Long distance calls have nothing on this

[Craig.]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20071214/wl ... comoffbeat

wow is all I can say.

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.

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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.

"I didn't know what to think. I thought there was probably a mistake," he told public broadcaster CBC. "I told them I wasn't aware that I would be charged for hooking up my phone to the computer."

A spokesman for Bell said the company will adjust Staniaszek's bill to 3,243 dollars, as "a measure of goodwill."

But Staniaszek said he still plans to try and fight it, "because I didn't know about the extra charges. Nobody explained any of this to me."

"The thing is, they've cut my phone off for being like 100 dollars over," he told CBC News. "Here, I'm 85,000 dollars over and nobody bothered to give me a call and tell me what was going on."

[expat]

I had a similar experience with my mobile phone, but only to the tune of

[a1]

That is quite a bit of web surfing.  :o

[Ashar]

LOL...

[Dr.bob7]

eh there being genourus be charging him 3 grand, wow wtf did he download the call of duty 4 demo?

[Fozzer]

...what's a "Mobile Phone"?.... :-?....!

Paul..... ;D...!

Monthly Land line Phone bill....>>>>

[expat]

[quote]...what's a "Mobile Phone"?.... :-?....!

Paul..... ;D...!

Monthly Land line Phone bill....>>>>

[ozzy72]

It is a bit like one of those hands-free sets but with better range Paul... you know like those smoke signals they used in your youth once they'd discovered fire
I use pay-as-you-go on my mobile simply because I don't use the phone except in emergencies! So one phone card worth about 7 quid will normally last me about 6 months!!!! I'm very economical on the phone front (I hate the damn thing and only use it when necessary)

[Fozzer]

...actually...I cheat... ...!

One of my zillions of Grand Daughters bought me a "Mobile Phone" (Pay as you go) for Xmas a few years ago, to enable me to phone the AA (Automobile Association) in case I broke down on my 'Bike...

She put

[ctjoyce]

I gotta wonder how they define their limits etc on web usage? Are they looking at any data going through the phone or just the WAP browser data? I have the unlimited data plan through AT&T wireless here in the states and use my phone as a bluetooth modem when I'm not at a hotspot, and no matter what I have used it for I haven't been charged any extra, however I also haven't done any torrent downloading etc, but still I use upwards of 50MB of data a month on my phone.

Cheers
Cameron

[ozzy72]

It all comes down to the package and reading the small print at the end of the day really Cameron

[legoalex2000]

this is what i noticed after reading my verizon bill.

I downloaded 3 games, 1 of them was "free".

HOWEVER,  got charged 3 times for downloading the game, $4.99 for the game, $1.99 for the downloader program, and $1.99 for the internet download fee. so the game went from $5 to $9. asme thing with the second game. the free game, well the game itself was free, but still got charged those fees. needless to say i dumped the internet off my phone. kept the games though (dig dug!)

i'm lucky not to be him, ut i was still mad that they put $4 in fees for a $5 game.

now ask me about E-911, and why i'll never use it again.

Ramos

[BAW0343]

Thats why I like pay as you go. Put $20 on there and the phone stops doing things when you spend the money.

no $85,000 bill for me!

[ctjoyce]

now ask me about E-911, and why i'll never use it again.

Ramos

AHAHAHAHAAAHHHHAAHHAH!!!!!!!!!

Agreed

Cheers
Cameron

[Triple_7]

Yikes

Have to read the fine print...even if it takes a microscope

Reminds me of the time back in the good ol days of Dial Up on my laptop.  Took it to my grandparents like many other times.  Spent the night surfing the web...found out later I had forgot to change the "Local Access Number" that time.  That was $150 out of my pay check to cover the long distance phone call fees  

But 85 grand