Could FCC Have Saved Woman From $200,000 Phone Bill?
- Posted on October 19, 2011 at 12:36pm by
Liz Klimas
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What would you do if your one month cellphone bill showed the number $200,000 — the cost of a house in some areas of the country? Yell? Cry? Shake?
(Image: WSVN screenshot)
One Florida woman had these reactions and more when she recently opened her cellphone statement and saw $201,005.44. WSVN-TV reports that Celina Aarons, whose cellphone bill is usually $175 per month, “freaked out” when she got the 43 page statement:
“Yes to 201,000 dollars, over 201,000 dollars. I asked three, four times and I‘m like oh my God are you serious and she’s like yes.”
[...]
“I was freaking out. I was shaking, crying, I couldn’t even talk that much on the phone. I was like my life is over!”
(Image: WSVN screenshot)
This news comes on the heels of a voluntary agreement between the Federal Communications Commission and cellphone service providers to warn subscribers before they get into a “bill shock” situation. Cellphone providers will send free alerts to users when they are getting close to they their monthly limits for calling minutes, text messages and data use. The carriers adopted these “voluntary” guidelines after the FCC threatened regulation that would curb these surprises.
CTIA — The Wireless Association, a trade group representing the major cellphone companies, said they‘re also promising to warn subscribers that they’re paying roaming fees if they travel abroad.
The warnings will arrive as text messages, and subscribers won’t need to sign up for them — they’ll arrive automatically. CTIA said its member will have warnings in place on at least half their plans in a year and all of them in two years.
Watch the Associated Press report:
Roaming charges are what got Aarons into trouble. Her brother, Shamir who is deaf and can’t talk, is on Aarons’ cellphone plan and on a trip to Canada did not turn off his the roaming on his cellphone.
WSVN continues:
“So apparently he used it for Internet and I don’t know how the charges got so high or whatever.”
Since Shamir is on Celina’s phone plan, the $201,000 bill is her responsibility. But she says paying that’s impossible.
[...] “Well it’s never going to get paid cause therefore, I cant pay that. That’s like paying a nice house right now based on what houses are going for.”
Aarons believes the cellphone company, T-mobile, should have contacted her when her bill began to skyrocket.
WSVN reports that T-mobile did text Shamir he was being billed $10 per megabyte and sent four additional texts to him with this information. After being contacted by WSVN and told Aarons’ story, T-mobile graciously lowered the cellphone bill from its more than $200,000 total to $2,500 with a six month timeframe to make the payment.
Shamir signed “thank you.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
[H/T PC World]
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Comments (101)
Dougral Supports Israel
Posted on October 19, 2011 at 2:18pm$10 per megabyte is a ridiculous charge. Its obviously far, far above the cost of providing the service. It’s also the type of thing that brings on the government regulators and justifies their existence.
Report Post »GhostOfJefferson
Posted on October 19, 2011 at 2:27pmExplain to me precisely how T-Mobile is responsible for the charges foreign nations/companies put on their product.
Report Post »foobear
Posted on October 19, 2011 at 2:29pmYeah. If the cell phone companies want to use their natural monopolies to charge $1000 per YouTube video watched on a smartphone, they really shouldn’t be surprised when the regulatory hammer comes down on them.
What’s worse is when you have your smartphone set up to do background data synching – as most Android and iPhone phones are set to do by default. You can run a massive bill just for carrying your phone into Canada and not even using it.
Report Post »Dougral Supports Israel
Posted on October 19, 2011 at 2:41pm@GhostOfJefferson I’m sure a lot of those roaming agreements are negotiated. If the Canadian phone companies persist then T-Mobile could also complain to the appropriate Canadian authorities about what is clearly an attempt at robbing the consumer. If I were running a business I would do all that was in my power to make sure that my customers experienced good and honest service while using my products.
Report Post »ChiefGeorge
Posted on October 19, 2011 at 3:18pmAnother Wall St rip off?
