Going on a cruise? Make sure to turn your phone off.

[Corinacakes]

If i were you, i'd just pay the $280 bucks ($355-$75 credit offered) and mark it up to "lesson learned". it's going to cost a HELLA lot more than that in ETF's for your phone, your mom's phone and whoever else you have on your line. sprint would treat you exactly the same way and probably not even offer the $75 credit.

@ mikes - just because his mom didn't know or he didn't know or whoever didn't know...doesn't make the smartphone "not for him". he learned a lesson and he's still upset about it and venting. i'd do the same thing and appreciate that he warned us considering it would have NEVER crossed my mind. i guess i shouldn't own a smartphone eh? whatever, i just think you were a little bit hard on the guy.

now kiss and make up!!! :rofl3:

 

[hookbill]

I know this is long after the fact, but in the last 2 weeks we got our first smart phones (Moto Droid for my wife and HTC Incredible for me). The documentation with the Motorola is almost non-existant, and the HTC is a little better. To suggest anyone without considerable exposure to such devices would think of this in advance is absurd. In the past phones much simpler came with a CD tutorial. These much more complex devices do not even have a website reference for a tutorial.

Sounds like class action material to me. Even if the Verizon agreement mentions roaming charges, Verizon is clearly negligent in not providing a source to identify how one can determine if the services are being accessed. If they provide a website or other means for training and you choose not to consult it, then the charge is valid.

I think I'd consider a small claims suit.

Well, it's your first post so I'll give you the benefit of the doubt but a class action law suit? That requires others to get on board, finding an attorney who would take the case and believe me, if there was a case it would have been brought up long before this thread arrived, and then the realization that the only one who really wins in a class action law suit are the attorneys.

Other comments may follow, please be civil people.

 

[hookbill]

now kiss and make up!!! :rofl3:

That's your solution for everything.

 

[aminaked]

This technology is so powerful, and it can cost you. Just like when people started using email they had to learn not to open strange attachments. It's like there should be a mandatory drivers ed/health ed class for this stuff but instead of teaching you to stay on the right side of the road or use a condom, they teach you how technology and corporations/hackers can screw you.

But the teaching is left to an unmotivated store rep. Kids, teach your parents well.

 

[snappingfish]

ever felt WRONG?

it was not something that was initiated by the user....I have 3 Droid Eris for sale, all in great shape. I just need to cover the $600 or so in ETFs.

That's a good idea, since smartphones obviously aren't for you.

See, with a smartphone, any number of applications can use the data connection at any time. Gmail does this, email does this, if you leave the web browser pointing to Google, that will do it too. And that's just the built in apps. There are settings which control that, too (background data and auto-sync).

So, the phones and applications are made for "always connected" use - they are expected to make data connections without being "initiated by the user."

Since you don't want that, you shouldn't have a smartphone, or you should learn enough about them that you understand how to control the features.

Verizon knows this will happen! A bunch of rancid bean-counters that cackle and spit everytime they can squeeze a dime out of an unsuspecting consumer. Everyone knows that VZW is NOTORIOUS for sending small data packs to phones-you think I'm making this up?

Look at HUSTLE after bean-counting HUSTLE . I read Pogue discussing how Verizon (and perhaps other carriers) send out tiny data packs to any phone on their system, under the guise of 'informing' you about a payment, an app, a service, many other 'guises.' Pogue then datermined that at the cost of xxx kB of data, rounded up to the nearest mB (1 megabite minimum) @ $2.99 per, to every one of the 86.6 MILLION customers that VZW claims to have on plans, that would come to about $258,934,000. Thats right! One data burst to every customer, followed by a 'disregard-our mistake' data pack, (for yet ANOTHER $258,934,000) and pretty soon yer talkin' about some REAL $$$!

Now, Verizon claims to have 86.6 mil customers, but if only 10% have 'smart phones' the that would cut the amount from $500 MM to only about $50 MM.

So, every time I see Verizon whining about ANYTHING, it gets flushed-immediately!

And just because a Verizon fanboy thinks you should not own a smartphone, its just a plot to get you to sign your life further into debt. Its called reverse psychology. And its too deep for the rep to understand, so its written on a play card, from which they read.

MORE

 

[soops]

cehammond..agree & disagree. Agreed with the part that there is hardly a tutorial how to disable roaming, though can be found online. however, do not agree with your statement that as customers we are not aware of roaming charges. Even in the days of startec for me there were always additional charges incurred associated with roaming, stated on the website or new contract signed.

 

[brochaos]

there we go. you guys were being a little harsh, yes his mom could have known more, but phone companies (not just verizon) go out of their way to charge you as much as they can, and tell you as little as possible about what is going on.

this is actually something that will be going before congress, IIRC. why on earth would someone who pays $80 a month or whatever want to have a $500 phone bill? obviously something is amiss, the person isn't aware, etc. why not send a little txt message (which they grossly overcharge for) saying "hey your data charges are now at $50/$75/$100 etc. Please call customer service if there is a problem". hell they spam me with enough other txt messages asking me to upgrade this and that. but never when it comes to spending TOO MUCH money.

