$85K Cell phone bill!

[ken0042]

A Grande Prairie man is gearing for a fight with his service provider after receiving an $85,000 bill for using his cellphone as a modem for almost two months.

On one hand I see his point, Bell should have said something once the bill started to get high. And to their credit it does appear they acknowledge that by saying they will only charge him $4000 instead of $85,000. And I do also know I may not always read all the terms and conditions with online purchases.

But at some point you do need to take responsibility for you actions, don't you?

[Cowperson]

Originally Posted by ken0042

A Grande Prairie man is gearing for a fight with his service provider after receiving an $85,000 bill for using his cellphone as a modem for almost two months.

On one hand I see his point, Bell should have said something once the bill started to get high. And to their credit it does appear they acknowledge that by saying they will only charge him $4000 instead of $85,000. And I do also know I may not always read all the terms and conditions with online purchases.

But at some point you do need to take responsibility for you actions, don't you?

It shows what Bell's margins are on this type of business if they can profitably knock the bill from $85,000 to $4,000.

But the guy should know better and take the mercy while he can and call it a lesson in life.

I was actually considering doing the same thing then did the math and quickly scrambled for the exit.

Cowperson

[CaptainCrunch]

Why Why Why are people such idiots, that when they screw up, they blame it on people not holding their hands.

Maybe I'm old school, but I make sure that when I sign up for anything that involves my money, I read every word of that contract. Web browsing on your cellphone is not the same as using it as a high speed modem to dowload a bunch of high resolution movies (I'm assuming porn).

And where does any company call you because your making them a lot of money, they call you when your payments are behind, but they're not going to call you because your using their service excessively, that sounds communist to me.

This guys an idiot, his father is an idiot. His cellphone company did him a huge favor in reducing his bill, because he's an idiot, and there's no chance that he's going to be able to pay the bill.

Take it to court, any self respecting judge is going to rule against this kid, and hopefully lecture him about the concept of stupidity.

[BlackEleven]

Maybe he didn't realize the difference between .002 cents and .002 dollars

[Flaming Choy]

Originally Posted by BlackEleven

Maybe he didn't realize the difference between .002 cents and .002 dollars

WINNER!!

http://consumerist.com/consumer/clip...nts-220362.php for those who don't get it.

[burn_baby_burn]

What would Archie Bunker say about this guy?

[MarchHare]

Originally Posted by BlackEleven

Maybe he didn't realize the difference between .002 cents and .002 dollars

HAHAHAHAHA! That was pure awesome.

Although in that case the customer was right and the cell phone company were a bunch of morons; here it's the other way around.

[Edit]

It shows what Bell's margins are on this type of business if they can profitably knock the bill from $85,000 to $4,000.

Who's to say Bell is even breaking even by lowering his bill to $4000? I have no idea what their actual costs are, but maybe they're taking a loss in this one case to avoid the bad publicity of charging a customer $85k (even though he should have known better).

[STeeLy]

I think he should pay up the $4000 at least... I was already nice enough of bell to take it from $85000 to $4000...

Whether he likes it or not, Bell has pretty much followed the rules, stating that there is a $15/MB charge and he agreed (and possibly didn't read it)... and I do not think Bell is obliged to call about the bill at all... (I don't know if any other phone companies do this, but Fido checks your credit and they actually set a limit on how much big your phone bill can get before they cut you off each month)

If he takes it to court, color me surprised if the Judge ruled for him instead of bell.

[HOOT]

Originally Posted by ken0042

But at some point you do need to take responsibility for you actions, don't you?

Working for Bell for more than 3 years I have realized almost every cell phone users wants to take no responsiblity for their own phone bill, yhey always think they are getting ripped off or their bill is wrong.

Heck, people can't even take responsibility for their own phone. You would be absolutely amazed with the amount of people that will drop their phone in a toilet and are just shocked that its not covered under the warranty.

[FlamesKickAss]

this was on cbc.ca yesterday and I found this part weird. You would think that after one bill you would stop using it.

