans and changing prices in order to stay competitive. The only way for current customers to reap the benefits of these changes is to call and ask for the new price. If you are investigating new plans make sure you read the fine print and check over all of the changes. In our case the new plan charges for the data used to download ringtones, but this additional cost is far outweighed by the savings. You should also check with your carrier to make sure these changes won't extend your contract out past retirement.

If changing your whole plan isn't an option or won't save you any money, then check out the additional features on your account. If you haven't changed your text messaging or data plan since you first signed up, reevaluating the options available from your carrier could save you even more cash. My carrier, Verizon, has changed text messaging plans every few months for the past year. Verizon also dropped the price of their data package for many smart phones by $15, savings you won't get without taking action.