Experiencing Our First Cell Phone Bill

Hi,
After enjoying our new cell phones for the past thirty days, the inevitable first bill arrives in the mail. When we see the amount due on the cell phone bill we are surprised that it is considerably higher than the amount we budgeted for based upon the monthly charge in our contract. The first significant charges to our bill that we are not prepared for are the taxes, surcharges and fees. For example, in Seattle, Washington, on a plan with five phones, that has a basic monthly plan costing $144.00, additional surcharges and fees include:
1) Government fees and taxes
a) Seattle City sales tax services and usage $3.15
b) Washington State sales tax, service and usage $8.91
c) Washington State wireless 911: $1.00
d) King County wireless 911: $2.50
2) Surcharges and Fees:
a) Seattle City utility users surcharge: $6.35
b) Washington State B&O tax surcharge: 0.58
c) Federal USF non-LD surcharge: $2.45
d) Federal wireless number pooling and portability: 0.75
e) Federal E911 charge: $2.00
For a grand total of $27.69
As we delve further into our bill, we notice that our any time minutes limit has been exceeded by over 300 minutes. No one using the plan thinks that he or she exceeded the limit.
Tomorrow, our first conversation with the phone carrier.
Until then,
Alan