Report Post »RevoltInPeace
Posted on October 19, 2011 at 3:23pm@FooBear – “Natural Monopoly”. The last time I checked there was LOTS of competition in the mobile phone business. Not to mention the big ATT, Verizon, TMobile, and Sprint, there is also a very large regional market and pay-as-you-go market out there. There is lots of competition. However, I do agree with the logic that over charging in the hopes of these types of “accidents” is what will cause the govt to come in and regulate. But, that‘s only because we’ve forgotten about PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY. When I went on my cruise last year, I went to the Verizon store, talked to them about my plan, my options, and the charges. Because I took personal responsibility, I got all the info I needed so that I knew how to turn off roaming, turn off email, etc. and not get hit with a big bill. Nothing is stopping anyone else from taking personal responsibility and doing the same. As soon as America uses the “I’m dumb, I didn’t know” excuse – the govt will be more than happy to step in and “help” us (just like they fixed the banking industry by taking away retail profits and causing the banks to start charging fees to their customers).
Report Post »Enklechewer
Posted on October 19, 2011 at 4:38pmBy what right do you tell a business what they can charge to someone? BY WHAT RIGHT? If you don’t want to pay, don’t use the service. No one is holding a gun to your head.
By what standard do YOU determine what is a “fair” charge? How much does foreign bandwidth cost for T-mobile? How much per megabyte do THEY pay to bring you service in a foreign nation? How much does the bandwidth rental cost the foreign provider?
You have no right to determine ANY price to be “unfair.” If it’s so unfair, don’t buy it.
Report Post »oldguy49
Posted on October 19, 2011 at 8:15pmget real………i got rid of my cell years ago $100-$200 a month………..leave me a message or send email on home phone or computer……….$50 month
Report Post »heyjms
Posted on October 19, 2011 at 8:28pmSo, be aware of your plan and where and what you get charged…
Report Post »kindling
Posted on October 19, 2011 at 10:13pmNow they are responsible for a forgivness tax of around $40,000 to the federal government.
Report Post »lacabeza
Posted on October 19, 2011 at 10:23pmThe regulators will come in cap the price at $10/mb and it will become “the price”. F’ government regulators they do more harm than good. If you don’t like the fees, are too stupid to read your contract, or ignore the multiple warnings then maybe you shouldn’t have a phone. Better idea, if you don’t like the fees get off your @ $ $ and start your own Mobile service and charge the lower fees. Its easy right?
Report Post »foobear
Posted on October 21, 2011 at 12:48am@Revolt: You’re deluding yourself. There is no competition among cell phone carriers in the US. The big companies have a monopoly on all available spectrum, which they use to keep smaller competitors (Cricket, MetroPCS, etc.) from competing.
Case in point: All the major carriers raised their text messaging rates by the same amount, at the same time in 2008 or thereabouts.
Report Post »foobear
Posted on October 21, 2011 at 12:51am@Enkel: It is possible from time to time to order products or services without an obvious price tag on them. When these cases go before court, a judge will look at the value of the product and service provided, and assign a “reasonable” price for it.
For example, if your neighbor asks you to wash his car, and you do it without an amount specified, you can’t just bill him a million dollars.
Such cases have been upheld in cases of hotel phones charging people thousands of dollars for what should be a $5 phone call, and it would definitely be upheld if this lady went to court with her six-digit phone bill for what would be around two hundred bucks worth of service, tops.
Report Post »Enklechewer
Posted on October 21, 2011 at 6:24pmYou are deluding yourself… The US court has no authority over the rate charged by a foreign carrier WITHIN the borders of a foreign nation.
Also, the difference between your hotel case and this case is the fact that cell phone companies have contracts which explain the terms of foreign data costs. Add to that the 4 texts sent informing the user of the 10/MB charge…a court would not hold in favor of the user in this case, assuming the court would even have jurisdiction.
http://www.t-mobile.com/International/RoamingOverview.aspx?tp=Inl_Tab_RoamWorldwide
Oh look, a public and easily accessible source for finding the call, text, and data rates…right on T-mobile’s website.
