With so many fees, cell phone bill can be tough to decode

Until August, Rick Jones hardly glanced at the 40-plus pages of his Sprint cell phone bill, and just paid the $300 monthly bill.

That's when the Brooklyn Park resident discovered his ZIP code - 21225 - meant Sprint PCS thought he was living in Baltimore and was tacking on the city's phone tax of $3.50.

The wireless carrier credited his account on the next bill, but before long, Mr. Jones, an electrician, had switched to Verizon. But he's not any happier.

"There are all kinds of fees," he said. "It seems like they put it in there to confuse everybody."

He's one of many county cell phone users who say their monthly...