Turned Off iPhone Gets $4800 Bill from AT&T

Tech.Luver writes "Jay Levy says he has been stung by Apple's iPhone pact with AT&T after he took an iPhone on a Mediterranean cruise. They didn't use their phones, but when they got back they had a 54-page monthly bill of nearly $4,800 from AT&T Wireless. The problem was that their three iPhones were racking up a bill for data charges using foreign phone charges. The iPhone regularly updates e-mail, even while it's off, so that all the messages will be available when the user turns it on. ""

Comments

So

[niceone]

When you go out of the country, just yank the battery out.

Oh, wait...

Requisite tag for this article: iphOWNED

[jimstapleton]

I think that covers the situation nicely.

How to make BIG BUCKS with your iPhone

[word munger]

1. Travel overseas and rack up huge iPhone bill
2. Submit your story to blogs, forums, and /.
3. ????
4. Profit
5. Pay your iPhone bill

Gap in the market!

[adycarter]

So when the phones "off" it communicates, and you can't kill it all together by removing the battery?........

Coming soon to the iStore, the iCoffin, a lead lined box designed for when you need to take your phone out of the country, or near medical equipment.

Be the envy of the Intensive Care ward with your small and portable iCoffin weighing only 1 tonne, marvel at its lead casing, lick its tasty exterior and be a role model for Chinese toy makers everywhere!

Re:Gap in the market!

[Kazymyr]

That's actually a neat idea, but you don't need the lead (the thing's not radioactive to my knowledge). Let's see which gadget company will be the first one to sell Faraday's cages for iphones. Can you just imagine the ads? "Be absolutely protected from unwanted phone bills! Only with the iCase(TM)"

boycott

[Skapare]

"boycottcingular.com" is now the new "boycottatt.com".

Re:Off means off

[itsdapead]

This is why things should actually be OFF when you turn them off.

Er, what if its a PHONE and if you turn it completely off people won't be able to, like, PHONE you...?

If you read on, someone posts that the iPhone (just like Windows Mobile phones) has a power-down mode if you really want it.

What other phones DON'T do is periodically phone home all by themselves - and unless AT&T/Apple have a large friendly warning* in TFM then they're probably in the wrong on that one.

(* Do not eat iPhone. Do not operate iPhone while attempting to defuse atomic bomb. Do not drop iPhone onto the head of a pedestrian from the observation deck of the Empire State Building. Do not smash iPhone to pieces and stab yourself with the shards. Do not insert iPhone anally unless you are the goatse guy. If you are the goatse guy please do not return iPhone to Apple afterwards. Do not select The Lumberjack Song as ringtone while drinking in a bar in rural Canada. Turn iPhone off properly when traveling abroad. Do not take the name of Jobs in vain. Warning: this booklet may cause paper cuts if mishandled. See page 199 for more warnings)

Re:The law needs to clarify things like this

[SolitaryMan]

For the same reason that someone who signs a contract without reading it and/or insisting on changes, deserves to be screwed. It's called a manual, it comes with the device, and you are allowed to read it. There is no "deception", only ignorance on the part of the user.

Yeah, exactly

Re:ihpones

[Killjoy_NL]

PC guy here, but.... don't you drag the Sim to the trashcan? ;)