The $85,000 bill from Bell
So some poor sap thought he had an unlimited data plan from Bell Mobility. He plugs his laptop into his phone to use it as a wireless modem, and begins downloading like mad.
Then the bill arrives. SURPRISE! It’s $85,000.
In what Bell Mobility calls a “goodwill” gesture, it offered to reduce the charges to match the best data plan available for using cellphones as a modem, according to Bell spokesman Mark Langton. He said the outstanding bill now totals $3,243.
I guess he should thank Bell for the break. In an interesting example of burying the point, the article closes with:
The Bell spokesman declined to say how much the data usage by Mr. Staniaszek really costs the company, citing competitive reasons.
They won’t even tease us with a ballpark figure. We know it’s not FREE, but what is a reasonable charge?
High cell phone data transfer costs in Canada are a rip off. And Rogers, Telus and Bell all need a serious dose of outside competition to keep them honest.
Ian
December 13, 2007 @ 9:07 am
it doesnt cost $85000, but its certainly not cheap. Wireless data usage on a cell phone is quite a bit more pricey than your land based highspeed counterpart. I think its pure consumer ignorance that this fool is trying to blame bell for this. Customers these days fail to realize they DO have a measure of responsibility of knowing what they have…he had unlimited MOBILE data usage, once he started using his cell phone as a modem he traversed into a totaly different realm…if he knows HOW to use his phone as a modem, he damn well knows it costs more…idiot.
Mike Klassen
December 13, 2007 @ 9:21 am
Yup. This guy should probably pay the three grand for his wireless access. That’s a good lesson. But there’s no denying that Canadians are overpaying for this service when compared to international rates (EU, Japan, USA, etc.).
Mr. Foo
December 13, 2007 @ 9:54 am
How is using your cell-phone as a modem connected to your laptop any different from surfing directly on it? Either way, you connect to the network, and data goes back and forth. It just happens faster when it’s a computer doing the requesting than your fingers.
Without knowing the details of the contract, it’s hard to know if Bell has a leg to stand on. Unless they specifically say you can’t use it attached to a computer, then his usage pattern is totally acceptable.
If the plan says unlimited, but there’s fine print that says, well, not unlimited, just some limit that we’re not going to tell you clearly, I suspect Bell will be in trouble as well.
This is just a case of a powerful corporation making a mistake in their marketing/promotion, getting out-foxed by some consumer, and then trying to weasel their way out of their commitment.