Good luck with that whole “hidden charges” argument. See how well that works for you!
Report Post »foobear
Posted on October 22, 2011 at 3:02am@Enkelchewer: I’m not going to court over this, so it doesn’t bother me very much. But it would indeed be a matter for a judge to decide.
Posting something on a website doesn’t mean that a person has seen it or agreed to it. I could put on my website a statement saying that I don’t have to pay any cell phone bills at all.
Report Post »HTuttle
Posted on October 19, 2011 at 2:17pmB..b..but I HAZ 2 HAS smart phone and gazillion texties!
/smug $100/year cell phoner.
Report Post »lukerw
Posted on October 19, 2011 at 2:15pmPeople must be Adults and concerned about all aspects of their lives: “you cannot fix Stupid”!
Report Post »HTuttle
Posted on October 19, 2011 at 2:23pmI heard she‘s complaining that she constantly smells like crap because her toilet paper doesn’t alert her when her butt is wiped clean.
Report Post »foobear
Posted on October 19, 2011 at 2:30pm@LukeRW: ““you cannot fix Stupid”!”
By default, smartphones will use data sync services running in the background, which can give you four- or five-digit bills for merely crossing the Canadian border, without making a single call or watching a Youtube video.
I know how to disable this on my phone, but my father/mother/sister/grandparents certainly do not. As they all “stupid”?
Report Post »lukerw
Posted on October 19, 2011 at 2:54pm@FOOBEAR
Report Post »My wife has a phone that she really does not know how to operate (plus we get signal bounce to Canada)… so I hide it… and do not lend it to others.
Brizz
Posted on October 19, 2011 at 3:44pm@FOOBEAR
Posted on October 19, 2011 at 2:30pm
@LukeRW: ““you cannot fix Stupid”!”
By default, smartphones will use data sync services running in the background,… blah blah blah
I know …blah blah blah, but my father/mother/sister/grandparents certainly do not. As they all “stupid”?
Report Post »MAYBE IT RUNS IN YOUR FAMILY?
foobear
Posted on October 21, 2011 at 12:55am@Luke and other idiot: There’s a difference between knowing how to operate a phone, and knowing that a cell phone will consume quite a bit of bandwidth even when it’s not being used. I could take a survey asking a variety of questions about the operation of smartphones that I could get you, the other idiot, and the majority of Americans to fail.
Ego wagging aside, the more important point is that the drones at the local strip mall selling smart phones don’t tell you that you can be hit with a six-digit bill if you cross the border into Canada. So the lady has a perfectly legal reason for not being stuck with such an extravagant charge.
Report Post »HTuttle
Posted on October 19, 2011 at 2:13pm“whose cellphone bill is usually $175 per month”
Wow! And I bet she believes the rich stole their money from her.
Hey, idiots! The 1% have all the money because you are GIVING it to them!
Report Post »ZaphodsPlanet
Posted on October 19, 2011 at 2:44pmYou’re a Moron.
Report Post »loriann12
Posted on October 19, 2011 at 3:23pmAll you need is 2 phones with data packages and a family plan and you easily have $175 a month. The brother is deaf, so he has to text. It’s the roaming charges that get you.
Report Post »beekeeper
Posted on October 19, 2011 at 2:11pmI have an AT&T iPhone, and I was on their minimal texting plan (a few hundred a month, IIRC), any way, I got in to a prolonged “discussion” with a friend via texting, and I soon got a message from AT&T telling me that I had exceeded my monthly limit, and that I was going to be charged a certain amount per message sent. I ignored it at the time, then a day later I got another message from AT&T which suggested I consider enrolling in their unlimited text message plan. It was $15/month for all my family plan phones (one fee covers all three phones), vs. the minimal $5/phone I was paying.
