Bell Mobility Presents Calgary Cell Phone User with Bill for $85,000

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Bell Mobility Presents Calgary Cell Phone User with Bill for $85,000

7:00 am on December 13, 2007 | Category: Telecom Services, Wireless, Cell Phones

We’ve all heard stories about Canada’s comparatively high wireless voice and data rates, but one Calgary man got more than he bargained for this month, in the form of an $85,000 cell phone bill.

Motorola KRZR user, Piotr Staniaszek, was billed $65,000 by Bell Mobility for November, and had apparently run up an additional $20,000 in charges by the time he contacted the carrier several days ago.

“I didn’t know what to think. I thought there was probably a mistake,” the 22-year-old oil-field worker said of the hefty bill.

Staniaszek had apparently been using his phone to connect his computer to the internet, downloading files wirelessly for several weeks. He had assumed that such use was covered under his $10-a-month mobile browsing plan.

“What happened is that the client used the cellphone as a modem linking it directly to the computer and downloading huge files, … high-res movies for instance,” explained Bell Mobility spokesman, Jaques Bouchard, who noted that bills this large are extremely rare.

Bell has agreed to adjust the bill as “a measure of goodwill,” but Staniaszek will still owe the carrier more than $5,000. He still intends to challenge this, claiming that he usually pays around $150 per month for wireless service.

“The thing is, they’ve cut my phone off for being like $100 over. Here, I’m $85,000 over and nobody bothered to give me a call and tell me what was going on,” Staniaszek explained. “I told them I wasn’t aware that I would be charged for hooking up my phone to the computer. I’m going to try and fight it, because I didn’t know about the extra charges. Nobody explained any of this to me.”

Bouchard responded by saying that Bell is unable to monitor the activities and costs of every one of its customers on a day-by-day basis.

19 Comments »

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Hey man, you have my sympathy. That’s absurd that they normally tell you when you go over 100$ but let it go for 85k. It’s *their* responsibility to monitor your charges and notify you.

Good luck

Comment by Lefty — December 13, 2007 #
I question how anyone downloading movies would not be aware of limits. It’s no different than with your high-speed internet on your home computer. There are limits. Who would honestly believe that they could go download crazy for $10/month? You don’t get something for nothing. He thought he could manipulate the system.

I disagree that he bears no responsibility because the company did not advise him. He needed to read his contract - caveat emptor. I believe Bell’s discounting his bill down to $5,000 is more than reasonable. And an expensive lesson learned for him.

$80,000 worth of download translates to a fair # of movies. Anyone policing copyright infringement should be asking which site was he downloading from? Napster-type? And what is he doing with the movies after downloading?

Bottom line: He’s an adult. Clearly technically savvy enough to know how to use his phone to download to his computer. Anyone familiar with downloading knows about band usage. Bell should check his downloading activities and turn his bill over for collections.

And no, I don’t work for the cell industry. I’m just tired of customers feigning ignorance, crying foul and playing victim when they’re caught trying to get something for nothing. Anyone wanting a company to monitor his charges and advise him clearly still needs his mother. Do you want Big Brother monitoring you? I know I don’t.

Comment by Susan — December 14, 2007 #
Greedy BELL! It really sucks!

Comment by eguitarca — December 14, 2007 #
Honestly this doesn’t surprise me coming from Bell. Although, this should never have happened. Have you ever had to phone Bell customer service? They must patch you through directly to another country because EVERY SINGLE BLOODY TIME I’ve phoned to ask anything from the simplest question to a more complex request I have had to explain it 5 or more times because they don’t seem to understand English very well.

SHAME ON BELL!!!

Comment by Jukson Kwon — December 14, 2007 #
I’m definitely thinking of switching… thats for sure!!!!!

Comment by Jukson Kwon — December 14, 2007 #
No Surprise at all, I am also Sick and tired of Bell. I have very bad experience with their guys too. From the lady who told me they don’t have service on my building, the other one who put a phone line with out me asking for it,and sending me a bill in french when i dont even know a single word in french to a service that is really poor 400kb/s when i am subscribing for total internet performance(upto 7mb/s) and tech support who don’t solve your issues but just keep on telling you it will be resolved in so an so hours. As one of you put it they dont seem to understand english or may be they don’t care.

Comment by Lik — December 15, 2007 #
I can’t believe that someone named susan actually agreed with the cell phone company. This is ridiculous and the cell phone company should be ashamed of themselves.

Comment by Kirk — December 15, 2007 #
I just switched to Bell in Calgary last week after >10 years with Telus. I was also told that with the addition of the $20 fun bundle plan (over and above my monthly plan) that I would have “unlimited internet”

Since hearing the 85k story, I have now asked at 2 mall Bell Kiosks to ask what this means. Both the sales reps reponsed are very vague.

I was told that anything I “download” will incur additional charges, as long as I just surf the net, there will be no additional charges.

Isn’t everything I surf “downloaded” to my phone? how does bell differentiate between streaming audio and music downloads? or was this guy downloading from the premium bell movie/music sites?

bottom line = it is not fair to be charged for any additional charges if I AM NOT TOLD ABOUT IT. I expect my provider to indicate “this action will incur additional charges” then I am absloutely responsible for costs I incur.

