Keeping your kids busy watching online movies while on vacation might seem like a good idea until you get home and open your $10,000 phone bill.
That's exactly what happened to John Gibson of Weyburn, Saskatechwan, Canada, who recently gathered up the clan and escaped the harsh winter of the plains for a little sun and fun in Phoenix.
Gibson's son and grandkids brought along a laptop and a mobile stick that connected them to their online provider, SaskTel. While the kids were enjoying films like Skrek and Spiderman via Netflix, they didn't realize it was costing them hundreds – even thousands of dollars – per movie.
"They'd watch a movie in the afternoon and I saw them doing it and never gave it a second thought," Gibson told CBC News. Perhaps he should have. Since Phoenix was way out of Gibson's service area – and across an international border, to boot – the data charge was more than $10,600. "And I went, 'Good lord'," he said. "Old guys like me just aren't up to speed on technology."
SaskTel reduced Gibson's charge by $1,000, but he's still on the hook for $9,600. Gibson called it a "valuable lesson."
It's just the latest example of bill shock that's made headlines around the world. Many consumers have gone toe-to-toe with their service providers over extreme charges stemming from a failure to read the fine print. It's led to bad PR for the carriers and embarrassment for customers, many of whom blame their provider for their own ignorance. Major carriers in the U.S. recently agreed to notify when they are approaching their allotted number of voice minutes, texts or data thresholds. They're also supposed to send customers a text message if they're incurring hefty roaming charges. While they're simply non-binding guidelines in America, the European Union has imposed similar regulations that can lead to fines for carriers across the Atlantic.
