$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?

--
Will

---

› See More: $8000 Roaming Charge

"Will" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> 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?
>
> --
> Will
>
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
****.


>

"Will" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> 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?
>
> --
> Will
>

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.

At 19 Jan 2007 19:37:59 -0800 Will wrote:
> 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?

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 <[email protected]> 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.
--
"It's a little-known fact that the Y1K problem caused the Dark Ages."

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.


"Will" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> 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?
>
> --
> Will
>
>

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.

"Porgy Tirebiter" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> "Will" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>> 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?
>>
>> --
>> Will
>>
> 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
> ****.
>
>
>>
>
>

"Bob Fry" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>>>>>> "TA" == Todd Allcock <[email protected]> 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.
> --
> "It's a little-known fact that the Y1K problem caused the Dark Ages."


As unfortunate that it is that she is clueless, "Acts have consequences."

>>>>> "jwardl" == jwardl <[email protected]> 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).
--
Nothing you can't ***** will ever work.
Will Rogers

At 19 Jan 2007 23:02:45 -0800 Bob Fry wrote:

> 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.

Bob Fry <[email protected]> wrote:
> 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?

--
---
Clarence A Dold - Hidden Valley Lake, CA, USA GPS: 38.8,-122.5

"jwardl" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...

>You'll just need to have HSI available at your destination.
>
What is "HSI"?

At 20 Jan 2007 18:06:59 +0000 [email protected] wrote:

> 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!

On Sat, 20 Jan 2007 12:20:19 -0600, "hj" <[email protected]> wrote:
:
: "jwardl" <[email protected]> wrote in message
: news:[email protected]...
:
: >You'll just need to have HSI available at your destination.
: >
: What is "HSI"?

"High-Speed Internet"