AT&T went out of their way to prevent me being “shocked” by my bill – I took their advice and I’ve never had an issue with the bill since. This predates the “agreement” between the FCC and the carriers by at least 6 months.
The issue here is the brother that ignored the (repeated) warnings from T-Mobile ad T-Mobile’s appropriate response of cutting the bill to a manageable amount.
Shame her brother didn’t have any sense of responsibility when the messages came in – I have no problem with what T-Mobile did.
Report Post »1956
Posted on October 20, 2011 at 7:03amI‘d be willing to bet he MIGHT have behaved a little more responsibly if he’d had to pay his own cell phone bill.
Report Post »DanWesson455
Posted on October 19, 2011 at 2:06pmJust go and sign up…hell the 53% are probably paying for this. Don’t read the fine print. I’m sure in there it states that when you go out of a T Mobile Tower area you will get hit with roaming charges. So don’t act STUPID you DIP WAD!
Report Post »gunslinger9729
Posted on October 19, 2011 at 2:20pmAcually T – Moble is one of those who say unlimited local and long distance in US and Canada and have unlimited data plans too. At the price shes paying she has unlimited in both I would gess so they didnt think about it. But since T moble said they texted her son I guess thats supposed to let them off the hook. I get a bunch of “free” texts from them all the time as I am a customer too but Those are usually spam so most of the time I do not even look at them because I do not want to get a loan or a new car. I would bet thats what he thought these messages were too. I like their service but to make sure that I do not get hit with a suprise bill I use the Monthly prepaid service so I pay only for the things I want to have acsess to and not other things I do not want to pay for. Even with these plans I am told I have unlimited Text, Talk, and Data as well. The only limit is if I use a bunch of data my speed will slow down at a certin point. Thats all it says in the “fine print”. G.
Report Post »ZABO
Posted on October 19, 2011 at 1:50pmland line anyone. this is what you get for being hip,cool and the look at what i have type. to f-in bad and pay up sucker.
Report Post »theaveng
Posted on October 19, 2011 at 2:07pmDon’t blame the victim. $10 per megabyte is an outrageous charge (approximately $1 for every photo downloaded). That’s basically GREED personified, and I would tell T-mobile to take the reduced $2500 bill and shove it up its stockbrokers’ asses.
If they want to report it to my credit bureau, so be it. My score‘s over 1000 and one hit won’t bother me at all.
Report Post »Damn frakking corporations.
Blackhawk1
Posted on October 19, 2011 at 2:16pmDon’t blame the victim. $10 per megabyte is an outrageous charge
Even after 4 messages telling him that he was going to charged that? Go back to the OWS protest. Shamir is the ONLY one to blame here. Him and his stupid sister that gave him the phone.
Report Post »Ookspay
Posted on October 19, 2011 at 2:21pmIt doesn’t matter, with that kind of usage I’m sure she will die of brain cancer before the bill is actually due.
Report Post »GhostOfJefferson
Posted on October 19, 2011 at 2:30pmCredit scores only go to 850 with the exception of Vantage, which goes to 990.
I seriously doubt you have a credit score in the thousands, hoss.
Report Post »Blackhawk1
Posted on October 19, 2011 at 2:48pmGhostOfJefferson
TheAveNg is obviously an OWS protestor who knows nothing of the real world. He/She/It’s knowledge base of finances or earning a living is about as deep as a thimble. I almost fell out of my chair when TheAveNg stated a 1000 credit score. Freecreditreport would do a world of good in this idiots case.
Report Post »Shaditup
Posted on October 19, 2011 at 4:02pmHow completely moronic can you be THEAVENG. I particularly don’t like google, but if you feel the need to open your decrepit pie-hole, at least ATTEMPT to display some courtesy to the readers of the blaze and try to do some rudimentary research. Not only will you at the very least APPEAR to have some common sense, you will finally be able to get beyond the elementary stumbling blocks that have thus far thwarted your intellectual development. Also, never forget spell check, it’s a point saver.
