$85,000 cellphone bill

[B_Italian1]

Canadian hit with whopping 85,000-dollar cellphone bill

Thu Dec 13, 7:55 PM ET

An oil field worker in western Canada was shocked this month to be charged 85,000 dollars for surfing the Internet on his new mobile phone, local media said Thursday.


Calgary resident Piotr Staniaszek, 22, had signed up for Bell Canada's cellular phone service at about 150 dollars per month, with unlimited mobile Web browsing.


He believed the plan allowed him to use the phone to connect with his computer, using it as a modem to download a lot of data, high-definition movies and other bandwidth-hungry applications.


But when his first bill arrived in the mail, Staniaszek realized to his horror that the company was charging him on a per-kilobyte basis for Internet downloads.


"I didn't know what to think. I thought there was probably a mistake," he told public broadcaster CBC. "I told them I wasn't aware that I would be charged for hooking up my phone to the computer."


A spokesman for Bell said the company will adjust Staniaszek's bill to 3,243 dollars, as "a measure of goodwill."


But Staniaszek said he still plans to try and fight it, "because I didn't know about the extra charges. Nobody explained any of this to me."


"The thing is, they've cut my phone off for being like 100 dollars over," he told CBC News. "Here, I'm 85,000 dollars over and nobody bothered to give me a call and tell me what was going on."

 

[zumzum]

very interesting, link?

 

[Mr. Snakey]

very interesting, link?

Yes the link. Thats some serious money.

 

[Principessa]

A spokesman for Bell said the company will adjust Staniaszek's bill to 3,243 dollars, as "a measure of goodwill." What a weird and arbitrary amount! But Staniaszek said he still plans to try and fight it, "because I didn't know about the extra charges. Nobody explained any of this to me." He didn't read the fine print. Unlimited web access means he can access the internet from his phone. NOT to connect the phone to his laptop! :tongue: That's what it meant when I had Cingular (I asked before signing up for web access) and I assume it means the same now that I have T-Mobile.
"The thing is, they've cut my phone off for being like 100 dollars over," he told CBC News. "Here, I'm 85,000 dollars over and nobody bothered to give me a call and tell me what was going on." Yeah, that is weird but not unheard of unfortunately.

 

[IntoxicatingToxin]

Canadian hit with whopping 85,000-dollar cellphone bill - Yahoo! News

 

[D_alex8]

A spokesman for Bell said the company will adjust Staniaszek's bill to 3,243 dollars, as "a measure of goodwill." What a weird and arbitrary amount!

Bell's revised bill matches the price he would have paid under the cheapest data plan available in Canada for using a mobile phone as a modem.

 

[Principessa]

Bell's revised bill matches the price he would have paid under the cheapest data plan available in Canada for using a mobile phone as a modem. Okay then, that makes sense.

 

[str82fcuk]

Bell Canada sucks really badly. They never tell you anything. And they never get it right. Two months ago they mishandled a cheque I sent them for $165 and credited it to someone else's account. I am still trying to have it rectified. But I can never get to speak to the same person at Bell's automated hell. After wasting many many hours on the phone on hold or trying to deal with incompetent rude Bell staff I am thinking of just writing it off because the amount of time and money and hassle it would cost me to get the original cheque back from the bank and get Bell to act decently is just not worth it ...
Anyway I will only pay them cash in the future because I do not trust them with automatic debits either ...

If I wanted to get their cell service though, I would have instant attention, but I still wouldnt get any straight answers because the Bell staff are all on comission and being encouraged to be predatory to get people to sign up for the most costly services without warning potential customers about the real costs ... a lot like the banks ...

 

[sjprep06]

Yes, that sucks but he was paying a lot of money for that plan. There is no way in hell that I would ever pay $150 for any kind of plan.

Most providers tell you that tethering i.e. using your phone as a data modem, is not allowed and you will be charged for doing so. However, I use mine (on the new AT&T network (had been a customer long before this whole merger renaming business)) and I am not charged for it. Why? Because I use common sense and I don't use my phone to the point of arousing suspicion. I use it when necessary and that's just to check mail and load the odd web page. Doing all of the things that he did would make someone guess that he was using his phone in an inappropriate and charge him for it. There is no phone (to my knowledge) that is able to download and play tons of full movies using some providers network. There is no way that a phone could use the same amount of bandwidth that a P2P application does. Streaming content is a bit iffy however.

 

[dong20]

I'm amazed he had the patience to download HD movies over a cellular link. Clearly Oil workers have too much spare time on their hands, or get very bored in their off hours.

I guess he must have left it downloading while he worked and slept. I guess he used it as a 'dial up modem' had he used it as a GPRS or 3G modem he may have avoided the charges depending of course on a wide range of circumstances.

Still it's not so bad as the $100,000 parking charge for outright scariness though.

 

[Osiris]

That is why I have an unlimited web plan and unlimited texting. Did you know my two teenage boys texted over 2400 messages last month? And that was a low number for them.

 

[dong20]

That is why I have an unlimited web plan and unlimited texting. Did you know my two teenage boys texted over 2400 messages last month? And that was a low number for them.

One every 20 mins. Not bad. Although, assuming they sleep about the normal time per day as most teenage boys that's probably nearer one every 10 mins.:smile:

 

[Osiris]

One every 20 mins. Not bad. Although, assuming they sleep about the normal time per day as most teenage boys that's probably nearer one every 10 mins.:smile:

Oh, but they only used 20 minutes of talk time. It was strictly to myself and the wife for the odd "I need a ride" or "Can I hang out with..." call.

And yes, they do sleep 12 hours a day. :biggrin1:

 

[dong20]

Oh, but they only used 20 minutes of talk time. It was strictly to myself and the wife for the odd "I need a ride" or "Can I hang out with..." call.

They assume you can't handle SMS's. Very considerate.

And yes, they do sleep 12 hours a day. :biggrin1:

Otherwise known as the adolescent constant. Rather like the cosmological one only with more hormones.

 

[rob_just_rob]

The second that I had the option, I pulled all my business from Bell. Not for billing reasons, just for their general ennui wrt customer service.

 

[Osiris]

They assume you can't handle SMS's. Very considerate.

Actually the wife and I text very well. We usually do it to cover our conversations about them. :wink:

 

[D_Preasteman Breastemann]

I have a T-Mobile contract (UK) and I get unlimited free internet.
I use my phone as a computer modem all the time (actually, I'm doing it right now) and my bill is always £35.50 a month (about $70)

Canadian mobile contacts must suck!

 

[B_NineInchCock_160IQ]

So sad how much an artifact of the past the notion of customer service has become.

 

[bottombuddy]

im so glad i ditched a mobile phone years ago.i was fed up getting calls from folk when i didnt want them,etc,etc......also cost alot of money to make calls that you wouldnt normally make.if someone needs me they have my landline and if im not home they can always leave a message and i can always return it...i can understand folks who need them but well i think most of the time theyre all hype and companies just want your cash topping them up of by changing models frequently expection folks to keep up with fashionable design features,etc......i have no need for one and thats how i intend to stay.

 

[Nrets]

HA! I beat the phone company recently. They sent me a bill for almost $300. I told them I had talked to some guy in one of their stores about changing to a plan that would have given me 900 anytime minutes.
I was well over 900 anytime on a 450 anytime plan.
I hadn't actually gone to the proper store, but they took my word for it since my bills were always paid on time.
Got that shit knocked down to just over $100.