 

[JCo352]

It's all your fault. You shouldn't own a smartphone. How could you not know this would happen?....See how ridiculous that sounds? In reality, real people think 'ok I won't use my phone, so I won't get charged'. Now if she went on the cruise and went data crazy, that might be a different story. I think it's a little ridiculous that Verizon won't work with you, they could at least cut the extra charges in half. I would be calling back, and talking to a supervisor.

 

[leprophotography]

Here's the story...

I have my mom on our plan and got her an Eris a while back. Last month I sent her and an aunt on a cruise to the Caribean. Never heard from my mom once, she never posted on her FB, no emails, calls, nothing. No problem. When she got back she reported that her phone never worked (as far as signal) while she was gone. Still, no problem and expected behavior.

Yesterday I log on to my Verizon account and see that next months bill is $618. WTF? Looking further I see that her line was billed $355 for roaming data charges while on the cruise. This I assume is a mistake and after confirming from my mom that she used the phone as nothing more than a time piece while on the cruise, I call Verizon to quickly take care of the issue.

This is where it all goes a bit wrong. The CS agent on the phone refuses to believe that the phone wasn't used and that these are valid charges. The most she could offer would be a $75 credit. Now, I am not one to ever claim entitlement, but this is ridiculous. I have been a customer for about 10 years, never late, spend way too much for service anyhow and yet I am still going to be charged for something that wasn't used?

I have been pretty loyal to Verizon and use every service they currently offer. That is all about to change however. The only way I will pay that bill is with an addition ETF and porting the numbers to another provider.

Couple questions... Anyone know a voice of reason who can actually take care of this issue?

Anyone have any experience with Sprint? That EVO looks pretty good and this may just be the push I needed to leave Big Red.

I've gone through a similar problem with Verizon.

Initially, my old phone got the data plan. Once I switched over to different phone, I even personally called the Verizon's customer support twice asked, is my data plan still the same. They said yes. A month later, my bill was over $400. I was like WTF was going on, called the customer support again. Those idiots refused to credit me back. At the end, I had to pay for that amount. Now, I am switching to Sprint and getting a HTC EVO 4G. Good bye Verizon......

 

[swaldrop]

cehammond..agree & disagree. Agreed with the part that there is hardly a tutorial how to disable roaming, though can be found online. however, do not agree with your statement that as customers we are not aware of roaming charges. Even in the days of startec for me there were always additional charges incurred associated with roaming, stated on the website or new contract signed.

Right. If the phone was consciously used. I think the gray area here is whether people should know by default that the phone is in use regardless if you are using it.

 

[vthokies1996]

Even with a old "dumb" phone, one without a data package, wouldn't there still be roaming charges, especially when outside of the US?

 

[swaldrop]

Even with a old "dumb" phone, one without a data package, wouldn't there still be roaming charges, especially when outside of the US?

No, not unless a call or network connection was physically made.

 

[snappingfish]

matter of intent

Even with a old "dumb" phone, one without a data package, wouldn't there still be roaming charges, especially when outside of the US?

No, not unless a call or network connection was physically made.

Unless a customer MEANS to run up a bill, I think VZW should be looking at a damaging class-action, for unscrupulous practices, and maybe even an 'uninformed knowledge' damages and punitive action.

Don't argue over the 'uninformed knowledge' bit, becuase it happens frequently. It means, even if a pro sits down with you to explain something to you, at the end, you say "well, they ried to explain it, but I just didn't understand' ... happens frequently in Real Estate litigation, contractual litigation, and this would be a prime poster-child for such an action.

 

[aminaked]

From the recent $18000 article:

The FCC is also accepting comments from the public, consumer groups, and industry specialists about outrageously high wireless cellphone bills as it considers increased industry regulation. One possibility is a rule similar to one enacted last June by the European Union that requires wireless providers to send a text message to users if they are about to incur expensive roaming charges or are nearing their data-usage limit for a particular month.

Let's all send the FCC a comment and make this happen!

The 45 comment period started May 11. Here's the FCC announcement:

http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q...fqVUze&sig=AHIEtbTattR8jTij-jHe2j2i8eNm94cgBQ

Information on how to submit a comment:

http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/consumerfacts/howtocomment.html

Just started a thread on this here: http://www.droidforums.net/forum/dr...ments-fcc-anti-bill-shock-policy-act-now.html

 

[ptfd13]

Ok take your money to another carrier and if the same thing happens you will be told the same thing. If you can't use the phone turn it off. Plain and simple.