1. rdeang's Avatar
    i got slapped with a $2100 phone bill and they're telling me that i'm tethering.
    so i'm annoyed and confused cause from i've been told you have to have the phone and laptop or whatever connected with the cord and set it all up which i have NEVER done before. I got an unlimited data plan and i'm told that tethering is an extra add on to the bill which i don't have. i don't download crazy amounts on my phone, watch videos or stream and i don't surf on the bb explorer and even if i did i have unlimited data so there's no way i'd have to pay so much.

    im being charged for something im not even using or doing. they think its tethering but i don't think it is at all and the funny thing is i've talked to 7 different techs and they all say that i'm tethering and they don't believe that i'm not doing it at all.

    any insight on it? anyone had this problem or know something about this cause this is just ridiculous. 110% i'm not tethering so any help would be great. unless they're mistakenly billing me for the second month in a row
    11-25-11 07:12 PM
  2. RoseBud68's Avatar
    Need to take it up with your carrier.
    11-25-11 07:34 PM
  3. SwitchBeach's Avatar
    1. What carrier?
    2. What apps do you have loaded?
    3. Have you EVER connected the BlackBerry to a computer? If so, what exactly did you do when it was connected?
    4. Have you ever connected the BlackBerry to any other device by the USB cable or via Bluetooth?
    5. Does your bill contain a detail of when these data sessions occurred? What were you doing during those times?
    6. What other details do you have?
    11-25-11 08:00 PM
  4. dictoresno's Avatar
    yea which carrier? they are usually able to tell when you have been tethering.
    11-25-11 08:05 PM
  5. Laura Knotek's Avatar
    Do you have a Playbook? If so, are you using the Bridge with your handset and your Playbook?
    11-25-11 08:05 PM
  6. mssca's Avatar
    The best question: Are you in stupid Canada? It is all over the news, Canadian service providers are cheaters and some times due to what they call "software issues", they will issue an invoice with huge number. If your are in Canada, call the company and if they don't respond, most likely do what hundreds of others did... call the national media like CBC and news reports will help you out.

    My uncle got a $2000+ from Robbers... I mean Rogers and he spend two weeks trying to resolve this issue. He was changed saying he used the phone in US, but he was no where near US or US border during that month. Finally he took this information along with Canada Border Services records to prove he wasn't in US to CBC Marketplace TV program. The Robbers bent over and gave him 6 months of free BIS with 500 MB data plus they took off the $2000+ charge.

    So, if you are in Canada, I am not surprise. There was a mother who was charged by Robbers $5000+ for her two daughters combined iPhone plans and the Robber contacted the credit collectors on her because she refused to pay for it. A year later, CBC went after Robbers and got a refund.

    Please tell me you are NOT in Canada or your are officially screwed by our government and industry for sure!
    Last edited by mss-ca; 11-25-11 at 08:22 PM.
    11-25-11 08:13 PM
  7. ohhh my's Avatar
    Stupid question, but are you using some sort of software which allows you to use your phone as a modem via bluetooth?
    11-25-11 08:49 PM
  8. galleon's Avatar
    The best question: Are you in stupid Canada? It is all over the news, Canadian service providers are cheaters and some times due to what they call "software issues", they will issue an invoice with huge number. If your are in Canada, call the company and if they don't respond, most likely do what hundreds of others did... call the national media like CBC and news reports will help you out.

    My uncle got a $2000+ from Robbers... I mean Rogers and he spend two weeks trying to resolve this issue. He was changed saying he used the phone in US, but he was no where near US or US border during that month. Finally he took this information along with Canada Border Services records to prove he wasn't in US to CBC Marketplace TV program. The Robbers bent over and gave him 6 months of free BIS with 500 MB data plus they took off the $2000+ charge.

    So, if you are in Canada, I am not surprise. There was a mother who was charged by Robbers $5000+ for her two daughters combined iPhone plans and the Robber contacted the credit collectors on her because she refused to pay for it. A year later, CBC went after Robbers and got a refund.

    Please tell me you are NOT in Canada or your are officially screwed by our government and industry for sure!
    I'm not sure what "Stupid Canada" means or what "Canada has to do with it?? The first mistake you made is buying a phone from Rogers. Rogers is not Canada, and not only that, Sasktel is actually government owned and it has the best service/coverage in Canada of any provider. Oh, and they have a VERY high customer rating.

