The 40k Phone Bill

[DrivingTheDream]

Quote:

Shock at $85k mobile phone bill

A Canadian man has been shocked to receive a mobile phone bill for nearly $85,000 (£41,000).

 

Piotr Staniaszek thought he could use his new phone as a modem for his computer under his $10 unlimited mobile browser plan from Bell Mobility.

 

He downloaded high-definition movies and other large files unaware that this incurred massive extra charges.

 

Bell Mobility has since lowered the bill to $3,243, but Mr Staniaszek says he intends to fight the charges anyway.

 

'Nobody told me'

 

The 22-year-old oil-field worker from Calgary said he thought a first bill for $65,000 in November was a mistake.

 

When he spoke to Bell Mobility he was informed the bill had climbed to nearly $85,000 after more downloading.

 

I'm going to try and fight it, because I didn't know about the extra charges

Piotr Staniaszek

 

He said he normally paid about $150 a month for his phone and used to be notified of high charges.

 

"The thing is, they've cut my phone off for being like $100 over," he told CBC News.

 

"Here, I'm $85,000 over and nobody bothered to give me a call and tell me what was going on."

 

Bell Mobility said they would lower the bill to $3,243 in a "goodwill gesture" to match the best data plan available for using mobile phones as a modem, the Globe and Mail reported.

 

The trouble stems from the new phone he received when he renewed his mobile phone contract.

 

The new model allows him to connect with his computer and download data.

 

"I told them I wasn't aware I would be charged for hooking up my phone to the computer. I'm going to try and fight it, because I didn't know about the extra charges."

 

Canadians complain that their mobile phone charges are much higher for comparable service in the United States.

 

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7141935.stm

 

_________________

[AndyT]

$82k drop in bill. Just shows what a rip off the whole deal is.

[Rob]

This happened to me with BT when we moved into our current home, albeit for £190. We phone to set up a line, BT guy tells me there is no broadband in the area, this later turns out to be untrue, he also tells me that all dial-up calls are free on Together Option 2. We go for that.

 

The first bill is for £190, of which about £160 is internet. When I ring to complain BT tell me it's clearly stated in the T&C. I tell them that the first time I received the T&C was with that bill. They remain adamant, concedeing that its possible I may have been missold but they have no recording of the telephone call. To this day their position remains that even if I was missold the deal, I still actually made the calls so I had to pay for them, not accepting the argument that I wouldn't have made the calls if I knew I was paying for them.

 

Which is why I hate BT.

[Gaz Walker]

I drop down dead if I got a phone bill that big

[Ark]

Reminds me of a story from my 2nd year at university:

Girlfriend lives in a rented house with a Sri Lankan and 3 Nigerians. All pleasant enough people, but they had some funny habits, and could talk the back legs off a donkey! Anyway, they want a phone in the house, and got the line enabled, but because previous tenants had a poor record of paying their bill, the line was supposedly capped at £50 usage...and it was in the girlfriends name.

 

2 days later BT call up and say that the bill currently stands at > £150, and they are going to stop the line. By the end of the week, the line was stopped and the first and final bill arrives reading £360!!! Almost all international calls for as much as 2 hours at a time

 

Nigerians deny all knowledge, so an itemised bill is produced...guess what the dialling codes all were.

[Scott]

That is quality!

 

I'm pretty sure the guy will win his case but is the 80 odd k not in canadian dollars? Or is that the same as american dollars?

 

Scott =op

[Ark]

Other habits included fits of screaming and shouting at ungodly times of the night, travelling to central london at the weekend in order to do a burger bar job (surely Canterbury has part-time work available for students ), and maintaining a boiling soup-pot on the stove...full of fish heads (yuk!). The best one however, was emptying the freezer so they could fit in literally a side of a cow, raw, unpackaged, and bloody. The ice stained red, and made the girlfriend physically sick at the thought of ever using it again. Nice people.

[Ark]

That is quality!

 

I'm pretty sure the guy will win his case but is the 80 odd k not in canadian dollars? Or is that the same as american dollars?

 

Scott =op

 

The Canadian dollar is even weaker than the US Dollar.

[neil tt]

I would have had a heart attack:(

[Carl_S]

Other habits included fits of screaming and shouting at ungodly times of the night, travelling to central london at the weekend in order to do a burger bar job (surely Canterbury has part-time work available for students ), and maintaining a boiling soup-pot on the stove...full of fish heads (yuk!). The best one however, was emptying the freezer so they could fit in literally a side of a cow, raw, unpackaged, and bloody. The ice stained red, and made the girlfriend physically sick at the thought of ever using it again. Nice people.

 

Sounds like BoRaT