Report Post »kchercmech
Posted on October 19, 2011 at 1:40pmI agree “GONZO”- they need to read their contract or get an unlimited phone like many of us. Two times in my life I have had an extremely high cell bill; one for $1140, and the 2nd of $831. Both times I should have taken more care to exercise personal responsibility. I paid them both off even though it took me three years to pay off that much money back then.
HOWEVER, almost a quarter of a million dollars is obscene!! Customer service should have called at some point if for no other reason than to check the accuracy of their systems. She should have to pay a hefty amount for her inability to re-program her phone when she or anyone else took it to Canada. Even though I do not think she should have to work for free for the rest of her life, the Government should be left out. If I was her, I would spread my story to the people. Let public pressure and outrage pressure the phone company to change their practices, not the government, and certainly not any agency attached to the Immaculate Great Supreme Leader, our Dictator President, the one, the only (thank God) Barack Hussein Obama.
Report Post »Blackhawk1
Posted on October 19, 2011 at 1:52pm“Customer service should have called at some point if for no other reason than to check the accuracy of their systems.”
4 Text messages that were obviously ignored isn’t good enough? It wasn‘t the company’s fault, it was her irresponsible brothers fault. The idiot was probably p o r n surfing.
Report Post »jueta
Posted on October 19, 2011 at 2:06pmMaybe Shamir was in Canada on Jihad Watch so the CIA couldn’t trace his internet searches!
Report Post »singray
Posted on October 19, 2011 at 1:36pmThese rules, like those coming from the EPA are for control. They are of the mindset that the must control us. And once a Gov’t wants that control they also want limits. And in this country the left has figured out that they only way to limit us is through cost. Make things to expensive so that the few will have the most. It is true that the wealth is being concentrated to a select few. But it is the Gov’t that is deciding who shall make or keep theirs.That is why the OWS crowd is so misplaced in their belief. They are after the wrong people. Or should I say the ones the Gov’t wants them to get.
Report Post »Minnaloushe
Posted on October 19, 2011 at 1:36pmNever forget that cell phone companies are still in the same league as title loans, clip joints, carnival hucksters, and the gift shop at Stuckeys.
Report Post »Blackhawk1
Posted on October 19, 2011 at 1:47pmReally? How is that? They provide a service people are willing to pay for and the cost of such service is right up front. There are many different companies offering the service and different plans. Sounds like you are like the OWS people, you want something for nothing and on top of that you want others to pay for it.
Report Post »Dustoff
Posted on October 19, 2011 at 1:56pmNot even close. You can buy a basic plan. Or have a phone that you must put minutes on it, buying time.
With that huge bill I’m thinking someone should stop using it so much.
This isn‘t the first person I’ve seen with huge bills like these. As the saying goes, you need to put the phone down and back away from it.
Report Post »theaveng
Posted on October 19, 2011 at 2:14pmNever forget that the cell companies are using the PEOPLE’S AIRWAVES and they should be careful not to piss-off the landlord (us), otherwise we will revoke their licenses.
We allow these companies to use our collective property (including roads) in exchange for giving us TV, radio, cellphones. If T-mobile abuses that privilege with 200,000 bills, then that privilege will be revoked and given to someone else.
Report Post »Blackhawk1
Posted on October 19, 2011 at 3:01pmtheaveng
Collective property? Do you even know what a frequency is? So you believe you own a part of the spectrum of light huh? Which portion do the people own? Gamma Ray, X-ray, Ultraviolet, Visible light, Infrared, Radio Frequency, Intermediate Frequency, Extremely Low Frequency, or Static? Keep posting so you can remove all doubt about your level of stupidity.
Report Post »StargazerInSavannah
Posted on October 19, 2011 at 1:32pmCan’t imagine a usual $175 a month phone bill. In fact, anyone considering $175 a month for phone charges usual or acceptable ought not be too concerned with $200,000 bill.
