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Cellular Phone Forum / Providers / Cingular / January 2007$8000 Roaming Charge
The daughter of one of our company's employees made a trip to Eastern Europe and ran up a cell phone bill of $8000 based on a $5/minute "roaming charge". After she returned and that bill appeared, the telephone company as courtesy put the employee's phone on their "international plan", which brought his minute rate to the bargain basement pricing of $4/minute. Is this actually legal and enforceable against the employee? Is there any recourse the employee would have to get this rate adjusted to an ordinary market price for an international phone call between U.S. and Eastern Europe?  SignatureWill > The daughter of one of our company's employees made a trip to Eastern > Europe [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > market price for an international phone call between U.S. and Eastern > Europe? Welcome to CHING-CHINGULAR!!! Nope..they will hook you. They won't let any of it slide, they wont do a thing for you. A friend of mine moved and had a $1500 overage.he has been a customer for MANY years and multiple phones on his account.When he asked about a payment plan they denied him.When he said he didnt have the $1500 as they just moved THEY SHUT HIM OFF!!! He promptly went out and bought two new Verizon phones before CHINGULAR could trash his credit. Chingular will get their money, he has no plans to"Stiff" them...but they lost a business and a few families over that sh.t. I still (as previously posted) think that it's all in the way you ask. Rudeness will get you know where. My son ran up a $1000 bill when he tried to add a "friend" to his account. I called Cingular for him and started by apologizing for his ignorance as he was young and unaware of "the real world". I asked the CSR what they could do to help him out and told them that I am a customer of Cingular and have been for several years with multiple phones. Right off the bat, the CSR cut the bill in half. Yes, now down to $500. My son could not afford that either so Cingular set up a payment plan that included $100 per month plus the monthly reoccurring charges until paid in full. Cingular will help you when you make an error. Cingular is a business to make money not give away services. They have always treated me well and corrected mistakes when they make them with more than the mistake itself. If you call cursing and yelling I'm sure you will get absolutely nothing. My compliments to Cingular for having "all around" good service and continuing to improve their already decent customer service. >> The daughter of one of our company's employees made a trip to Eastern >> Europe [quoted text clipped - 24 lines] > lost a business and a few families over that > sh.t. If you are going to run your bill up due to YOUR OVERAGES then belly up to the bar and pay your bill, after all you created it. 3GFreak www.mobilevertigo.com > > The daughter of one of our company's employees made a trip to Eastern > > Europe [quoted text clipped - 27 lines] > lost a business and a few families over that > sh.t. > If you are going to run your bill up due to YOUR OVERAGES then belly up > to the bar and pay your bill, after all you created it. [quoted text clipped - 16 lines] > > > market price for an international phone call between U.S. and Eastern > > > Europe? I would have yakking daughter sold overseas into indentured servitude. Could have left her in Eastern Europe and saved the airfare home. I think this would solve a lot of problems. SignatureTo reply by email, remove the word "space" Perfect! A much more logical solution...... :) 3GFreak www.mobilevertigo.com > > If you are going to run your bill up due to YOUR OVERAGES then belly up > > to the bar and pay your bill, after all you created it. [quoted text clipped - 20 lines] > Could have left her in Eastern Europe and saved the airfare home. > I think this would solve a lot of problems. > The daughter of one of our company's employees made a trip to Eastern > Europe [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > market price for an international phone call between U.S. and Eastern > Europe? Probably not. Information on roaming charges is readily available on Cingular's web site, so it is difficult to claim ignorance. That said, the prices are a rip off. That is why, in Europe, the mobile companies have been threatened with legislation if they don't bring their roaming charges down and it appears to be working. Unfortunately there does not appear to be the will to do the same in the US, hence the need for an unlocked phone and a collection of SIMs from countries visited. I feel for the employee, as I once got stung with a hefty data bill, but there is probably nothing they can do. > The daughter of one of our company's employees made a trip to Eastern > Europe and ran up a cell phone bill of $8000 based on a $5/minute [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > > Is this actually legal and enforceable against the employee? Why not? I assume he loaned the phone to his daughter- she didn't steal it, right? So therefore he's responsible for the charges. The real questions are: did no one think to ask how much roaming in Eastern Europe cost prior to going, and what the heck was she doing using 1600 minutes there in one month? > Is there any recourse the employee would have to get this rate > adjusted to an ordinary market price for an international phone > call between U.S. and Eastern Europe? Why? Even if the $4 rate is highway robbery, no one forced her to use the service. Unless Cingular agrees to a lower rate out of some "goodwill" customer service, your friend is stuck. These weren't regular "international calls between the U.S. and Eastern Europe"- they were wireless roaming calls made "borrowing" the service of a foreign carrier who has negotiated a particular rate with Cingular. Honestly, was this guy and/or his daughter naive enough to believe that international roaming didn't cost extra? And if not, did they not think of actually calling Cingular or checking the website before going on the trip? Cingular phones do not roam internationally by default- you have to request international roaming, so it seems reasonable the question of "how much" might have come up... Sadly, I think your friend just learned a very expensive lesson