..and I worry over my phone bills!

Biggins

LOL ...and I worry over my phone bills!

World Record? $218 Trillion Phone Bill

Whenever you start to sweat the sight of your phone bill, think of this.
In April 2006, a Malaysian man received a $218 trillion phone bill and was ordered to fork over the money within 10 days or face prosecution, The Associated Press reported.
After his father died earlier that year, Yahaya Wahad said he disconnected his late father's phone line. But Telekom Malaysia, the country's largest telecommunications provider, later sent him a 806,400,000,000,000.01-ringgit (U.S. $218 trillion) bill.
The company said the bill was for recent phone calls and said if he didn't pay up within 10 days he'd face legal proceedings.
"If the company wants to seek legal action as mentioned in the letter, I'm ready to face it," the Malaysian paper the New Straits Times quoted Yahaya as saying. "In fact, I can't wait to face it." A company official, who declined to be identified, said at the time that Telekom Malaysia was aware of Yahaya's case and would address it. She did not provide further details.
According to The Associated Press, it was not clear whether the phone line had been used illegally or if the bill was a mistake.

Source: HERE

Earlier section:

One Month of Text Messaging + Teenager = $4,800

Gregg Christoffersen called it a "heart attack in an envelope."
When he saw the bill his 13-year-old daughter Dena had racked up by text messaging her friends, the Cheyenne, Wyoming, man was stunned.
In just one month, she sent and received enough text messages to justify (at least to the cell phone company) a nearly $4,800 bill.
"It was heart-stopping. It just so unreal," he said.

Verizon Wireless first gave his wife the news over the phone and when he first found out he said he was speechless. He and his wife suspended their daughter's cell phone privileges and grounded her for a year. But Christoffersen didn't stop there. "I took a hammer to the phone," he said. Smashed to smithereens, he returned the phone to his daughter in a bag.
Christoffersen said he and his family had a text-less plan with Qwest Communications but when the company merged with Verizon earlier this year, unbeknownst to him, the ability to text was re-activated.
He and his wife had no idea their family's phones could send and receive text messages. But their daughter figured it out and quietly sent about 288 messages a day.

Verizon shut down their service for two days until they paid $300. At one point, Christoffersen wondered if he'd need to take out a bank loan to pay the bill. But after weeks of negotiating with an ally at Verizon, they were able to lower the bill to a far more manageable $120.
So, all's well that ends well. Except perhaps for Dena. Her father said that when they do get her a new phone, the text function is the first to go.

Fratton Fred

Pathetic. My wife could rack up a bill like that in about three days

Darkbloom

Ah the good old days. I recall racking up over £300 when my parents were away about 9 years ago.

Darkbloom

Darkbloom wrote: »

Ah the good old days. I recall racking up over £300 when my parents were away about 9 years ago.

sex lines no doubt :pac:

Darkbloom

rarnes1 wrote: »

sex lines no doubt :pac:

I wish! More like some young lad's mobile.

Capt'n Midnight

Biggins wrote: »

806,400,000,000,000.01-ringgit (U.S. $218 trillion) bill.

ringg it LOL

Capt'n Midnight

http://www.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idUSN1322682220071213

TORONTO (Reuters) - A Canadian oil-field worker, stunned to get a C$85,000 ($83,700) cell phone bill, has had the charges reduced to C$3,400, but is still fighting them.

Piotr Staniaszek, a 22-year-old oil and gas well tester in rural northwest Alberta, became a figure of international media attention this week when his father went to the press to complain about the size of his son's bill.

Staniaszek's father, also named Piotr Staniaszek, said his son thought he could use his new phone as a modem for his computer as part of his C$10 unlimited browser plan from Bell Mobility, a division of Bell Canada.

Capt'n Midnight

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/07/16/vodafone_billing_yet_again/

A Vodafone customer from Norwich has pitched his claim for the largest ever single-person phone bill after getting a demand from Vodafone for £588,198, and fifteen pence.

Capt'n Midnight

http://in.truveo.com/Man-mistakenly-pays-12000-towards-phone-bill/id/2469092989

ROFL

Super-Rush

We were cleaning out the attic a while back and i came across my one and only bill from 02 dated May 2002 total amount due 1,855. Not a sexline in sight. Break down from the bill was 1,570 for text messages and 285 for calls. this is minus the VAT aswell. Big change from 2009 where i spend 20 a month on credit....free text messages saved my life.

krudler

I had a customer call in once who got a bill for 38, 000 for using her broadband modem in China, "i thought it would work for free" doesnt carry any weight as an excuse though, never did find out what happened to her

Biggins

It's every digital denizen's worst nightmare.

You open up your cell phone bill and nearly pass out at the total.
So imagine how a caller named Alberto felt when he learned that his wireless carrier had hit him with a $62,000 bill for downloading the movie "Wall-E" for his nephew. Last week, he told HLN money expert Clark Howard on CNN that he used a new wireless card to download the movie to his laptop while in Mexico.

"I downloaded the movie and they billed me for $62,000.00," he said. After contesting the charge, the carrier reduced the fee -- to a still painful $17,000.

Even though Alberto's story is an extreme, when it comes to cellular screw-ups, he's not alone.
Streaming live sporting events, excessive text messaging and exceeding monthly data allowances have left others with massive headaches and multi-thousand dollar bills.

Source: HERE

One expensive film! :pac:

AlmightyCushion

But their daughter figured it out and quietly sent about 288 messages a day.

She must have thumbs of steel.

Biggins

AlmightyCushion wrote: »

She must have thumbs of steel.

Place your bets on when RSI (Repetitive Strain Injury) kicks in lol :pac:

drunkmonkey

It's good to talk but not to watch TV:D

Captain-America

I think this guy single handedly caused the recession.

Capt'n Midnight

Biggins wrote: »

Source: HERE

One expensive film! :pac:

Can he download it legally or is there another fine to pay too ?

Biggins

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

Can he download it legally or is there another fine to pay too ?

I'm assuming that he downloaded a legal copy of it.
Otherwise he might not have allowed himself to get the publicity of doing so (besides the bill).
He must have downloaded it from an American based official film provider site.