$85K Cell phone bill!

[arsenal]

Originally Posted by FireFly

Well, I know how Telus works, and generally when we see unbilled usage that high, we call. However, that requires us to actually see that particular user out of the 4 million customers we have... It's not a perfect system, but at least we try.

Couldn't you work into the system to flag and notify someone when someone gets a huge charge on their bill?
That would only work during the billing run though.. is there a way to track people's data usage kind of how shaw does?

[ricosuave]

but then you get into the whole 'data tracking FOIP' issues thing.

besides, WHY should they have to?

[arsenal]

Well they are already tracking it for billing, so what's the big deal if they have a flag set up notifying someone that a client is using a huge amount of data, and maybe they should contact them.

[ricosuave]

^ see the second comment

[arsenal]

I dunno.. as a courtesy to the customer maybe? To provide good customer service?

[arsenal]

Credit card companies notify clients when they notice a large number of purchases on someones credit card. Especially if they look suspicious.
Why can't cell companies do the same?

[Neeper]

I am with you guys on this. He's a doofus for not knowing the terms of his contract. What idiot thinks he can use his mobile phone for a modem? He's very lucky Bell would even reduce the bill. Seriously. $3200 is a bargain, because in court, if I was Bell and won, I'd make him pay the full amount for being a jackass.

[arsenal]

Hey, I am not saying the guy isn't a moron, or he shouldn't pay his bill. Just cell companies are already tracking usage for billing purposes, why not notify a customer that they are using a huge amount of data, and their bill is going to be huge.

[Rathji]

Staniaszek downloaded the equivalent of 10 high-resolution movies in one month.

Where does it say he was actually downloading movies? They are using this as a base so people understand how much he used. I dont think it is that absurd to use that much when I know of some chat clients that use up to 800mb in a single day. I do think he was a moron for using his cell phone to do it with though. I had 4gb /month capped service with $5/gig overage charges, I refused to download anything from home.

[FireFly]

Originally Posted by arsenal

Couldn't you work into the system to flag and notify someone when someone gets a huge charge on their bill?
That would only work during the billing run though.. is there a way to track people's data usage kind of how shaw does?

They do but it's not perfect. You think this is the first guy to get a huge bill? Other people have done it... we've caught it before.

[Julio]

Originally Posted by Rathji

Where does it say he was actually downloading movies? They are using this as a base so people understand how much he used. I dont think it is that absurd to use that much when I know of some chat clients that use up to 800mb in a single day. I do think he was a moron for using his cell phone to do it with though. I had 4gb /month capped service with $5/gig overage charges, I refused to download anything from home.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7141935.stm

"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."