Report Post »Guess this must be an example of the “generation gap” I’ve heard about. Our prepaid cell phone cost $29.00, Eight hundred minutes of calling time and a years service costs about $100.00. Unused calling minutes are carried forward and after three years I have 1350 minutes of calling time and 557 days of service left. Total outlay has been less than $400.00.
Surely, I must come from a different world where some sixty years ago I mowed neighborhood lawns and shoveled walks for a quarter, attended movies for a quarter and bought a hamburger and a shake for fifteen cents.
I fail to see how the government at any level should interfere in the contract between T-mobile and Aarons. Aarons might wish to give up her cell until she has paid off the legal debt she has incurred.
If Aarons is wealthy enough that she fits a $175.00 a month blabbermouth bill into her expenses she apparently hasn’t personally engaged in the degrading activity of working for her income.
Aarons needs to pay her cell phone bill so that she will be a bit more careful in the future.
nuttyvet
Posted on October 19, 2011 at 1:44pmOh times were so much simpler back then. Today we are a bunch of loons – I’m so sick of hearing your generation blab about my generation. I seem to recall, during your golder years of being payed a quarter for a weeks worth of work, there were signs for white and black water fountains, infant mortality was much higher, women were de facto second class citizens, and people died from simple infections. Yes, we pay more for cell phones but we live in the 21st century. You can’t avoid technology, it’s not going anywhere! And for your sake, if you want to keep in touch and up to date with the world, your grandchildren, or exist in a modern society, you’ll put your lead pencil down and embrace the mirracle of technology ;)
Report Post »theaveng
Posted on October 19, 2011 at 2:20pmDear NUTTY:
You can use modern technology without being raped. I pay $5 a month for my phone calls ($25 if I upgraded to unlimited), $15 for my internet, and nothing for my TV. So a $20 to 40 range for all three.
Anybody who pays ~$150 isn’t being “tech saavy”. They are being tech stupid. And are a poor steward of their money.
Report Post »Caerus
Posted on October 19, 2011 at 4:11pmIt is hilarious to see all these people commenting “omg, 175 dollars a month! How?” Did you miss the bit about her brother being on her account? If he’s on it, the rest of her family probably is, as well. They probably have smartphones too. It isn’t unusual at all anymore for families to stay on one bill to keep the costs down. My parents have my siblings, my husband and I, my grandparents, and one of my aunt’s on their account. We all just send them our typical monthly payment and they pay it all at once.
If you are happy with your Moto Razr with just calling, that’s lovely. Doesn’t make you a bad person, or stupid. Nor does having a smartphone with unlimited text and data make you bad or stupid. That’s completely nonsensical.
I’ll spend the money for a high data and text cap for my smartphone, because that is what I like. You can spend your money on fishing equipment (like my FIL, who uses a Razr), or fancy restaurants, or whatever else floats your boat. Since when do we conservatives care how other people spend their own money?
Report Post »mullet
Posted on October 19, 2011 at 1:28pmWhile I totally agree that personal responsibility dictates she should have been paying better attention to her bill, we as consumers should question any company that is ripping us off in this way. If this was a legitimate charge, T-Mobile would have cut the service off WAY before the bill got that high to limit their credit exposure, knowing that no consumer cell phone customer could or would ever pay that bill.
The fact that they negotiated the bill down to $2500 tells me the service she was paying for was outrageously overpriced, and since the capitalistic system gives every customer a vote, we should let them know this is unacceptable.
Report Post »Brizz
Posted on October 19, 2011 at 1:35pmSo it’s those preditory cell phone carriers then? Idiot
Report Post »Brizz
Posted on October 19, 2011 at 1:41pmCorrection: Predatory
Report Post »GhostOfJefferson
Posted on October 19, 2011 at 1:42pmOr, instead of assuming “corporation = teh evil”, how about this scenario.
T-mobile took a huge hit and loss, in order to incure good PR?