After speaking to Bell about November charges of $65,000, Staniaszek said he was informed his bill had increased to nearly $85,000 after more downloading in December.

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/calgary/sto...ell-phone.html

[HOOT]

Originally Posted by FlamesKickAss

this was on cbc.ca yesterday and I found this part weird. You would think that after one bill you would stop using it.



http://www.cbc.ca/canada/calgary/sto...ell-phone.html

Priceless!

So the guy saw his first bill was $65,000 because of his usage but he decided to keep using it in the hopes it would, what? Go down the more he used it?

For that statement Bell should forget the $4,000 and go after it all. He obvisiously is an idiot and deserves the lesson of losing his house for a cell phone bill!!!!

[ricosuave]

yeah, i might have sided with him after 60K, but once he ignored it and kept going that became all him then...

[Azure]

The fact that he ignored the initial bill....speaks volumes about this guys stupidity.

Doesn't Grand Prarie have high speed internet? How much does Cable/DSL cost these days....30 bucks a month?

[Hyde]

Originally Posted by HOOT

Working for Bell for more than 3 years I have realized almost every cell phone users wants to take no responsiblity for their own phone bill, yhey always think they are getting ripped off or their bill is wrong.

Heck, people can't even take responsibility for their own phone. You would be absolutely amazed with the amount of people that will drop their phone in a toilet and are just shocked that its not covered under the warranty.

Yeah, but I bet it is even worse with Corporate Customers. I have customers openly admit that they don’t read there invoices at least three times a day!

I would say in one month I credit back customers (this is not including errors on the part of Bell) around 5 -6 thousand dollars, for simple things as they forgot to remove a US roaming package or “Why I didn’t know the going onto my mobile browser, would cost me!”

[Got Miikka?]

Common sense and personal accountability just ain't what they used to be, eh?

[The Goon]

I think the increase from $60000 to $85000 happened in that 10-14 day time period from when the one bill is printed until it arrives in the mailbox.

So he received the bill, said, "holy cow", called Bell, and by that time it had already hit $85000. I don't think he was continuing the massive usage after finding out about the initial bill.

[Hyde]

Originally Posted by The Goon

I think the increase from $60000 to $85000 happened in that 10-14 day time period from when the one bill is printed until it arrives in the mailbox.

So he received the bill, said, "holy cow", called Bell, and by that time it had already hit $85000. I don't think he was continuing the massive usage after finding out about the initial bill.

Yeah, that sounds right.

[MelBridgeman]

You have to be carefull...Rogers had tried to rip me off on 3 different occasions

1. i had 6 months free local calling all the time, but Rogers started to bill me after 4 months...
2. I put down a deposit of 200 bucks (freaking student loans!) which i was to get back after a year...wasnt until 2 years later when i called about it, no questions aksed it was credited to my account
3. Upgraded my phone - for 150 bucks with a 50 dollar rebate...sent in the rebate...6 months later i called asking why it wasnt credited to my account, and right there no questions asked they credited it to me...

I am sure this company policy not to do anything until someone complains..i guess they get away with it more than not.....

[FlamesKickAss]

Originally Posted by MelBridgeman

You have to be carefull...Rogers had tried to rip me off on 3 different occasions

1. i had 6 months free local calling all the time, but Rogers started to bill me after 4 months...
2. I put down a deposit of 200 bucks (freaking student loans!) which i was to get back after a year...wasnt until 2 years later when i called about it, no questions aksed it was credited to my account
3. Upgraded my phone - for 150 bucks with a 50 dollar rebate...sent in the rebate...6 months later i called asking why it wasnt credited to my account, and right there no questions asked they credited it to me...

I am sure this company policy not to do anything until someone complains..i guess they get away with it more than not.....

I had a totally different experience with roger's with the deposit. I had forgotten about it and 1 year afterwards there was the credit.

[Rathji]

Wouldnt this be covered by bells 7 buck a month unlimited browsing?