Alberta man stung by cellphone bill of nearly $8,000
Newsbot @ Mon Jul 05, 2010 6:46 am
Title: Alberta man stung by cellphone bill of nearly $8,000
Category: Misc CDN
Posted By: Benn
Date: 2010-07-05 06:40:15
Canadian
Benn @ Mon Jul 05, 2010 6:46 am
Damn small print! Who would have know that using your Canadian cell phone in France to stream internet music for three days straight would cost anything?
Brenda @ Mon Jul 05, 2010 6:52 am
$1:
While Virgin Mobile said it is looking into the case to see if there’s anything that can be done to cushion the billing blow,
Of course there is. You could get him the roaming plan and back date it. Your CSR should have made him aware of that choice, and I am surprised they didn't. I find the CS very good at Virgin.
$1:
Faltous said Boutang used about 130 megabytes over the three days, which is the equivalent of sending 5,000 emails, loading 600 web pages or viewing 100 minutes worth of video.
That's stupid.
LightStarr @ Mon Jul 05, 2010 7:16 am
Iphone has WIFI. Why wouldn't you just use that? That's what I would have done; I figured when I got to Korea I would just swap my sim card out, but then I discovered -- and I should have done the research -- that it's not GSM here, so it didn't even matter. Still; WIFI.
DrCaleb @ Mon Jul 05, 2010 8:22 am
I never understood the lure of internet radio. It's a bandwidth hog. Why not just be old fashioned and use a ... radio!
hurley_108 @ Mon Jul 05, 2010 9:34 am
He's a complete dumbshit for not thinking that there wouldn't be "consequences" for streaming over cell networks in France, but this kind of bill shock has got to stop. The cell companies should establish reasonable thresholds at which they notify you that your usage will result in an unusually large bill, and require you to acknowledge that you understand this before they allw you to use any more service. If they won't, then they should be regulated to do so.
Yea, there's personal responsibility and making sure you understand the contracts you've signed, but when you get slammed with a bill which is on the order of a hundred times larger than normal, that's just exorbitant on the part of the carriers. Where's their responisbility?
Edit: 40 times larger than normal. Should have RTFA before commenting....
PublicAnimalNo9 @ Mon Jul 05, 2010 11:10 am
Hurley makes a great point about the company contacting you and letting you know what yer getting into. Roger's has actually done that for me with my internet. The 2-3 times I reached 3/4 of my monthly bandwidth, they called to let me know.
But Virgin really fucked up IF he actually did call to tell them he'd be taking his iPhone to Europe. They should have informed him of the "dangers" of roaming 5000 miles from home.
Public_Domain @ Mon Jul 05, 2010 11:35 am
coltsrmint2 @ Mon Jul 05, 2010 12:57 pm
This guy shouldn't get a break, they shut his phone off after it was that big a bill. He is a jacka$$ for streaming a Calgary Rock station in Europe. He might have tried NOT listening to music with site seeing. I say this cat should have to pay all the $8000ish for pure stupidity reasons alone. Really, do you need your Rock station that bad..... 
QBall @ Mon Jul 05, 2010 1:13 pm
WDHIII WDHIII:
Error on his part for sure but hopefully, considering the size of the bill, they cut him a break.
When I go my first phone with the ability to roam the web (without WiFi) I went a little nuts too. Got my first bill and it was nearly $400
I called up Rogers and we talked and thats when the lady in Customer Service said..
"Sir do you think that maybe your web browser opened up in your pocket, accidently conntecting to the internet"?
I said "No I dont think so. Its a foldable phone phone and it would have to be open to do that".
To which she responded.
"SIR, are you SURE that your web browser didnt open by accident thus causing this rather large bill?"
And I said
"NO that would be impossible"
With more than a little frustration in her voice she said a little louder..
"Sir you DO know that this may be recorded for quality control right? Ill ask you again, is there some POSSIBLE way that your browser could have opened by mistake, connected to the internet causing your bill to be inflated by almost 5 times its usual size???"
