Like others, Pierre had found out the hard way just how extremely expensive international data transfer rates are…
Pleading with AT&T customer service got him retroactively on an international plan for $24.99 for 20mb, and $5 per mb thereafter. He used 205 mb total, so his new bill is $900. Still expensive, but a bit more swallowable than 4 g’s.
“It’s still a lot,” writes Pierre. “T-mobile has a plan $19.99 on a blackberry for emails send or receive wherever you are in the world, why not AT&T?”
We don’t know, Pierre, or why AT&T would also offer unlimited international data use at $70 per month to its Blackberry customers and not iPhone (except, you know, because they can make more money), but we do know that you can’t just flounce over to Europe and use your American cellphone and expect everything to be all right (know your rate plans!!!), and neither should AT&T/Apple expect that customers will know that either. When traveling and using your iPhone overseas, a warning screen should come up warning customers of the high costs you could be incurring. Maybe a slideshow of images from the Great Depression could play in the background.
Pierre’s bill below:
RELATED: iPhone/AT&T $3,000 International Roaming Bill Seves As Cruel Warning
At least he can make a video out of his experience. Of him being a freakin’ idiot.
Last time I was on vacation, I think I made about two phone calls, maybe three, and they were very short. I guess I just don’t seek the sort of constant attention as this guy. If he could only get along awhile on his own a bit, he’d live a much cheaper life. Probably a better one, too.
He’s a moron if he went to Ibiza on vacation and spent his time looking at his iPhone instead of the girls at the beach…
Traveling to Europe and need a phone? My solution for my 3 month multi-country trip: Motorola Razr GSM – unlocked phone: $180.00 in the US, plug adapters and SIM cards with Pay-As-You-Go Plans for any country that I visit for more than 2 weeks.
My phone bills: UK: $30.00, Croatia: $20.00, etc., etc. Easy, cheap local calls, cheap international SMS/Text messaging, manageable international calls, no surprises. Data transfer? No thanks – this is vacation!
Dude, what the hell are you doing spending that much time on your phone while on vacation? I think you got what you deserved. Dork.
I travel to the UK a lot, but I buy unlocked phones and a pay-as-you-go SIM for Virgin Mobile. It costs me jack squat, even for incoming international calls. I am baffled that people still don’t get it. No, yo won’t be able to use your precious iPhone, but aren’t you supposed to be on vacation anyway?
Obviously I bought a UK Virgin Mobile SIM. I should have clarified.
he is an absolute idiot…………that is all.
common sense people, does anyone have it anymore?
Must be nice to have that much disposable income to throw $900 on a cellphone bill. He could’ve bought a 10mp digital SLR and taken VERY high quality pics for that much money…..
i’ve asked this before, but i’ll ask it again.
doesn’t this phone have wifi built in? can’t you use it in a hotspot with no data transfer charges?
or am i dumb?
@Skeptic:
to bad iphone users don’t have the ability to do the following…
– install firefox
– install firefox add-on “No Script”
– install firefox add-on “AdBlock Plus”
this page, as of this comment, is 94kb with the above… of $.47 still rather expensive IMO for one page refresh.
I have no sympathy for this chump. If you aren’t smart enough to ask what the roaming rates are before you use the service, then don’t go crying to the company after the fact because you neglected to realize that using your phone outside the US costs more money (which should be obvious to anyone with a +100 IQ).
And BTW, T-Mobile’s unlimited international usage plane only applies to Blackberrys, not Pocket PCs, Treos or any other data devices.
I know people are pounding this guy for a $400 bill the previous month, but even with an international calling plan *in the US* to call other countries is prohibitive. I regularly had $300 phone bills and that’s with the international calling plan at $10 a month and $0.25 a minute.
“When Pierre visited Ibiza, Spain and Europe for two weeks, his iPhone went with him”
Ibiza is a Spanish island and Spain is part of Europe
It should read:
“When Pierre visited Europe for two weeks, his iPhone went with him”
boo hoo?
Should this be tagged ‘Slow news day?’
@methane: No. Videos like this do not happen every day.
I agree this guy should have checked his plan first, but the larger point is that international roaming is needlessly expensive. It’s a huge profit source, with voice at $1-2 per minute (and no voice plans available), and data at $15-20/MB from the major carriers (even if you are roaming on their parent’s network, as is the case with T-Mobile).
At least with unlocked phones, there’s the option of buying local SIM cards, although that’s getting a little harder with anti-terrorism laws popping up everywhere, and, more importantly, with GSM phones being locked to a carrier. Sure most phones (but not the iPhone) can be unlocked, but how many people know how to do that? The EU has placed some caps on roaming charges within Europe for customers of European phone companies. I wouldn’t be surprised if there are more calls for regulation if the wireless carriers over here don’t slash their international roaming rates, too.
@IceEncasesFire:
Please learn to read. It says “and other parts of Europe” . . . It is right as is.
@Celested: A 1st gen iPhone won’t be worth anything near it’s full value in a few months! Do you know much about technology?
@nickripley: except it will. much like the first generation ipod. do you know anyting about apple?
There’s actually a policy in place about this. I can’t remember exactly what it said but if you have data charges above 10MB you can request a re-rate to an int’l data plan. Only if the cust calls in and asks for it. You would probably have to speak with a supervisor becuase most reps won’t know about it.
@chinadoll724:
I know how to read, the mistake was corrected because I sent an email.
Please help me. I got 28K $ from at&t. I live in the US. I took two mobile connections under family plan. One is thru iPhone and other one is using other phone set. Last month, I exchanged the SIM cards in these phones. As I had unlimited data plan in one connection, I thought that there would not be any problem. Further, I didn’t get any call or mail from AT&T at that time when I did the same. Recently, I got a call from AT&T mentioning that I am not supposed to exchange the SIM cards. Please suggest me what I should do now.
This is also because AT&T is the most avaricious, unethical call provider in the USA. I have had them and these jerks were trying to charge me for text message they sent to me advertising their services! I told them to obey the biblical imperative to “Go forth and multiply thyself.” I refused to pay and they said they would cancel my service and charge me a $200 earl termination fee. I reminded them that I only had a month-to-month contract, They said I didn’t and I said then we’ll be in court and you will have to produce the contract with my signature on it. I new I had never signed any such contract because, when I bough the phone, I specifically stated I would only be in the country for two or three months. As I was leaving to return to Brazil in a few days, I didn’t care what they did. They never canceled my service and kept billing me for months after I told them to cancel. I despise AT&T and will never do business with them again.