I do agree with voting with your wallet though.
Report Post »selloursouls
Posted on October 19, 2011 at 1:27pmHer brother was nice enough to ignore the multiple texts messages and continued accessing the internet, looks like she should have cried and yelled at her brother not the company. True he wouldn’t have heard her yelling. This girl wants the company to forgive a debt that was legitimately incurred by her brother and because she didn’t take the time or responsibility to explain to her brother about foreign roaming and data charges she should get a free pass? Welcome to reality where actions or lack of actions have consequences. If the brother is too stupid to understand the messages about approaching overages maybe he shouldn’t have a phone.
That brother of hers was on the internet for the period of one month enough to reach 20 gig. One he should have found a wifi area to use it and two maybe he should get off the dang phone and go do something. I have the 2 gig plan and never come close. Sorry no sympathy for this girl other than having a stupid brother and apparently sharing that same stupidity.
Report Post »Ex_Masshole
Posted on October 19, 2011 at 1:23pmThe answer to the the question in the headline is; “Yes. BUT, no regulation will ever save people from their own stupidity or laziness.”
This same person would have been just as shocked and upset if T-Mobile had a policy to disconnect a service if the device moved outside of the contracted service area to prevent such charges. Stupid people want everything done for them and they don’t want to pay extra for it.
Report Post »Brizz
Posted on October 19, 2011 at 1:32pmThe answer is actually no then. The FCC has no place in regulating what people should pay for their mobile phone service. The information is available, but the dumb, cheap, and/or lazy do not pay enough attention when the service provider is having them sign a legal contract. No sympathy here. This will probably be on the list of demands for the OWS protesters as their next bill cycle approaches!!!
Report Post »IntegrityFirst
Posted on October 19, 2011 at 1:22pmThe real question is why is Shamir a total dip sheet. He got FOUR messages saying you are now paying $10 per MB. FOUR. Not one, not two, not even three. Are you dense? Besides, have you no respect for your sister you complete jackwipe? You’re on her plan, respect that you jerk. She is paying for YOU.
Report Post »Blackhawk1
Posted on October 19, 2011 at 1:40pmInteresting that he is on his sister cell phone plan but can afford to go to Canada.
Report Post »COASTIE90
Posted on October 19, 2011 at 1:21pmNo more government regulations. T-Mobile handled it well, but her brothers didn’t. I have T-Mobile and when I travel outside the USA T-Mobile continues to tell me to turn off my data unless I want to incur additional charges up to $15.00 per mb. They are deaf, not blind.
Report Post »Junter
Posted on October 19, 2011 at 1:05pmDoh! So that‘s what all the fine print said which I didn’t read when signing my name thereby agreeing to it. I can‘t pay that I’m stupid not rich.
Report Post »santramir
Posted on October 19, 2011 at 1:05pmthe real question is what is really behind the roaming service to make it so so expensive??
Report Post »Blackhawk1
Posted on October 19, 2011 at 1:32pmHere is a quick breakdown of roaming charges. The phone user when not on their home network are roaming. In this case the user was on a Foreign country providers network so T-Mobile has to pay that provider for the service. If T-Mobile doesn’t have a roaming agreement with the company that company can charge whatever they want and T-Mobile has to pay that company and then recover the amount from their customer. Now the user in this case was alerted 4 times that the data useage was expensive and ignored it. It was ALL his fault.
Report Post »Gonzo
Posted on October 19, 2011 at 1:04pmWhy does the Federal government have to set regulations for everyone just top save the clueless? Read your contract.
Report Post »GhostOfJefferson
Posted on October 19, 2011 at 12:59pmThe real story, reported on the radio, is that her progeny went overseas and she forgot or neglected to switch the plan over to an overseas rate plan, ergo, she got hit with a fully legitimate bill.
The company, T-Mobile, was extremely generous and forgiving, given as this was unquestionably a legitimate bill and she was fully responsible for her own negligence. The FCC has no role here, at all. You cannot protect people from their own stupidity.
