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AT&T Slaps Family With a $19,370 Cell Phone Bill

Posted by timothy on from the hearts-and-minds dept.

theodp writes "Mama, don't let your babies send e-mail and photos from Vancouver. A Portland family racked up nearly $20,000 in charges on their AT&T bill after their son headed north to Vancouver and used a laptop with an AirCard twenty-one times to send photos and e-mails back home. The family said they wished they would have received some kind of warning before receiving their chock-full-of-international-fees 200-page bill in the mail for $19,370. Guess they didn't read the fine print in that 'Stay connected whether you are traveling across town, the US, or the world' AT&T AirCard pitch. Hey, at least it wasn't $85,000."

6 of 725 comments (clear)

  1. Apple? by dal20402 · · Score: 4, Informative

    And this is tagged "apple" why?

    This is not about an iPhone just because it's about AT&T.

  2. Perhaps some confusion about the brand Aircard by weston · · Score: 5, Informative

    The branding "Aircard" is close enough to "Airport" some readers may assume it refers to Apple equipment instead of stuff manufactured by Sierra Wireless.

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    Tweet, tweet.
  3. Re:Oh Noes! by Twnki · · Score: 4, Informative

    A high balance warning team that would manually evaluate out of pattern usage would be ideal in this situation. However even with a team in place or software to analyse usage, roaming usage on another provider or in another country may not be reported back in "realtime". There is often a delay in usage reporting when more than one company are involved.

  4. Re:Oh Noes! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    You _are_agreeing to anything - and everything. One of the contract terms in almost all contracts is that they can change the terms. Granted, they must notify you and they aren't allowed to charge ETFs if you cancel because of it. But you are not allowed to 'lock-in' services just because they 'lock-in' two years of service. In short, you can't hold them to their own contract so long as they 'notify' you.

  5. Re:AT&T's getting more clueful. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    The iPhone, at least, has a "Disable Data Roaming" option... of course, they probably had that clue shoved down their throats by Apple. :)

    Ummm, no. The first iphone had international data roaming turned on by default. And since the iphone never really turns off, many suckers ran up large bills when traveling internationally since the iphone doesn't have push email and checks every 5 minutes or so, which results in a large data bill even if you don't send or receive a single email.

    The second iphone has international data roaming disabled by default.

  6. Re:All too common tale by jabithew · · Score: 5, Informative

    In the European Union, thanks to Commission intervention, mobile firms *have* to text you to inform you of rates whenever you arrive in a new state.

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    All intents and purposes. Not intensive purposes.