By The Associated Press, thecanadianpress.com, Updated: October 18, 2011 8:05 AM
US woman shocked by $201,000 cellphone bill
MIAMI - A South Florida woman got a shock when she opened a recent cellphone bill: she owed $201,000.
It was no mistake.
Celina Aarons has her two deaf-mute brothers on her plan. They communicate by texting and use their phones to watch videos. Normally, that's not a problem. Aarons has the appropriate data plan, and her bill is about $175.
But her brothers spent two weeks in Canada and Aarons never changed to an international plan. Her brothers sent over 2,000 texts and also downloaded videos, sometimes racking up $2,000 in data charges.
T-Mobile told Aarons the bill was correct. She called Miami TV station WSVN, which contacted T-Mobile. The station reports that T-Mobile cut Aarons' bill to $2,500 — and gave her six months to pay.
She should get them Blackberry's for BBM and have gotten the international plan for $20 each. Wouldn't have helped with the movies, but they should have known better.
So... The charges appear to be accurate. I think it is very generous of Magenta to roll it back to $2,500.00 over 6 months. I've heard several stories that they have extended the same courtesy to others in the same predicament.
That goes to show you that data and text roaming is a total sham... texting plans, let alone roaming texting, cost nothing and is pure gravy for carriers.
Especially given someone like AT&T that charges $10 extra for 100 international text messages (ie: texting Canada) whereas Sprint, Verizon, Boost, Virgin and Simple Mobile don't charge to text Canada or Mexico... T-Mobile for $5 you can do unlimited international texting up to 200 different countries.
Well I mean technically, it is her responsibility to check on things like that as the account manager. 200,000 is excessive yes, but hardly the carrier's fault.
Well I mean technically, it is her responsibility to check on things like that as the account manager. 200,000 is excessive yes, but hardly the carrier's fault.
$200,000 for text messaging is absurd. Allowing a customer to rack up $200,000 in charges is immoral.
Well I mean technically, it is her responsibility to check on things like that as the account manager. 200,000 is excessive yes, but hardly the carrier's fault.
Well actually it is. Given a reasonable relationship, the carrier should have cut them off at the credit limit at minimum. A court of law would have not upheld this bill - and the carrier knew it.
A typical fee these days is set at $20 per megabyte international roaming - which as a fee is silly-high. I'd expect these fees to be reduced or eliminated over time, but not now.
She's extremely lucky they worked with her. That's insane. Pay close attention to your bills.
What were they going to do. She probably didn't have $200,000 lying around and suing the sister who is taking care of disabled brothers isn't exactly good PR.
Well actually it is. Given a reasonable relationship, the carrier should have cut them off at the credit limit at minimum. A court of law would have not upheld this bill - and the carrier knew it.
A typical fee these days is set at $20 per megabyte international roaming - which as a fee is silly-high. I'd expect these fees to be reduced or eliminated over time, but not now.
I have to make sure data roaming is off as I live right on an international boundary. The phones can pick up Mexican signals and then you'll get accused of using it abroad.