Then it sunk in...
"Um.......... yeah I guess that could have happened".
She responded with
"Well then Sir Im happy to tell you I can offer you a one time deal where we will absorb half your bill, keeping in mind that this will only happen once"
Understand it happens quite often these days but it was still rather funny.
When I go my first phone with the ability to roam the web (without WiFi) I went a little nuts too. Got my first bill and it was nearly $400
I called up Rogers and we talked and thats when the lady in Customer Service said..
"Sir do you think that maybe your web browser opened up in your pocket, accidently conntecting to the internet"?
I said "No I dont think so. Its a foldable phone phone and it would have to be open to do that".
To which she responded.
"SIR, are you SURE that your web browser didnt open by accident thus causing this rather large bill?"
And I said
"NO that would be impossible"
With more than a little frustration in her voice she said a little louder..
"Sir you DO know that this may be recorded for quality control right? Ill ask you again, is there some POSSIBLE way that your browser could have opened by mistake, connected to the internet causing your bill to be inflated by almost 5 times its usual size???"
Then it sunk in...
"Um.......... yeah I guess that could have happened".
She responded with
"Well then Sir Im happy to tell you I can offer you a one time deal where we will absorb half your bill, keeping in mind that this will only happen once"
Understand it happens quite often these days but it was still rather funny.
I can just picture the woman's hand coming through the phone slapping you in the back of the head while she's stomping on the floor on her end saying all of that.
Choban @ Mon Jul 05, 2010 2:39 pm
He says his bill runs about 200 a month normally??? WTF, no wonder I don't want a cell phone on any plan, I pay less for my TV INternet and Phone bundled together. It's astronomical what these providers charge and get away with it, problem being som many people pay it every month and don't bat an eye over the price, it will never come down.
bootlegga @ Mon Jul 05, 2010 3:11 pm
Brenda Brenda:
$1:
While Virgin Mobile said it is looking into the case to see if there’s anything that can be done to cushion the billing blow,
Of course there is. You could get him the roaming plan and back date it. Your CSR should have made him aware of that choice, and I am surprised they didn't. I find the CS very good at Virgin.
I did that all the time when I worked in an AT&T call centre about a decade ago.
He's a total idiot for using his iPhone so irresponsibly (why was he streaming a radio station when he could have just listened to mp3s), but Virgin doesn't have to be so damned greedy either, especially when he called them prior to his trip and asked about using it over there. The rep he spoke obviously didn't know shit...
bootlegga @ Mon Jul 05, 2010 3:15 pm
Choban Choban:
He says his bill runs about 200 a month normally??? WTF, no wonder I don't want a cell phone on any plan, I pay less for my TV INternet and Phone bundled together. It's astronomical what these providers charge and get away with it, problem being som many people pay it every month and don't bat an eye over the price, it will never come down.
Tell me about it. I'd love to get a smart phone, but the thought of even paying the minimum ($50 a month) is just insane. I can't even imagine $200 a month bills!
DerbyX @ Mon Jul 05, 2010 3:17 pm
Phones like this should have a pre-set limit then when you reach that limit it shuts down thus preventing run up charges. I've heard of parents getting limits for their kids phones and I'd want that just in case. If you reach your limit you can call up and increase it but you'll know where you stand.
Pre-paid also seems the way to go. You know how much you have and can't go over.
Choban @ Mon Jul 05, 2010 3:25 pm
DerbyX DerbyX:
Phones like this should have a pre-set limit then when you reach that limit it shuts down thus preventing run up charges. I've heard of parents getting limits for their kids phones and I'd want that just in case. If you reach your limit you can call up and increase it but you'll know where you stand.
Pre-paid also seems the way to go. You know how much you have and can't go over.
Pre-paid also seems the way to go. You know how much you have and can't go over.
Pre paid is the way, or like me get a work cell and have them pay for it, I don't need all the crap on the smartphones, I have a laptop for that.