    On another note, I've been tethering with my phone for over a year with an email only plan, and they can't seem to tell the difference, never get charged extra even though it shows 300mb of extra data use. I even called them about it cause I was worried about charges and they said they couldn't shut it off nor could they see that I was using it, they hardly believed me. So I just keep using it moderately and it keeps working!
    mssca likes this.
    11-25-11 09:14 PM
  9. dictoresno's Avatar
    Stupid question, but are you using some sort of software which allows you to use your phone as a modem via bluetooth?
    the phone is capable of being used as a modem via bluetooth, but the user would have to set up a modem profile on their computer. if they arent tethering as they say, there shouldnt be an issue with this and probably not the cause.
    11-25-11 09:15 PM
  10. snowindec9's Avatar
    $2100 ouch.would go whack if got a bill like that.but i don't usually.the sad thing is that i don't use my phone for what its purpose which is-text,call,email contacts.my contact list is just my family-mom,dad,bro,few cousins.thats it.ill be sending text messaging my dad most of the time.so you see im not using my phone to most potential.its gets kind of lame.but im not going to pick random bbm numbers from socials users thread crackberry and add them.some of these people you don't even know in real life so no point in starting conversations with them.maybe someday ill have a contact list of more than just 10 people and i would be emailing texting fiend.a guy can wish.
    and plus im a smart guy so im not going add people that are going to be a nuisance or those that say ok you can have the number but then they forget about me and never call or text to my contact list.
    Last edited by snowindec9; 11-25-11 at 09:53 PM.
    11-25-11 09:31 PM
  11. Nabil753's Avatar
    not surprised if you're with robers. If you are, pay whatever you have to, to get out of robers contract before they eventurally charge you thousands of dollars out of nowhere even if your phone was turned off as long as you lived. I paid off my remaining 6 months left with rogers contract and went with wind...$29 for unlimited everything..and i mean EVERYTHING. So dam happy i get to enjoy my phone bills and watch rogers' customers whine about theirs lol.
    mssca likes this.
    11-25-11 09:51 PM
  12. pcgizmo#IM's Avatar
    What does any of that have to do with Bold 9900/9930?
    galleon likes this.
    11-26-11 07:35 AM
  13. mssca's Avatar
    I'm not sure what "Stupid Canada" means or what "Canada has to do with it?? The first mistake you made is buying a phone from Rogers. Rogers is not Canada, and not only that, Sasktel is actually government owned and it has the best service/coverage in Canada of any provider. Oh, and they have a VERY high customer rating.

    On another note, I've been tethering with my phone for over a year with an email only plan, and they can't seem to tell the difference, never get charged extra even though it shows 300mb of extra data use. I even called them about it cause I was worried about charges and they said they couldn't shut it off nor could they see that I was using it, they hardly believed me. So I just keep using it moderately and it keeps working!
    I hate the lobby group for Rogers Canada in the parliament. They have so much power than anyone here. I mean the stupid Canadian federal government. Look at France. French people took to streets when something stupid like this happens. That's democracy while we Canadians sit on our *** doing nothing.
    11-26-11 08:32 AM
  14. mssca's Avatar
    What does any of that have to do with Bold 9900/9930?
    Sometimes this happens when you renew your contract. You are right this has nothing to do with 99xx per say, but it often happen when you register a new phone with the same company. At least that's what happen to most of the victims. The system won't recognize some of the parameters when registering the new device. May be OP has a new Bold 99xx and just registered or re-registered the phone.

    Parameters on a SIM that may effect billing would be:
    -Home City (which is where calls considered as "local calls")
    -Home Country (which is where calls considered as "national calls")
    -Data packet type (which is where they see if you are on BIS, tethering, etc)
    -and so much more like TCP/IPs, network subs, etc, etc.

    One single wrong info could give you a sky high invoice. These parameters are the reason why you can't buy an AT&T phone in US with AT&T SIM and activate in Canada and not expect to get charge more.

    I have a feeling that if he resend the service books, it may fix this problem. Either way I will go to the seller store or the service provider for help.
    11-26-11 08:43 AM
  15. pcgizmo#IM's Avatar
    Sometimes this happens when you renew your contract. You are right this has nothing to do with 99xx per say, but it often happen when you register a new phone with the same company. At least that's what happen to most of the victims. The system won't recognize some of the parameters when registering the new device. May be OP has a new Bold 99xx and just registered or re-registered the phone.

    Parameters on a SIM that may effect billing would be:
    -Home City (which is where calls considered as "local calls")
    -Home Country (which is where calls considered as "national calls")
    -Data packet type (which is where they see if you are on BIS, tethering, etc)
    -and so much more like TCP/IPs, network subs, etc, etc.

    One single wrong info could give you a sky high invoice. These parameters are the reason why you can't buy an AT&T phone in US with AT&T SIM and activate in Canada and not expect to get charge more.