Comment by Martin — December 15, 2007 #
I’ll admit it, I’m not Bell’s biggest fan.
Oct. 2006 I got charged almost $30,000 for exactly the same thing — Bell, Calgary and using my phone as a modem — on a student plan. No warning… no sympathy. The plan advertized “free unlimited internet”, no footnote, and by mistake I wasn’t given a contract to sign, but Bell tried to hold me to a “spoken agreement”. I got off the hook only after 9 months of negotiations and the help of the Alberta Government Consumer Services (thanks guys). At that time Bell just got a warning because they couldn’t prove if it was Bell’s fault or if the phone retailer misled me with misinformation. They obviously didn’t learn… I did some simple math and determined that the rate they were chrging me at was 11000% more than the Shaw cable I had available to me in the basement at the time (calulated per MB).

Comment by Elias — December 16, 2007 #
I consulted to Bell and I think Susan drank the coolaid too.

Comment by Robert — December 18, 2007 #
Yes Susan, caveat emptor, but $85,000 for 4 weeks of internet access. Nobody would ever willingly pay more than about $200 for the service he received. Bell could easily notify any customer, or stop the connection, at some pre-defined limit. They don’t do this because they want to trick people as much as possible.

Comment by Michael — December 22, 2007 #
“I believe Bell’s discounting his bill down to $5,000 is more than reasonable.” - Susan

You are either insane or you work for the company if you think that $5,000 is a reasonable price for downloading information for a month.

I would like to see you pay that much for a little bandwidth let alone the $85,000 they originally charged him.

Comment by Grasshopper — January 2, 2008 #
I wish I had seen this before- I tried the connection for 20 minutes last month… just got a $550 bill. Is this how Bell generates revenue now? trickery? There has to be a law on the books somewhere about reasonable warning before a major purchase. What about buyers remorse legislation?

Comment by Mike — January 23, 2008 #
i totally agree wit susan and think the rest of you are jus plain out ignorant.. hes not a kid.. he obviously kne what he was doin…. downloadin movies like that is illegal in the first place.. so hes doin something illegal.. when you sign up for a phone they give you a contract maybe you should read the contract before doin anything..

Comment by Natasha — March 13, 2008 #
Wow! Now I don’t feel so bad. I was angry about my $1700 bill but now I see that is pales in comparison to the dude in Calgary. And, as far as that goes, even $5,000 is too much. And I will explain why.

Bell Mobility or other Telecom carriers, like many large companies, have terms of service that are usually dozens of pages, written in language unfamiliar to common folk (non-lawyers) and using definitions that we do not find in the common lexicon. Because we, the customers, are asked to sign a document in order to receive service, the Terms of Service are then viewed as contractual law. Unless we, the customers, are also lawyers, the scope of understanding that a lay-person would have of that contract is limited at best. Who does the burden of understanding fall upon? Does it rest on the company making practices that are clear, defined and understood by the majority of their customers, or does that responsibility lie with us? The company, whether it is a telecom company or otherwise has the means and the resources of a legal team. I, on the other hand, in my day to day life have no such legal resource to review contracts that I sign. I really need to explore the legal definition of duress, because perhaps it applies here.

In other words, does signing my name on the dotted line make that company’s Terms of Service practicable law? And, if so, do I then need a lawyer to acquire the services of a telecom company?

In our current society we are bombarded by a variety of terms of service or service contracts. So many, in fact, that I have often wondered if anyone actually reads each and every one? These contracts are often forced in some way. For example, software cannot be downloaded unless you agree to the terms of service (thereby contracting you), signing up for websites, contests, etc. all ask that you read the terms of service. The other type of service agreement is one that is implicit. For example, by using the service you are agreeing to its terms. You are not actually ever asked to agree, but by using the service you must adhere to their policies. All of which, use legal language to convey their meaning.

We have tens of thousands of rules we must abide by in our society, of which, I estimate we only actually understand less than 5%. Does caveat emptor still apply in today’s society? Can it? Are they just using it against us?

To top it all off, one of the most common clauses in all of these agreements is that they are allowed to change the rules, when they see fit.

We operate daily on a faith system with these contracts. We sign our names and hope nothing goes wrong. When something does, these companies are fully able to say that we have agreed to their services. We live in a “gotcha-in-the-fine-print” kind of world. We seem to think that is perfectly acceptable to live this way. We usually concede that this business practice is fair.

When we walk in and ask a service clerk what does the service mean, they are also not lawyers and often reply using as friendly language as possible in order to achieve the sale.

In the circumstance of the guy who still owes $5000, I am sure the conversation with the sales person went like this.

“So, the $7.50 per month includes unlimited internet?”
“Yes, it does.”
“Great, thanks.”

Who knew? You may argue that he didn’t ask the right question. But, didn’t he? Was he aware that “internet” now means something different? Where the heck was his lawyer?

