Man Stung by $8,000 iPhone Bill

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I’d like to blame this $8,000 phone bill on Virgin Mobile or the iPhone but this is pretty much owner error here.

“It’s criminal,” said Boutang of his June statement saying he owed Virgin Mobile $7,763.70 after using the phone for three days while traveling in France
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Is this only being posted here because he has an iPhone? I've seen much larger bills from other carriers that do not have the iPhone.
 
While I agree it was the guys fault, it's hard to justify the price these companies charge for out of network usage. The costs of supplying the bandwidth aren't even remotely high enough to justify a $7000 bill for 130MB. For $7,000, I could pay to have someone buy a flash drive, download the content, fly from the United States to France, stay in a nice hotel, and deliver it in a rented car, and still not spend that much.
 
No it's not this guys fault.

Seriously? $8,000 phone bill ...

This guy was legally raped, the government lets this happen, the phone companies ... it's bullshit.

I had a $260 dollar cell phone bill recently from Alltel before they changed over to Verizon and I spoke with some woman for 10 - 15 mins asking her to help me lower my bill and her putting me on hold.

AT NO TIME did she ever say we have a $79 dollar plan that gives you unlimited data, 500 mins 5 anywhere friends and unlimited text, etc etc. Instead she gave me a $120 dollar plan.

It wasn't until I got that huge bill that I had to call in and find out the truth. I got credit thank god but they will rape you in a NY minute.

This guy got fucked plan and simple and if you are too stupid to see that then hopefully you will get a $8,000 dollar bill just like the poor guy did.

What a joke. This is the crap that pisses me off more than anything.

And our government ... lets this happen to us.
 
Boutang said the customer service representative failed to warn him about the pricey cost of using an iPhone abroad, and says he wasn’t told about a roaming data plan he’s since discovered that might have allowed him to use his phone overseas for as little as $200.
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IMO, he obviously called in knowing there might be more charges. The rep wasn't forthcoming, so he just went on his way.

So, I don't really say he's at fault when he called in trying to avoid this in the first place.
 
I can call bullshit I go over there all the time. Massive warning comes up on your iphone letting you know you're roaming outside their network and can expect huge fees. He accepted it, he's a douche.
 
"So, I don't really say he's at fault when he called in trying to avoid this in the first place."

Meh. Ignorance is no excuse. How many "OMG! I got teh but rapes from my roaming!" stories have there been? This guy gets his bill electronically. Unless his ISP is "YouLiveInaCave.Net" and is a walled garden through wormhole to 1994 there is no way he could be unaware of the dangers of international data roaming. He even called the provider. To make that work he would need to record the conversation and catch them telling him one thing while doing something else.

No sympathy. First thing you do when you get off the plane is get a local sim card. Or turn off data and rely on wifi and VOIP.
 
Canadian streaming radio is worth $61.50/MB to me.
 
there is a difference from knowing your bill will be high, to your bill will be a fortune for a short amount of use. they should hand you a tube of lube when you say your taking your phone overseas. They know they can rape you, so they do it as painful as possible. They should be required to text you the bill everytime there is a charge if its gonna be that enormous. its sickening regardless of who is at fault.
 
My wife just mentioned in belgium theyre passing a law saying you get automatic notification when your bill gets to 60 euro. Should probably do the same thing here.
 
He was smart enough to call Virgin to let them know he was going out of country but wasn't smart enough to ask about international rates? I admit the amount being asked for is still retarded for what he used but what did he expect? Did he expect everything would be normal? Also I don't know what much it will do for him to complain to the CRTC since most of these charges are coming from the carrier in Europe that he used. There was a report on this earlier in the year and it shows that your local wireless company makes very little from this deal but it's the international network that is freely allowed to up charge access to there network as high as they want. So he might have to file a complaint with whatever UK agency that deals with this sort of thing.
 
Why wouldn't you do your homework before traveling abroad? Idiot owner should take his medicine and like it.
 
"Faltous said Boutang used about 130 megabytes over the three days, which is the equivalent of sending 5,000 emails, loading 600 web pages or viewing 100 minutes worth of video."

On what planet? They sure did get fed a line of bs if they think they can do any of those things with 130 mb of data.
 
w00t69 said:
"Faltous said Boutang used about 130 megabytes over the three days, which is the equivalent of sending 5,000 emails, loading 600 web pages or viewing 100 minutes worth of video."

On what planet? They sure did get fed a line of bs if they think they can do any of those things with 130 mb of data.
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Yeah when have we been able to put 1 min of video into 1mb of space? Is it really video at that port or just pixels moving?
 
He should have know better. On the other hand getting an $8000 phone bill is insane no matter how you look at it.
 
He deserves it. With enough stories already about this stuff he should not get off. If you do not want to pay THEN DO NOT USE IT. Not freaken hard. Everybody knows by now the data plans are what gets you so stop using the data. It is no one to blame but himself. The government is not responsible for lowering the prices neither is the company its the CONSUMER. IF everyone stopped using the data plans, I am sure the prices would plummet really quickly. THEY ARE POPULAR and the companies just want to make money off popularity.
 
