$85,000 Cell Phone Bill....OUCH

United States
December 15, 2007 6:07pm CST
In recent news it seems that a 22 year old man in Canada named Piotr Staniaszek racked up an $85,000 cell phone bill. Many people are probably wondering how of course. Apparently Staniaszek had used his phone as a modem to download music and other such thigs off of his computer. He had unlimited data added onto his plan and assumed that this would cover using the phone as a modem. However, it seems that cell phone companies can tell the difference between data that you use off of your cell phone's browser and data that comes off the internet on your computer and they WILL charge you for data that comes off your computer. Although Staniaszek should have paid closer attention to the details of his contract and his plan, it was mentioned that the cell phone company had alerted him once before when his bill had reached $100. So why is it that they chose to shut there eyes to the matter this time? They didn't once call him to warn him. He instead realized that his bill had reached $59,000 and when he called them to find out what was going on, they told him that he owed $83,000. He was quite shocked and upset by this news of course. Since then the bill has been negotiated down to $3,195. He is still debating the bill as he normally pays a $147.00 bill a month. While I am sure that he won't get his bill down to $147.00, I think that the should definitely lower the charges more than that. Any responsible company should have been aware of such activity and reported it sooner. All cell phone companies should have a limit that they call their customers to tell them that they are approaching a certain amount in order to give them a heads up. I wanted to post this as a warning to all cell phone users to PAY ATTENTION to the details of their contract so this doesn't happen to you. Hopefully this serves as an infomative post.
2 people like this
2 responses
@foxyfire33 (10005)
• United States
18 Dec 07
I totally agree that they should put some kind of limit on it, or better yet allow the customers to set a limit. My cell is a prepaid and only used when I REALLy need it because I can't afford a lot so I would want a monthly limit of $100 at the absolute most but since a $100 cell phone bill isn't much for other people they could choose $200 or $500 or even $1000 or more if that's what they needed. If you get close to the limit the providers contacts you and if you go over they reduce your service to only the most basic options if that's the action you've asked them to do. Or even totally cut off your service if you want that. There's no excuse for allowing a customer's bill add up to $3000 a month much less $59,000 or $85,000.
1 person likes this
16 Dec 07
Yes.Really it will be very helpful like me who views internet very often.