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iPhone Bill a Whopping 52 Pages Long

PoliTech writes "iPhone bills are surprisingly large - 'Xbox Large', according to Ars technica: 'AT&T's iPhone bills are quite impressive in their own right. We're starting to get bills for the iPhone here at Ars, and while many of us have had smartphones for some time, we've never seen a bill like this. One of our bills is a whopping 52 pages long, and my own bill is 34 pages long. They're printed on both sides, too. What gives? The AT&T bill itemizes your data usage whenever you surf the Internet via EDGE, even if you're signed up for the unlimited data plan. AT&T also goes into an incredible amount of detail to tell you; well, almost nothing. For instance, I know that on July 27 at 3:21 p.m. I had some data use that, under the To/From heading, AT&T has helpfully listed as Data Transfer. The Type of file? Data. My total charge? $0.00. This mind-numbing detail goes on for 52 double-sided pages (for 104 printed pages!) with absolutely no variance except the size of the files.' You would think that a data company would have a more efficient billing process."

17 of 369 comments (clear)

  1. XO communcations by seanadams.com · · Score: 4, Funny

    Every month for the last six years, I have received a bill from XO communications for -$846.52, for a line that I canceled which had a billing error on the closing statement. I thought about calling them to try to get it fixed, but I figured that would probably take several hours of navigating phone trees and getting transferred from one retarded support rep to the next. Easier to just toss them.

    I also got a refund check one time from PacBell for $0.01.

    1. Re:XO communcations by gEvil+(beta) · · Score: 5, Funny

      Holy shit! If you're receiving bills every month for -$846.52 I think you need to sick a collections agency on their ass!

      --
      This guy's the limit!
  2. They want you to know that they know by tzonic · · Score: 5, Funny

    Maybe this is a subtle way of saying: yes, we keep track of everything. Your world delivered [to the NSA].

  3. Re:Paperless billing by sholden · · Score: 5, Funny

    But who'll be laughing when they have years worth of paper for the fireplace to see out the nuclear winter!

  4. The Truth Comes Out by AbsoluteXyro · · Score: 5, Funny

    AT&T hates trees.

  5. Re:Paperless billing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Easy: just log into your provider from your iPhone, COPY the personal code it'll give you and PASTE it over the page requesting authentication. BTW: you will need to leave a VOICE RECORDING of agreement, just for legal purporses.

  6. Type of File? Data. by RealGrouchy · · Score: 4, Funny

    For instance, I know that on July 27 at 3:21 p.m. I had some data use that, under the To/From heading, AT&T has helpfully listed as Data Transfer. The Type of file? Data. Really? On my bill, every single line says "Porn"

    - RG>
    --
    Hey pal, this isn't a pleasantforest, so don't waste my time with pleasantries!
  7. The data is free by Realistic_Dragon · · Score: 5, Funny

    But the charge you $15/page for the bill!

    --
    Beep beep.
  8. Re:Paperless billing by jb.hl.com · · Score: 5, Funny

    Somehow, in the event of global thermonuclear war, I don't think anybody'll be wishing there was more fire.

    --
    By summer it was all gone...now shesmovedon. --
  9. Re:Someone got $3000 bill for using iPhone in Euro by tomhudson · · Score: 4, Funny

    I *was* going to include MB for megabytes, just to get all the case modders going "Its MotherBoard, you f%@#tard!", but its not Tuesday :-)

  10. Re:'Kansas City Shuffle'.. by Tom9729 · · Score: 4, Funny

      Joke==>
            0
           -|-
           / \
           You

  11. Re:Someone got $3000 bill for using iPhone in Euro by edittard · · Score: 5, Funny

    I've seen php scripts that end up #including almost 100 other scripts ON EVERY PAGE LOAD!!!
    This is insane.
    I agree, nobody in their right mind uses PHP.
    --
    At the bottom of the /. main page it says 'Yesterday's News'. Well they got that right.
  12. Reminds me of... by ChePibe · · Score: 4, Funny

    That reminds me of something a professor of mine used to say.

    He required that all assignments be turned in to him in both paper and PDF format. When asked why, he simply responded: "because I love convenience and hate trees."

    One day I had pink eye and requested to turn it in only via PDF. He responded by saying "my love of convenience outweighs my hatred of the dirty trees. PDF only, you sicko."

  13. Re:Part of the softening-up process by Belacgod · · Score: 5, Funny

    Sufficiently advanced incompetence is indistinguishable from malice.

  14. Re:Cingular Billing Systems Are a Mess by samkass · · Score: 4, Funny

    This happened to a friend of mine. He sent them a check for $0.00 and it seemed to make the problem go away.

    I got a bill once for $0.22 in college, so I taped a quarter I found on the floor to the bill and sent it in. Since that was the last bill of the year, they sent me mail at home over the summer that I'd over-paid my last phone bill and would receive a check for the difference in a few days. Sure enough, a few days later came a check for $0.03.

    That's not nearly as bad as my credit card company with whom I canceled an account, though. They had a final balance which was an annual fee (the existence of which was why I'd canceled.) So I sent in a check for the balance and canceled the account. Well, some nice lady had apparently removed the annual fee charge, so when the check arrived there, I had a positive balance and they couldn't close the account until it was corrected. So at the beginning of the next billing cycle, their computer automatically cut me a check for the difference, then noted that I hadn't paid the annual fee and added that to my account again... so I was back to my original state with the balance on my card but a check for that amount in my hand. It took me months to get that darn card canceled, and in the meantime when I hadn't paid attention to the fact that it was still open they called me delinquent and the APR went up on all my cards. Sigh.

    --
    E pluribus unum
  15. Happens in all kinds of industries. by Shag · · Score: 5, Funny

    I had a 401(k) somewhere. I don't remember which investment company it was with, or what former employer of mine it correlated to, or anything. Anyway, I rolled it into an IRA I had, along with some other old accounts. It went well - except for the investment company leaving a balance of about $0.11 in the 401(k) account.

    They now spend about $0.75 every quarter to mail me a thick statement telling me whether my balance has fallen to $0.10, risen to $0.12, or whatever.

    I realize that informing them would be the merciful thing to do, but my sense of ethics isn't that overdeveloped, so I let nature take its course.

    --
    Village idiot in some extremely smart villages.
    1. Re:Happens in all kinds of industries. by Kahm-Hime · · Score: 5, Funny

      A friend of mine really disliked his former cellular provider, so when he changed companies he overpaid his last bill by 2 cents. He's received a bill from that company every month for three years now, cheerfully informing him that he has a 2 cent credit.

      I keep telling him that if he ever moves, he should make sure that they receive his change-of-address notification. :)