Canada man get $85,000 cell bill! Using internet with phone hidden charges
By ersmommy1
@ersmommy1 (12588)
United States
December 17, 2007 10:26pm CST
OTTAWA (AFP) - An oil field worker in western Canada was shocked this month to be charged 85,000 dollars for surfing the Internet on his new mobile phone, local media said Thursday
Calgary resident Piotr Staniaszek, 22, had signed up for Bell Canada's cellular phone service at about 150 dollars per month, with unlimited mobile Web browsing.
He believed the plan allowed him to use the phone to connect with his computer, using it as a modem to download a lot of data, high-definition movies and other bandwidth-hungry applications.
But when his first bill arrived in the mail, Staniaszek realized to his horror that the company was charging him on a per-kilobyte basis for Internet downloads. As a good will gesture, Bell is reducing the bill to around $3,000.
They then shut his service off, for being $100 over.
5 responses
@shakeroo (3986)
• Malaysia
18 Dec 07
Reduced $3000 so he still has to pay 83,000! I wonder how is he going to pay all that since that is an awfully lots of money to pay for just your phone bill. This is really crazy and I am not sure who is the victim here. Sometimes I also use my phone to access the internet and I realize that is is very expensive and it would not be a surprise to be slapped with that amount.
@owatagoosiam (751)
• United States
1 Jan 08
Unlimited should be unlimited. If there is a per-kb fee, then they should use more accurate words to describe it.
@amitavroy (4819)
• India
20 Dec 07
Wow man that is great. Although the person who bought the bill must be feeling very strange but let me tell you I always thought this type of the legacy existed on in India. here in India these telecom operators and the company marketing people are always waiting to make fool of the people. they will not mention the hidden charges in the plans when the person is going for the connection and after a month when the bill comes you realise that what you were told was nothing compared to what the bill is showing to you and at that time you have no other choice but to pay the bill or disconnect your line. This is the reason why hear a lot of cases have been seen where people are not paying the bills I personally feel this is not wrong if you feel you are cheated or that wrong information was given to you when you have all the rights not to pay the bill. And this type of thing happened with my friend also. He was told that if he connects his mobile as a modern to the computer unitised only a single amount will be charged to his account and downloading is totally free. But when he used to connection hole after holy month he got the exorbitant bill and then he was told that the to pay the rent and then you are charged for each MB of download.
@The_Chao (29)
• Finland
20 Dec 07
Phone operator companies are *censored*! This is exactly the kind of stuff they do, cheat people!
I have a mobile broadband plan, so I can surf as much as I like with my phone and laptop.
