Comments on: AT&T charges me $6000 (USD) for Mexican roaming internet on my PDA – A vacation horror story

By: kaonashi

kaonashi — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 22:24:10 +0000

It’s vs. Its. Learn it.

By: Karl L. Gechlik | AskTheAdmin.com

Karl L. Gechlik | AskTheAdmin.com — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 15:08:03 +0000

And how did it turn out for you Commodore?

By: Karl L. Gechlik | AskTheAdmin.com

Karl L. Gechlik | AskTheAdmin.com — Thu, 28 May 2009 15:26:22 +0000

Don’t blame the user there are clearly no safeguards in place. Seeming you pay your carrier $$$ they should be at least looking out for you when they have to impose other people prices on you in this case the mexican mafia… excuse me Mexican Telecom.

I am very happy to hear you got your bill down to $400! You are obviously a better negotiater than some!

How did you do it? inquiring minds…

By: MIRANDA

MIRANDA — Wed, 27 May 2009 23:16:19 +0000

Funny because when we spoke with an AT&T representative on the phone, she said that this was not the case, and that a webpage needed to be open to be transferring information. Also, when I bought the card, the sales rep said that the card did not need to be pulled out every time I stopped using the internet. I specifically asked this question because I was trying to decided between buying an Airport card or the USB key.

And Aaronblu, NO, your computer does not transmit data if there are no webpages open or another program that accesses the internet. We had that same card plugged into the computer for 6 months with no problems in our bills until that last month.

Regardless, After two weeks of phone calls between AT&T and myself, the charges were dropped down to $400. Our phone bill is normally $300. Thanks AT&T!

“Oh you so smart”, Aaronblu.

By: aaronblu17

aaronblu17 — Wed, 27 May 2009 22:51:31 +0000

Lol computers still takes up data even though the internet browser is not on. This is YOUR fault for not shutting off the computer/disabling the internet access.

By: Karl L. Gechlik | AskTheAdmin.com

Karl L. Gechlik | AskTheAdmin.com — Sat, 09 May 2009 12:29:14 +0000

write an email/post – put some pressure on the carrier – class action suit?

By: MIRANDA

MIRANDA — Fri, 08 May 2009 22:02:24 +0000

How would you give assistance on this issue?

By: MIRANDA

MIRANDA — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 20:19:24 +0000

I got a $6,000 phone bill too! We’re in dispute right now! We had an air card that we keft in the laptop even though we didn’t have the internet on and it was transferring information for a month and a half!! No one called us to warn us!! I am so pissed. $6,341. I feel we were taken advantage of.

By: Commodore64

Commodore64 — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 17:22:18 +0000

so how did that turn out for you Jackie?

By: Commodore64

Commodore64 — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 17:21:49 +0000

Trey I do appreciate your comments whether they are for me or against me. The fact of the matter is, I wasnt rallying for ATT to make the bill FREE… I just wanted them to charge me a ‘fair’ amount for data usage. I still don’t believe $1900 for 400 megs of data is fair for that time period. I mentioned in my article – I AM COMPLETELY WILLING TO PAY FOR MY MISTAKE. the issue here is GOUGING not CHARGING.

By: Commodore64

Commodore64 — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 17:15:43 +0000

the long and short in the end is that I submitted thisw story to consumer reports and BBB, both of which told me my article would be published. I haven’t seen it come up in any search results besides right here on AskTheAdmin. I paid them their $1900. Now I’m with Verizon.

By: Commodore64

Commodore64 — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 17:13:49 +0000

seems polished and pretty, like most crooks today

By: Commodore64

Commodore64 — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 17:13:36 +0000

he is sorely welcome

By: Commodore64

Commodore64 — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 17:12:45 +0000

Irony – deserves its own song…

By: Commodore64

Commodore64 — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 17:12:26 +0000

No thats not the plan they gave me. This was only having to do with the phone, not tethering with a PCMCIA card airmodem…

By: Commodore64

Commodore64 — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 17:11:26 +0000

this is the stuff loans are made of…

By: Commodore64

Commodore64 — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 17:10:53 +0000

Seems pretty technical and specific for any average schmo like myself to have known before-hand without learning the hard way first.
Thanks for reading Jon,
-C64

By: Commodore64

Commodore64 — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 17:10:07 +0000

Thanks Bitchy… A year later and no dice, but the overwhelming response to my article has given me a warm fuzzy feeling inside…
Thanks for reading and stumbling…
-C64

By: Commodore64

Commodore64 — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 17:09:13 +0000

I agree, and it was a branded ATT device…

By: Commodore64

Commodore64 — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 17:08:16 +0000

so who do you think we should blame? ATT or the foreign Telco?