But given as a bill is coming up, I believe, to give the FCC even more power to dictate to cell providers, it’s not even slightly surprising to see sob stories like this starting to make the news. The propaganda wheels are so easy to see spinning it’s amazing to me that anybody falls for it any longer.
Report Post »cntrlfrk
Posted on October 19, 2011 at 1:09pmIt truly is, isn’t it?
Anymore, when I see a news story, I wonder what legislation is coming up that they are propping up to form public opinion for.
The media is just another left-wing spin and propaganda machine.
.
Report Post »Anonymous T. Irrelevant
Posted on October 19, 2011 at 2:13pmHe went overseas and knew his phone would work there, but never thought of the charges? My wife and kids went to Spain, France, and England this past summer. We checked on phones you could rent, and what could be done. She ended up renting a phone from Verizon that would work in Europe, but then , also, regulated the calls, so it would cost a fortune. Even my kids were smart enough to take wireless devices to communicate with their friends. Gahhhh, people.
Report Post »Gorp
Posted on October 19, 2011 at 12:53pmI used to have T-Mobile but never again. I’d pay the bill online. The money would come out of my bank account right away but T-Mobile would not credit my account for about 3 weeks. By that time my cell was turned off and I had to call them via land line to find out what the problem was. They did this 3 months in a row. That’s when I told them where to put it.
Report Post »Psychosis
Posted on October 19, 2011 at 12:53pmlol
read your contracts people being stupid is a poor excuse
but seriously, maybe you should use a provider that doesnt charge roaming
Report Post »CatholicTexanGrandma
Posted on October 19, 2011 at 1:47pmThe problem is that you don‘t know how much roaming cost while it’s happening. Everyone should be able to accept or not accept roaming in their plan, should have to turn it ON not off when traveling and should be able to set a maximum dollar amount to be charged.
I have had clients who have cruised, never used the phone once, only as a clock, and gotten $3000 phone bills when they arrived home. We try to warn people, but there are so many plans out there that we cannot be travel and phone experts too.
Personally, I would have no idea what $10MB was. Is that a little or a lot? How much per minute or per hour is that? It is meaningless, unless you get a text message that your x number of minutes just cost you $200 – that I can understand
Report Post »Blackhawk1
Posted on October 19, 2011 at 12:51pmSo here we have a obvious liberal who blames the company because of her negligence to find out what international billing charges are and to inform her brother to not use the phone in Canada. Even after repeated warnings from the company (T-mobile did text Shamir he was being billed $10 per megabyte and sent four additional texts to him with this information.) I assume she is a liberal because of the lack of personal responsibility on her part. That and from her valley girl statement “Yes to 201,000 dollars, over 201,000 dollars. I asked three, four times and I‘m like oh my God are you serious and she’s like yes.” This is the youth in our country.
Report Post »GhostOfJefferson
Posted on October 19, 2011 at 1:00pmYep, I just posted something similar. Stupid person does something stupid, blames others, film at 11.
Report Post »RvrRat
Posted on October 19, 2011 at 12:51pmSo much for personal accountability!
Report Post »Darla_K
Posted on October 19, 2011 at 12:48pmThis is crazy. I threw my cell phone away and don’t miss it at all. These roaming charges is ridiculous.
Report Post »CatB
Posted on October 19, 2011 at 12:59pmShows how out of control the roaming fees can be .. over 200,000 and they can settle for 2,500 .. bet they aren’t losing a dime either…. I agree that they should have checked or paid attention to the texts but who know how much a megabite is a how many you are using at $10 bucks a pop!
Report Post »GhostOfJefferson
Posted on October 19, 2011 at 1:33pmSounds like a nice niche service opportunity. If the main providers are charging a %1000 upcharge, then get into the market and undercut the living hell out of them. That’s how Americans used to approach things like this, with entrepreneureal spirit, not “that’s unfair!”.
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