In the circumstances of all of these complaints, including my own, there is no fail safe by the company that protects the consumer. i.e. A simple text message or a phone call to inquire about unusual usage. My credit card company is fully capable of monitoring my usage. My bank is fully capable of monitoring my usage. Both have called me in unusual circumstances. Bell Mobility will text me the second my bill is overdue. It is automated. Why couldn’t Bell have contacted me or any of these people about their accounts in due time and before substantial charges were incurred? Where is their responsibility to us?

Why can’t they give us a cheat sheet of common telecom misunderstandings when we sign up? Long distance rates, bill and charges explanations, roaming rates and fees, data charges, etc.

I am tired of living in world where “it’s in the fine print so I just got screwed” and where companies think it’s perfectly legitimate to allow their fine print to dictate their business practices.

A section of the Telecomunnications Act has this to say: “27. (1) Every rate charged by a Canadian carrier for a telecommunications service shall be just and reasonable.”

I just want reason.

Comment by nova — April 14, 2008 #
I just want to share my story so we can inform more people out there who might become a victim of Bell. Im one of those people overly charged by Bell with data usages totalling almost $1000 bucks for 2 months just to make a call once in a while. I have an HTC 5800 and I only know how to use the built in cam and video and to make a call so far since I’ve only “enjoyed” it for maybe 2 weeks before learning something horrific. Now this phones shut, have it disconnected, but because of the contract, they will “officially” cut the services off in a month since Im past the billing date. Is this legal? I already paid a month advance for services I dont use. Im suppose to pay about $70/month and thats what they told me with 4 mb max usage . My first bill I didnt mind and it was $167 coz i thought theres the connection fees, etc. Then here comes my second bill, a whopping $560 dollars!!( I also have my third bill and same thing).Now,I was thinking there must be some mistake with this print on my bill! Here comes the start of my numerous calls to them to verify this. And all they keep telling me that it shows in their system that I have been using it by either downloading or using my phone as a modem. I told them HONESTLY that I have not done any of those accusations ( like DO WHAT?? I barely know how to download anything in my own computer).And even after showing my phone to the sales agent at the store to have it physically check for technical problems or settings. Now how the heck would it skyrocket to about 45 MB in 2 days before I even get to know the buttons on my phone? Finally they offered me some credit and still let me pay $100.00 for data usage. We didn’t really resolved anything here because they just advise me not to download or use my phone as a modem. Huh??? To me that was still a mystery?! How am I suppose to stop those when in fact Im not doing anything? Anyways, now that Im paranoid, I only use it to call my friend in Ontario coz she was in my Fab 5. Does somebody out there a have better explanation than those people working at Bell that I see as incompetent?! They told me when they sold me the phone , 4MB /month( about 230 emails) would be more than enough to check/send emails. And the only 2 things they can offer me right now is to increase my data usage capacity and of course pay more for it which is understandable BUT I dont NEED it I say! Why would I? I DONT USE IT. Its because I was under contract for 3 years ( big mistake )that I decided to just keep it. I dont know why they would think that I wanted to be in that same situation again?? Here’s their second option ,is to cut off my messaging/internet service but I will still have to pay $70/month! Now, wait a second, does this line sound fair to anybody? In fact, this upsets me more! This is the first time in my whole 37 years of my life that I have a problem like this that a company wouldn’t do something favorable to their customers, and to think that their clients are liars and stupid! They’re pretty close to being called “mechanical” and no one seems to have the brains to come up with answers to this problem. Otherwise, this could have been resolved the first time i talked to them. What a bunch of useless __**@#! I definitely learned a lot about Bell in a matter of days and they like to RIP people off!!
I have filed complaints against them and I still have to hear a reasonable answer from their side.

Comment by bev — May 10, 2008 #
OMG…I totally understand what most of you are talking about…BELL SUCKS, THEY DO NOT EXPLAIN ANYTHING CLEARLY AND KEEP YOU ON HOLD FOR HOURS JUST FOR 1 SIMPLE QUESTION..I’m going through the same thing. For the past month and a half I would text the BELL t-care to check the account balance and usage and I did not get a reply back, which it usually does in a few seconds with your account balance, date of your last payment and data usage, voice call usuages, etc. I just don’t understand why I DID NOT GET A TEXT BACK??? As soon as my bill nears $300, automatically I would receive a text!!! WHAT HAPPENED???? Obviously the women above are employees of “BELL”..a hand clap to you..the only one who understands the BS of BELL!

Comment by Chris — June 9, 2008 #
All of the above comments just go to show that what we need in this country is government stimulus to create more competition between wireless carriers. I, for one, will not be using Bell any time soon.

Comment by Gary — July 9, 2008 #
Looking at all these comments makes you wonder why anybody has a cellphone in the first place. Do you REALLY NEED it? Wouldn’t it be nice to walk down the street and enjoy the birds singing, or talk to a live person beside you? Wouldn’t it be nice to be free from the prying of friends to find out where you are? Wouldn’t it be nice to have $50 bucks a month to spend on your favorite hobby like music, or painting, or fishing? What is with the obsession with cell phones? Get an answering machine, plug it in at home, and pick up your messages when you get back to home base. Lovely way to live. And so much cheaper.

I may break down and get a phone for my student children…. but not sure.

Comment by Cell Phone Less — August 3, 2009 #