By: Commodore64

Commodore64 — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 17:07:25 +0000

I ended up keeping my phone # but im with Verizon now and had to pay $1900 to get ATT off my back…

By: Commodore64

Commodore64 — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 17:06:56 +0000

Yes, I believe I saw this coming with my first 8125 phone from ATT. I had found a very under-published way of tethering my internet. Bec of this they saw higher usage on my (unlimited) acct and acted pretty quick after that. Their justification was that because of the relatively smaller screen of a phone compared to a laptop, laptops would cause their users to pull more data on their “unlimited data” plan. I guess “unlimited” has grey area i didint know about…

By: Commodore64

Commodore64 — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 17:04:37 +0000

Yes I was charged for aparently browsing the web, which was on my statment as Kb used.
I paid that for 400 megs of pulling over a period of 8 days.

By: Commodore64

Commodore64 — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 17:03:28 +0000

Adsense ironies are a dime a dozen today, but i love each one of them. I’m a big fan of irony.
Thanks for reading Eric
-C64

By: Commodore64

Commodore64 — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 17:02:47 +0000

In the end I still had to pay them about $1900 after they sent my acct to collections and threatened to screw up my credit.
I guess all’s well that ends shitty

By: Karl L. Gechlik | AskTheAdmin.com

Karl L. Gechlik | AskTheAdmin.com — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 17:43:23 +0000

Please come back and let us know how it goes and if you need any assistance! Flucking ATT!

By: Jackie

Jackie — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 22:55:20 +0000

This just happened to my husband and I. we were in mexico for 10 days and wound up with a 700 bill (not 3000, but still much more than we can afford). whats more, we are being charged for roaming in nicaragua!! (in addition to mexico charges). and no, we were never anywhere near nicaragua. i wasnt even carrying my phone around with me, and my husband only made a couple of calls and texts. we even borrowed a family member’s phone so we wouldnt have to use ours. this is really suspicious. not sure what the outcome will be, we’re still working it out. but i got some good tips here. thanks.

By: Trey D

Trey D — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 19:19:41 +0000

Wow, for someone smart enough to write up a post you sure don’t understand wireless service very well. First of all, while roaming outside of the US, you are only charged for actual usage (i.e. your phone’s connection to the network) so had your phone really been in a safe and remained untouched you would not have incurred data roaming charges; unless you’re using an iPhone at which point the device connects to the network automatically which is explained in the iPhone terms and conditions which are agreed to at the time of activation. The roaming rates are clearly defined on AT&T’s website (both voice and data) and are easily accessible. Additionally, when dialing the AT&T International Support number, you are not charged as this is an international toll free number (I’ve used it myself). As with most ‘consumer rip-offs’ listed online this boils down to a simple matter of an uneducated consumer failing to take responsibility for their actions and blaming the ‘big-bad company’ for ‘taking advantage of them’. Grow up, be an adult, and ensure that you are informed of the charges you’d incur prior to using a service.

By: The $6,000 Cell Phone Bill ~ OzTech

The $6,000 Cell Phone Bill ~ OzTech — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 23:00:46 +0000

[...] is so bad that recently an iPhone user decided to sue AT&T over a $2,000 bill. It happened to this person too. A $6,000 bill and he didn’t even use his phone during his trip to [...]

By: Cell Phone Roaming Horror Stories | Technipages

Cell Phone Roaming Horror Stories | Technipages — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 22:30:01 +0000

[...] Not only do these cell phone companies charge you these exorbitant rates, some even charge you insane amounts even if the phone is simply on and not being used. [...]