The $3,000 iPhone Bill

[sprague]

Update

MAYBE THE GUY DIDN'T KNOW, BECAUSE I DIDN'T KNOW EITHER!!!

Soon after my iPhone purchase, I went to Calgary to see family. I new if I used the internet, I would probably get a roaming charge. I showed some family members and was charged $44.91 for 2,994 KB. More expensive than I thought it would be, but I expected the charge. **** BUT BEWARE, what I didn't know is that I was charged anywhere from $.12 to $1.88 about every 8 to 12 minutes. The charges are 24/7 and so I received a $535 bill. I was only in Canada for the weekend, so I can see how someone that maybe spent a week in Canada could easily receive a $3,000 bill. ****

I did know I would get roaming charges for data that I used, but I didn't know I needed to shut my phone off or I would be charged every few minutes. You can bet I will be on the phone with AT&T in the morning!

AT&T reduced my bill from $535 to $344. Still more than I wanted to pay, but at least they gave me a credit. I've read on this thread and some others of all the "work arounds" to use a phone without edge, but in my opinion - It is an Apple, iPhone problem. If I go to settings, I can turn off/on Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Airplane mode.....Why can't we shut off Edge? Other data phones have that option, why not the iPhone?

 

[diamond.g]

AT&T reduced my bill from $535 to $344. Still more than I wanted to pay, but at least they gave me a credit. I've read on this thread and some others of all the "work arounds" to use a phone without edge, but in my opinion - It is an Apple, iPhone problem. If I go to settings, I can turn off/on Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Airplane mode.....Why can't we shut off Edge? Other data phones have that option, why not the iPhone?

Blasphemer!! You shalt not speak ill of thine iPhone. Seriously though, yeah it would be nice to be able to turn off Edge/GPRS. Shoot it would be nice to get a warning that the phone is about to access those services while roaming (giving you the change of canceling). I am sure Apple will hear our cries (or that of the news hint hint) and fix this issue in a future update.

 

[whooleytoo]

It's stories like this that make me so wary of network providers.

In my own (non iPhone) experience:

I once bought a (non 3G, GPRS I assume) phone from one of the network's own stores, and noticed the connection speeds were quite slow. It wasn't until I received the first bill that I realised the phone had been set up to dial a Swiss number for Internet access, so all data connections were international calls.

On another occasion, I signed up for a TV-on-mobile service, supposedly 20 euros per month which included the content & connection charges. But, when I received my next bill, it was 299 euros (normally about 50).

 

[ciscokidd]

first iPhone bill $565!!

i just received my bill earlier today and it was an outstanding $565.06..

Usage Charges $496.31

i know exactly what happened after my horrible experience getting an iphone on its debut, i was unsuccessful getting my phone to activate due to a migrate problem from the old att to the 'new' att.. anyway long story short, the data plan didn't get attached when my phone service was activated do i spent about a week browsing the web and using the edge of course. then i realized my texts weren't getting responded to and i wasn't receiving any either. after another call to customer service they said i had no data plan.. so they add it. from then on all of my kilobyte usage was for the flat monthly rate (prorated 4 days)

anyway i just gave them a call and it sounded like i was going to get the full 496.31 credited. the lady said she had to fill out a form and submit it to a different department. anyway we'll see in a few days - i have a good feeling

 

[Jeef690]

My bill was close to 400 as well, however I did not travel internationally and thus can not understand why the bill was so high.

 

[ecks618]

Am I the only one whose bill got lower due to the iPhone. They guy even told me that I was getting a discounted plan when I called up att to ask about my plan and noticed it was cheaper than my blackberry.

With the $20 less on the blackberry plan and savings on the plan price, my bill is about $40 less than it usually was.

 

[Toasties]

Hmm - you could either get a Macbook Pro or pay for your iPhone bill...

 

[TurboSC]

From BroadbandReports.com

http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/The-3000-iPhone-Bill-86241

The $3,000 iPhone Bill
Where's the $70 international plan Blackberry users get?
01:38PM Tuesday Jul 31 2007 by Karl
tags: wireless prices business AT&T

AT&T has a $70 plan for BlackBerry customers that offers unlimited data throughout the world, but iPhone customers get no such plan. They're instead charged by the KB when they wander internationally, which adds up quickly if you're traveling abroad and not paying attention. A user writes to Boing Boing to note he suddenly found himself with a $3,000 data bill:
"Billing phone reps offered me a $400 'courtesy credit' on the $3000 charge if I would agree to sign up for a $300 per year international data plan with a max of 20MB per month. (I'm not planning any international travel for a while anyway, but 20MB would be burned in a day or two of average use - they must be kidding.) I have until August 14th to resolve this or all my family's phones (including my wife's business line) get disconnected. Obviously, there's no way I can pay $3000 for something so egregiously wrong."
He wants the same $70 usage plan Blackberry users get to be offered to everyone and applied retroactively to his mammoth bill.

Update: Looks like the guy in question has received a full refund from AT&T, with an apology for any "miscommunication."

I went over and called att about it and they gave me 40 dollars credit off the 50 dollar overage charge so I guess they are trying to keep iPhone users happy heh

 

[sprague]

Even with a $500 bill, I'm still happy!

I just wanted to set the record straight. I am not an iPhone basher. I think the iPhone is an amazing piece of technology and I really feel blessed to have one - I purchased one for my wife also. Regarding my other posts on this thread...yes, I think having a way to shut the edge data off may have been overlooked, and maybe we will see an update in the future. But, for anyone considering getting the iPhone I have two things to say: First, If you plan to travel outside of the US, then be aware of the roaming charges, and what needs to be done to avoid them. Second, its an amazing device that you will not regret purchasing. I have owned Motorola and Blackberry phones, and after using them for years, I either couldn't figure out how things worked, or it was too complicated to get things to work. With the iPhone, I figured out how to use all the features within an hour, and I still continue to use all of them.

 

[kdarling]

If I go to settings, I can turn off/on Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Airplane mode.....Why can't we shut off Edge? Other data phones have that option, why not the iPhone?

It's funny how much is made of the voicemail software, which is handy. Why don't other companies do that, we ask. But you know, even nicer (for these charging situations) would be to have a running $amount totalizer screen.

Sure, you can call and get a total that's days behind. Very similar to the way old voice mail worked. But geez...

Of course, phone companies won't give you a running total, since it would make people more careful

Same reason many casinos don't have clocks.

 

[seafurydriver]

This is a huge problem for AT&T (and Apple) and will definately hurt them with business customers, whom they seem very interested in signing up. Currently I'm in China with my iphone in "airplane" mode, but it's been on for the last ten days. Of course I thought I was being careful by not making many calls and not browsing web sites, but if you have the phone on, as I have so that I can receive calls, then there is no way to turn off EDGE to keep emails from downloading. Last month I was in Italy for a short week and I see online that my data usage bill for that is over $500. I expect this China trip will probably be $1000. I'm a big fan of the iphone, and was planning to equip all our engineers with them, but until this is fixed my iphone experiment for business use is officially over.