1. thp007's Avatar
    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.
    Last edited by mrcurve; 10-18-11 at 12:04 PM.
    10-18-11 11:46 AM
  2. lnichols's Avatar
    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.
    10-18-11 12:10 PM
  3. Delil's Avatar
    we have safety measures in europe to avoid billshocks :-)
    10-18-11 03:04 PM
  4. MADBRADNYC's Avatar
    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.
    10-18-11 04:59 PM
  5. drevans18's Avatar
    Wow. That sounds awful. That's $200,000 down the drain.
    10-18-11 05:36 PM
  6. robert_in_la's Avatar
    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.
    10-18-11 07:19 PM
  7. Phil DeLong's Avatar
    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.
    10-18-11 07:45 PM
  8. BoldtotheMax's Avatar
    Man, talk about major suckage! I mean she should have known better, but almost feel bad for her in these economic times.

    Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com
    pkcable likes this.
    10-18-11 07:49 PM
  9. jorgealarcon's Avatar
    The Aarons are extremely lucky the cell phone company was so understanding.
    10-18-11 08:54 PM
  10. ADGrant's Avatar
    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.
    10-18-11 09:30 PM
  11. Bromo33333's Avatar
    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.
    10-18-11 09:38 PM
  12. moiselles's Avatar
    She's extremely lucky they worked with her. That's insane. Pay close attention to your bills.
    10-18-11 09:40 PM
  13. ADGrant's Avatar
    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.
    10-18-11 09:50 PM
  14. adamkesher's Avatar
    Didn't some tv show do an expos� on how cheap text service is to provide?

    I think them sending her the bill without at least calling her first looks really bad on them.


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    10-18-11 09:54 PM
  15. adamkesher's Avatar
    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.


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    10-18-11 09:57 PM
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