Not even two months ago, we warned iPhone users that the new “WiFi Assist” feature in iOS9 could result in data overages if you weren’t careful. This tale of on San Francisco-area family shows just how bad it can be. [More]
bill shock
83-Year-Old Racks Up $24,289 In AT&T Charges By Still Using AOL Dial-Up
By 4.28.15
Believe it or not, AOL still has more than 2 million paying customers who dial into the service to get Internet access. And for people whose online use is minimal, this may be the cheaper option — unless some glitch causes your modem to start dialing an international line, leaving you to rack up thousands of dollars in charges while your phone company pleads ignorance. [More]
Today Was The Deadline For Wireless Companies To Enact Bill Shock Alerts. Did Everyone Make It?
By 4.17.13 — Updated: 4.18.13
In October 2011, the FCC and the nation’s major wireless providers agreed to put systems in place that would alert subscribers when they neared and passed their plans’ thresholds for things like calling minutes, texts, data, and international roaming. Per the agreement, all the providers were supposed to have all their alerts in place by today. So did everyone finish on time? [More]
Airman Racks Up $16,000 In Roaming Charges In 6 Days
By 4.26.12
Usually when we write about someone racking up insanely high phone charges, it involves a trip outside the U.S. borders, but here’s a post about a member of the U.S. Air Force who found himself facing more than $16,000 in roaming charges after short visit to his family in Sacramento. [More]
Culinary Bill Shock: Beware The Secret $275 Truffle Pasta Special!
By 4.9.12
There’s a small, innocuous-looking cafe on Madison Ave that you may find yourself considering on your next meander through New York City. Watch out, says BoingBoing, whose Rob Beschizza wandered into the place on a lark, you’re about to get socked with hidden charges. How bad could it be? Behold: [More]
Consumers Union To Wireless Providers: Don't Wait To Implement "Bill Shock" Alerts
By 11.2.11
A couple weeks ago, details were announced about the Wireless Consumer Usage Notification Guidelines, which give wireless providers one year to roll out a system that lets customers know when they are nearing or over their allotted data, text, voice or international roaming limits. But our cohorts at Consumers Union are urging these companies to not wait until the last minute. [More]
T-Mobile Customer Runs Up $201,000 Phone Bill
By 10.18.11
A woman in Florida recently bought her brother a phone and put him on her plan. But little did she know that her brother’s two-week trip to Canada would result in a 43-page bill for more than $201,000. [More]
Wireless Customers To Receive Free Text Alerts To Avoid Overage Charges
By 10.17.11
After months of talking about the issue, the FCC and the nation’s wireless providers have announced a deal that will provide almost every wireless customer in the country with free text alerts to help them avoid “bill shock” from unexpected overage charges. [More]
Verizon Admits That Bill Shock Alert System Needs Work
By 9.22.11
Verizon Wireless has a system that’s meant to alert customers if their current voice, data or text usage patterns are likely to push them into having to pay overage charges, but the company admits that it has some reliability issues. [More]
Wireless Industry Group Says All Those Overages Are Actually Saving Us Money
By 3.9.11
There has been a lot of talk in recent years about cellphone bill shock and overages and what can be done to stop it. Now comes a new study by a wireless industry trade group that claims consumers are actually saving money because of all these overage. [More]
College Student Goes To Cancun For A Week, Comes Back To $11,667 Sprint Bill
By 7.26.10
Stacey says while she was on vacation with her family in Cancun for a week recently, she checked her Facebook page from her Evo phone “maybe 5 minutes a day,” but never uploaded or sent any photos, “only a handful of texts.” Sprint says she managed to burn through either 600 MB or 4.7 GB of data during that period, and now owes them $11,667.73. (Note: Stacey doesn’ t specify whether the 4,918,228 kb of data is in kilobits or kilobytes, so I don’t know which number is accurate.) [More]