    I have a feeling that if he resend the service books, it may fix this problem. Either way I will go to the seller store or the service provider for help.
    My point is that it has nothing to do with 99xx. This could happen regardless of the specific BB device they have in their cute little belt holster.
    berrynaise likes this.
    11-26-11 08:52 AM
  16. olblueyez's Avatar
    I don't know why Canada is refered to as "Stupid". I love Canada and I wish that I lived there. If the large bill is truly a mistake then your carrier will not be able to produce records demonstrating that you used their tethering services worth 2000 balloons. If they cannot show you those records then they cannot charge you for those services. Please let us know how it goes after you try and sort things out with them.

    Good Luck,

    The Chairman

    Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com
    11-26-11 09:24 AM
  17. mssca's Avatar
    My point is that it has nothing to do with 99xx. This could happen regardless of the specific BB device they have in their cute little belt holster.
    Oh ok. Sorry... When Bold 97xx first came out, it had SIM registration issues with Telus as far as I know, which was caused by a network issue. I think this OP also have a new device like Bold 99xx and registered last month or so on the network.
    11-26-11 09:27 AM
  18. mssca's Avatar
    I don't know why Canada is refered to as "Stupid". I love Canada and I wish that I lived there. If the large bill is truly a mistake then your carrier will not be able to produce records demonstrating that you used their tethering services worth 2000 balloons. If they cannot show you those records then they cannot charge you for those services. Please let us know how it goes after you try and sort things out with them.

    Good Luck,

    The Chairman

    Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com
    CBC Television news reporters sort it out for my uncle. LOL
    11-26-11 09:29 AM
  19. decypher44's Avatar
    Hmmmm. Everyone is focusing on Canada. I'm focusing on what the OP has told us. He was charged for tethering. 7 techs all told him it was tethering. OP's definition of tethering is "wired". OP could have been BTing, right?

    OP - what exactly did you do? When the techs all said it was tethering, what exactly did they say?

    Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com
    11-26-11 10:13 AM
  20. Tomo1971's Avatar
    Has the OP changed the APN at all?

    If you have changed APN to what is supposed to be for something else, that may be billed differently.

    Steve
    11-26-11 12:08 PM
  21. Laura Knotek's Avatar
    Hmmmm. Everyone is focusing on Canada. I'm focusing on what the OP has told us. He was charged for tethering. 7 techs all told him it was tethering. OP's definition of tethering is "wired". OP could have been BTing, right?

    OP - what exactly did you do? When the techs all said it was tethering, what exactly did they say?

    Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com
    The OP has not returned since he posted last night. He does not list his carrier or location in his profile, so there is no way to tell if he even is from Canada.
    11-26-11 12:12 PM
  22. SwitchBeach's Avatar
    Hmmmm. Everyone is focusing on Canada. I'm focusing on what the OP has told us. He was charged for tethering. 7 techs all told him it was tethering. OP's definition of tethering is "wired". OP could have been BTing, right?

    OP - what exactly did you do? When the techs all said it was tethering, what exactly did they say?
    Which is what I said in the third post of the thread before mss-ca derailed the thread with all that off-topic Canada garbage.
    11-26-11 12:21 PM
  23. mssca's Avatar
    Which is what I said in the third post of the thread before mss-ca derailed the thread with all that off-topic Canada garbage.
    I did that because it is a very common issue here compared to US and EU countries according to ITU database. Sorry.
    11-26-11 02:19 PM
  24. rdeang's Avatar
    OK i understand that this probably shouldn't have been posted in the bold 9900 section but i needed help and i freaked and i'm sure you guys could imagine being given a massive phone bill.

    I am in Calgary Alberta Canada. My carrier is BELL but i'm using an unlocked ROGERS phone. I'm not really tech savvy so APN or BTing (unless its bittorrenting?) mean nothing to me so my apologies. I can't recall what the techs have said but basically that I'm tethering and i should change my plan so i won't have to pay so much.

    Only apps i use is
    whats app
    bbm
    so you could say i don't use my phone to its capabilities


    i connected the phone to the computer once which was for dragging music into it and didnt do anything else
    havent connected it with an bluetooth device or cable and the when i asked the last tech when i tethered last was 2am mountain time and for damn sure i'm sleeping.
    i'm not using any program or app for that matter which allows me to use the phone as a modem, besides i wouldn't know how to do that and never attempted it
    11-27-11 06:54 PM
  25. SharpieFiend's Avatar
    If you can't resolve it yourself with Bell then you can file a complaint with The Commissioner for Complaints for Telecommunications Services (CCTS). The CCTS is an independant watchdog whose decisions are binding. That will get their attention quickly...

    The Commissioner for Complaints for Telecommunications Services
    11-27-11 08:59 PM
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