The discussion centers around the circumstances that led to a teenager accumulating a $50,000 phone bill, exploring the responsibilities of phone companies in monitoring usage and alerting customers about excessive charges. Participants share anecdotes and opinions regarding billing practices, data plans, and customer service experiences.
Participants express a mix of agreement and disagreement regarding the responsibilities of phone companies and the clarity of billing practices. There is no consensus on whether the teenager's situation was primarily a result of the company's failure to monitor usage or the individual's misunderstanding of the plan.
Participants highlight limitations in understanding the fine print of contracts and the potential for unexpected charges, indicating that many consumers may not fully grasp the terms of their agreements.
This discussion may be of interest to consumers considering mobile phone plans, those concerned about billing practices, and individuals interested in consumer rights related to telecommunications.
Y'know, that's a good point. There should be flags on the accounts and someone contacting the customer when you start to rack up a large bill. When you more than double your base plan rate, that seems like a good time for the company to put a flag on the account and contact the customer to find out if they know their bill is getting so high.turbo-1 said:How did the phone company allow someone to rack up a phone bill like this? Don't alerts pop up when something like this happens?
They will if you have bad credit and have a spending limit flag on your account. If you have good credit, you will have unlimited spending approved, and no flag.Moonbear said:Y'know, that's a good point. There should be flags on the accounts and someone contacting the customer when you start to rack up a large bill. When you more than double your base plan rate, that seems like a good time for the company to put a flag on the account and contact the customer to find out if they know their bill is getting so high.
Evo said:You have to be careful, even if you buy an unlimited data plan on your phone, it more than likely will not include using your phone as modem. (which is what happened to him) While using it as a modem *occasionally* might not set off the alarms, constant use will and you will get hit with data charges or they will just disconnect you. I know, it's a rip off, data is data, if you're using it for your computer, obviously you're not using it on your phone, it's their way of forcing you to buy two data plans, one for your phone and one for your computer.
Unfortunately, they disconnect you when you don't pay the bill, I forgot to mention that. Either you agree to pay, or get disconnected.Moonbear said:It sure would be better for them to disconnect you so you know there's a problem than allow you to accumulate a bill that nobody could afford. So much of these details are in fine print and legalese (or technical jargon) that there's just no way a normal person could understand the limits of what they're paying for.