in international roaming costs... >>>>> "TA" == Todd Allcock <elecconnec@AmericaOnLine.com> writes: TA> what the TA> heck was she doing using 1600 minutes there in one month? Young American Female==utterly clueless and absolutely must yak every waking minute with equally clueless friends back home. Signature"It's a little-known fact that the Y1K problem caused the Dark Ages." >>>>>> "TA" == Todd Allcock <elecconnec@AmericaOnLine.com> writes: > [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > Young American Female==utterly clueless and absolutely must yak every > waking minute with equally clueless friends back home. As unfortunate that it is that she is clueless, "Acts have consequences." > Young American Female==utterly clueless and absolutely must yak every > waking minute with equally clueless friends back home. That doesn't explain why her hopefully less-clueless father, knowing that, would arm her with HIS cellphone rather than her own, preferrable prepaid. One can very easily run up a bill like that in Europe while using only a hotel phone. And, you won't be able to leave until you have paid the bill. Having lived for years in foreign countries, I look with dismay upon my fellow American citizens who are naive and childlike and sheared like sheep by the locals. The best option is Europe (so I'm told -- no experience) is to get a European SIM for the phone, or (if you want to call the US), sign-up for a VOIP account before leaving. You'll just need to have HSI available at your destination. > The daughter of one of our company's employees made a trip to Eastern > Europe [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > market price for an international phone call between U.S. and Eastern > Europe? >>>>> "jwardl" == jwardl <jwardl@spamthis.com> writes: jwardl> The best option is Europe (so I'm told -- no experience) jwardl> is to get a European SIM for the phone, or (if you want to jwardl> call the US), sign-up for a VOIP account before jwardl> leaving. You'll just need to have HSI available at your jwardl> destination. Europe SIM: maybe if you're staying for several weeks or months, otherwise not worth the hassle (from personal experience). One can do quite well using Cingular's normal charges for occasional short calls, and for the longer calls that Young American Persons like to make, use Skype at an Internet cafe (which seem to be common enough in Europe). SignatureNothing you can't spell will ever work. Will Rogers > Europe SIM: maybe if you're staying for several weeks or months, > otherwise not worth the hassle (from personal experience). One can do > quite well using Cingular's normal charges for occasional short calls, > and for the longer calls that Young American Persons like to make, use > Skype at an Internet cafe (which seem to be common enough in Europe). The buyin for a European SIM might be too high, depending on one's needs. Rental phones are another option. A friend who just went to Korea took her phone, and was well aware that a phone call would be very expensive. She said she was encouraged to use text messaging instead of calling anyone. I don't know what the rates for text roaming are. She did use Skype, after she found a computer that would allow Skype to be installed. Do you find Skype already installed at internet cafes? Signature--- Clarence A Dold - Hidden Valley Lake, CA, USA GPS: 38.8,-122.5 > The buyin for a European SIM might be too high, depending on one's needs. > Rental phones are another option. One could argue that no matter how high the buy-in for a foreign SIM is, it'd be less than $8000 the OP's friend's daughter ran up! > > The buyin for a European SIM might be too high, depending on one's needs. > > Rental phones are another option. > One could argue that no matter how high the buy-in for a foreign SIM is, > it'd be less than $8000 the OP's friend's daughter ran up! ;-) Signature--- Clarence A Dold - Hidden Valley Lake, CA, USA GPS: 38.8,-122.5 >You'll just need to have HSI available at your destination. What is "HSI"? : >You'll just need to have HSI available at your destination. : > : What is "HSI"? "High-Speed Internet" AKA: Broadband > : >You'll just need to have HSI available at your destination. > : > > : What is "HSI"? > > "High-Speed Internet" > : >You'll just need to have HSI available at your destination. > : > > : What is "HSI"? > > "High-Speed Internet" As in Sprint EVDO, not Cingular. [snicker] > As in Sprint EVDO, not Cingular. [snicker] Skype specifically states that they are not compatible with GPRS. Do you know if Skype works via EVDO? Signature--- Clarence A Dold - Hidden Valley Lake, CA, USA GPS: 38.8,-122.5 >> As in Sprint EVDO, not Cingular. [snicker] > > Skype specifically states that they are not compatible with GPRS. Do you > know if Skype works via EVDO? I do. Skype-to-Skype calls don't quite work since it is a little bit short of bandwidth on the uplink side (EVDO Rev. A should fix this). Using Skype to call regular phones over EVDO works fine. Dennis Ferguson > I do. Skype-to-Skype calls don't quite work since it is a little bit > short of bandwidth on the uplink side (EVDO Rev. A should fix this). > Using Skype to call regular phones over EVDO works fine. Although I enjoy Skype-Skype on a cable modem connection to other continents and in the US, I have found that skypeout to a regular phone is not very good. The audio used to be terrible. The most recent time that I tried, the audio was good, but with a terrible amount of delay. Signature--- Clarence A Dold - Hidden Valley Lake, CA, USA GPS: 38.8,-122.5 >> As in Sprint EVDO, not Cingular. [snicker] > >Skype specifically states that they are not compatible with GPRS. Do you >know if Skype works via EVDO? Skype does work over EGPRS(EDGE), although latency is a bit painful. SignatureBest regards, FAQ FOR CINGULAR WIRELESS: John Navas <http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Cingular_Wireless_FAQ> >> : >You'll just need to have HSI available at your destination. >> : > [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > >As in Sprint EVDO, not Cingular. As in Cingular EGPRS(EDGE), UMTS and HSDPA. >[snicker] Let me guess ... you're 12? SignatureBest regards, FAQ FOR CINGULAR WIRELESS: John Navas <http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Cingular_Wireless_FAQ> |
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