$35,000 cellphone bill.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1320343/The-35-000-T-Mobile-Haiti-aid-workers-mobile-shock.html

Now while I agree a $35,000 dollar cellphone fee in this case is ridiculous..since Tmobile told her she could use a courtesy service to call people back home...she really should have paid attention to the operative word...CALL. Should Tmobile have made it self more clear? MAYBE. Should she have clarified after she cancelled and before she left just what that courtesy service entailed? Ayup. You cancelled your contract when you left...and then you're suprised by a high bill when you get back? Again...35k was a tad..excessive. Always remember the old adage..Buyer Beware.

The other story in there about the $18,000 bill because Mr. St. Germaine didn't know his free data download trial had expired? This one is strictly HIS fault. When you get a free trial for anything they invariably give you the exact date it starts and begins; or at least a set time period starting from the day you acquire the free trial. So who's the asshole? Alas in this case it happens to be Mr. St. Germaine. It's just another example of many of people who 'didn't read the fine print.'
Sadly there's alot of that going around nowadays. I don't get surprised by overages..because I know how much time is included in my plan every month..and in the last couple months I've become an absolute bastard about keeping constant track of it. Here's a hint..they way it works in my case is in the phone directory[your contact list] there is a list of things like 'View my Data Usage, View My Minutes..etc. You simply select that from the menu..hit send and wait for them to send you a text to see what you've used. We went over our minutes one month to the tune of an extra 100 bucks on our bill. We were shocked when we saw the bill. Said "how did this happen? are these people high?" We went completely through our itemized bill to discover that yes..we'd went just a tad*understatement* over our allotted monthly minutes. After that..as I said I've become a real bastard about it. I use the "View My Minutes" address out of my address book every couple days to keep track. If we're nearing our allotted total..I simply say "Okay..stay off the fracking phone during the day..we've got nights and weekends aplenty so if you want to make a long phone call..do it after 9pm dammit."

So...buyer beware, READ the fucking fine print, and always TRY to be mindful of just how much time you're spending on your electronic crutch. [relax! mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima fucking culpa]

My ONLY gripe about the way the cellphone giants run now? Aside from the obscene prices a couple of them[including my own] charge for some plans..is that back in the day..if you had a cell phone for several years..there was this thing called FREE UPGRADE. It didn't require you to sign another contract..it was just a customer service/courtesy/ reward for being a customer thing. I've replaced a couple of well used phones over the years that way. Now? Now it's "yep you're eligible for a 'free upgrade' but you'll have to sign a new contract" Then it's not FREE now, is it you pinheads! I've been with my own company since before it was under it's current name. Had the same contract, the same number...for almost 15yrs. Yet when I mention this on the customer service line, it's like 'wow dude that's a long time'. Really? No shit sherlock. So here's my story. I went to replace a phone that was at least 5yrs old, and well used. It was going to fall apart soon. So..I called the customer service line and was told well..we can't do that here..you have to go online to do that. Only ONE problem with this..I was on dial up at the time and my computer system wasn't the most stable in the world. I tried to explain this to them and they said "sorry still can't do it" Now I go to a friends house a month later to try and use their hi speed connection..guess what..there's so much useless applet crap on the page that it STILL won't load.
Finally after 6months of this I get fed up, give in, say 'fine, fuck it' and sign a new 2 year contract at the end of december so I can GET my fracking phone. This after trying to convince someone who will not be named that "we're not under contract to these dickheads anymore. Lets switch companies" ' No'...fine. So I sign us up for a new contract.and get offered insurance for the new phone..of course I say yes; get my damn phone as everything is hunky dory. [rrrrriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight...] Fast forward to just a couple weeks ago. I've had this phone for 8mos right? I've got insurance right?[wrong as I come to find out..they put it on the OTHER number on the contract instead of mine so the damn phone isn't covered. Now keep in mind I thought it was for both phones. [my fault for not getting clarification] Sigh..hoist upon my own sword. :/
Anyway..I raise a ruckus, say it's your fault, your service rep lied to me. So they agree to ship me a new phone, free of charge.[literally..I didn't pay for the phone or the shipping..they did] Then the fun starts...the other phone on the contract comes up with the EXACT same problem. Oh here's a hint..they're both samsung phones. No worries..since that phone is the one the insurance is on..we'll just call the insurance company and get it replaced toot sweet the next day. So I putz along and don't do this 1st thing in the morning like I should and my new replacement phone arrives. Guess what..EXACT same problem as the other two..straight out of the goddamn box. Your favorite curly wolf nearly hurled that phone through his window. Which would have made me AND the window unhappy. The window for being broken and ME for breaking it, not having enough money to get it fixed, and the as certain as death..screaming at I'd get. so thankfully I resisted that particular urge. So I call the insurance company...get that dealt with. Call the cellphone company and say ..you retards sent me a defective phone. 'So solly...that brand new phone. you call manufacturer please?' Sigh...call the manufacturer..they say well that's under warranty so we'll email you a shipping label and you send us the phone sans battery, sim card and the back cover of the phone. Awesome. I get the label..after a mishap with the email. Get the phone shipped and then a week later get it back. Awesome my phone is fixed. right?
Uhmmm..wrong answer. thank you for playing. I pull it out, slip in the battery and sim card, fire it up and lo and behold..it's STILL got the exact same fracking problem! A problem their people said they fixed! So I call Samsung give them the invoice number for the warranty po for the fix and they say "Well okay how can we help you today?"
'Well for starters you can tell me why you people sent me back a phone you SAID you'd fixed, but fucking didn't.'
"I'm sorry to hear that"
*headdesk*
So now it's been shipped again. they got it today. If I'm lucky I'll get it back sometime end of next week and it'll actually work. Me? I'm not holding my fucking breathe because purple doesn't look good on me.

Oh at least the cellphone company isn't being stupid about it. I called them...told the customer service geek that answered the phone what was going on and said"since by the time I get the phone back, next friday if I'm lucky, I'll have been sans phone for a MONTH? So tell me junior birdman. Since I'm paying for a contract with two phones and have only had one for about 3weeks now and will have been without for a MONTH next weekend...what's the odds of me getting a discount on my bill?' Pretty good actually. They cut my bill in half for this bill I'm fixing to get in the mail, probably this upcoming weekend no doubt. I've got 16mths left on this contract. As soon as it's time period is passed..I'm gone. Probably to Verizon..or maybe sprint. I must be getting nostalgic for the old PTT two way radio network. Sprint bought out a company that did that many years ago. I know Cricket and I think, Verizon have plans for unlimited talk, text and data for about $35-50 per line. Works for me.