You actually help the guy's cause by posting this story. It gets more and more coverage, and soon enough Virgin Mobile is like "crap, now everyone knows about this". Won't even matter at that point if it's his own stupid fault.
 
He sounds like an idiot if he seriously thought he could take his phone anywhere in the world and not have to pay international rates.
 
Oldie said:
While I agree it was the guys fault, it's hard to justify the price these companies charge for out of network usage. The costs of supplying the bandwidth aren't even remotely high enough to justify a $7000 bill for 130MB. For $7,000, I could pay to have someone buy a flash drive, download the content, fly from the United States to France, stay in a nice hotel, and deliver it in a rented car, and still not spend that much.
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Sadly, I do think this is quite accurate.
 
I got nailed for international rates in Detroit once. Stupid Canadian towers. Luckily I noticed the little T-Mobile text message telling me I had switched off their network before too long and ti only cost me like $20 before I forced the phone to acquire only T-Mobile towers.

That said, if the guy did call in and asked and they mislead him about the rates, or plans...then well seems he has a legit complaint. If not, whoops damn that bill sucks.
 
westrock2000 said:
Sadly, I do think this is quite accurate.
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Using Expedia:

Leaving 7/22/10, Returning 7/24/10
Leaving from Indianapolis, IN going to Paris, France

8GB Flashdrive: $20
Delta Flight / Hilton Hotel: $2229
Vehicle: $330

That's a bit less than $8,000. ;)
 
Wow...
I thought they should have regulations against these kinds of things by now?
 
I dont feel sorry for the guy at all. If you're too stupid to understand billing, rates, etc, then insist on using some gadget - you deserve to pay the price. Stupidity does come at a price, and people should have to pay the bill no matter how it arrives.
 
He agreed to the terms and services, he went abroad, he used his phone........ not seeing this as the cell phone companies fault. It is the consumers responsibility to READ the terms and services they agree to, to become AWARE of the plans that are available to use overseas and take some personal responsibility. Are the rates outrageous? Did he get fucked sideways? Yea, absolutely. But he allowed it to happen to him and he did it to himself, it's not like someone stole his phone and went abroad and used it.
 
When a cell phone user gets their bill, it's a phone bill.

When an iPhone user gets their bill, it's an iPhone bill...?

:rolleyes:
 
Oldie said:
Using Expedia:

Leaving 7/22/10, Returning 7/24/10
Leaving from Indianapolis, IN going to Paris, France

8GB Flashdrive: $20
Delta Flight / Hilton Hotel: $2229
Vehicle: $330

That's a bit less than $8,000. ;)
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I suppose that since the guy is there, you might as well pay him a couple of thousand dollars to enjoy France for 3 days. :p Though even that won't bring it up to those roaming costs. Roaming charges seem to be completely arbitrary. Some regulation is definitely necessary in that department.
 
I don't think we need government regulation, I think we need consumers to pressure the companies to change their tactics. I would rather let the market create positive changes, than pay congress to force them.
 
piscian18 said:
I can call bullshit I go over there all the time. Massive warning comes up on your iphone letting you know you're roaming outside their network and can expect huge fees. He accepted it, he's a douche.
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is this true?

if that's the case then it's his own fault...
 
bencorn said:
He agreed to the terms and services, he went abroad, he used his phone........ not seeing this as the cell phone companies fault. It is the consumers responsibility to READ the terms and services they agree to, to become AWARE of the plans that are available to use overseas and take some personal responsibility. Are the rates outrageous? Did he get fucked sideways? Yea, absolutely. But he allowed it to happen to him and he did it to himself, it's not like someone stole his phone and went abroad and used it.
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This sums up my opinion on the matter.
 
Some of you honestly need to do your home work. The real issue isn't even about this guy or his bill. It's about consumer protection and predatory tactics.

It does not just simply stop at "it's his fault."

Someone even called this guy a douche. I mean god. Really?

Had this man knew 100% before hand that he faced huge huge HUGE fees, he wouldn't have turned his phone on or made other arrangements. Clearly.

It's amazing how logic and common sense are absent here. And I bet anything I could pose another series of questions and get 1/2 of you to contradict yourself at somepoint.

Go google "huge cell phone bill" or something to that effect and you will see this is a major problem. In fact, go take a look at the FCC. You can find thousands and thousands of people, just recently dated who are complaining about this very subject. This is something that's gouging and hurting families.

You have lobbyist out there who's sole purpose is to keep things like this happening. The more deregulation, the better. Right? Wrong.

With all due respect, not to talk down to anyone. I do respect a good opinion. But, this is just a small part of a much larger problem.

And don't think of this man as some faceless person you don't know. Think of him as a friend, a brother, a sister or perhaps even one day, your child. You really think big business should have this sort of reign? And no, I'm not being extreme. You want extreme, use your phone for 120 mins overseas and then get your $8,000 bill in the mail, then pay it off, with a smile no less. And If you can do that and I know no one here would, then that my friend, is extreme.

They didn't allow this type of behavior in the 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s. This would have been impossible then.

Predatory business tactics, predatory lending, deregulation, lobbyist. Go google those, do some research, and please, come back and tell me that this guy is a douche after you've done some proper homework.
 
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