International iPhoning Results in $3,000 Bill

Wed Aug 1, 2007 8:28AM EDT

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It was only going to be a matter of time before something like this happened. Someone decided to take their iPhone on a little jaunt to Europe, where he says he underwent "sporadic AT&T EDGE network usage off and on mixed with wifi when available." The bill waiting for him when he got home: three grand. (And I bet it was 40 pages long, too.)

Dave Stolte is hardly alone in the annals of absurd, accidental overseas charges, but as more and more people start traveling abroad with their iPhones, cases like this are going to become a lot more common, and fast. The iPhone is a chatty little device, constantly checking the network and calling home to the mothership, and iPhone users quickly get spoiled on its nifty data features, using them constantly to check the web, watch videos, etc. (In fairness: You do have to call AT&T first and ask for international roaming to be unlocked for this to work at all.)

Those little charges add up fast. $0.02 per kilobyte sounds pretty cheap, right? WRONG. Do the math: A 1-megabyte web page (a very common size) costs almost twenty bucks to open. 20. Dollars. Whoa. Seriously. (Thanks to Portfolio for helping out with our collective multiplication, and noting that there are various rate plans available, going down to $.005 per KB, which would still be about $5 per megabyte.)

So what do you need to do if you're going abroad with your iPhone? Portfolio suggests the same thing I do: Sign up for an affordable international voice plan but disable the data plan altogether. You can still use data services over Wi-Fi, which is free. The inconvenience of not being able to check Google Maps when you're away from a hotspot is nothing compared to a multi-thousand dollar data bill. When you get home, just turn your data services back on.

Stolte's story has a happy ending. After wide online publicity, AT&T agreed to waive the charges. As the first to report such a problem, he's the lucky one. But I doubt the next 10,000 or so people to fall into this predicament will find AT&T so accommodating. Don't become one of them. 

LINK: ATT + iPhone int'l. roaming data horror story: $3K bill 

Comments on International iPhoning Results in $3,000 Bill

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  • 6 Posted by czechmama on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:33PM EDT Report Abuse

    What other phone, and plans did you compair it to?????????

  • 7 Posted by p3dcrane on Thu Sep 3, 2009 7:48PM EDT Report Abuse

    Even if he was using 3G he would have still had a 3K bill.

  • 8 Posted by kdurrah1 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:48PM EDT Report Abuse

    Hey!! If you gonna use the iphone....its a good idea to read the fine print first. That was the customers 3k mistake. Next time read the "terms" OK!

  • 9 Posted by commorancy on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:28PM EDT Report Abuse

    It's probably cheaper not to bring your iPhone overseas and, instead, go to a dealer once you get there and purchase a prepaid phone. Purchasing a prepaid phone there would definitely be less then $3k and probably less than even the most conservative roaming charges. Of course, it won't be an "iPhone", but at least you'll be able to make calls and possibly surf depending on the phone. Just be sure to use up the minutes before you get back. There's really no excuse for Mr. Stolte's circumstance anyway. Usage charges always bite you from wireless services. It doesn't matter if it's $300, $3000 or $30000, the problem still exists and the charge would have been excessive anyway. Mr. Stolte was rather ignorant to think it would only be $100. The one and only thing that Mr. Stolte had in his favor was AT&T's lack of letting him track usage. That issue alone is probably his only saving grace from being saddled with that $3000 bill. Of course, if it happens again, there's no excuse.

  • 10 Posted by declantynan on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:40PM EDT Report Abuse

    thanks for the warning, iphone is just about to come out in ireland, will put this on the radar of the phone regulator

  • 11 Posted by peter_zarand on Thu Sep 3, 2009 8:08PM EDT Report Abuse

    When I traveled in Europe for a month I paid ~20 extra on my regular bill for an unlimited international T-mobile data plan. Worked perfectly....

  • 13 Posted by aafatkid on Thu Sep 3, 2009 2:43PM EDT Report Abuse

    haha AT & T service plan is awesome and the iphone is great technology, not really...

  • 14 Posted by balinton69 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:01PM EDT Report Abuse

    Who is dumb enough to use their cell phone overseas without checking the charges first? When I was sent to Kuwait a couple years ago, I checked the charges which ended up being $2.49 per minute. I only used the cell during extreme home sickness.

  • 15 Posted by mcmillonmail on Thu Sep 3, 2009 7:13PM EDT Report Abuse

    As much as I love Apple...and I do. I will never purchase one if I have to have at&t as my provider

  • 16 Posted by katienightowl2001 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:47PM EDT Report Abuse

    Great information, many don't realize how this little conviences add up. Awesome story.

  • 17 Posted by joedy.martell on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:38PM EDT Report Abuse

    Stupid IPhone + Stupid user + $600 WASTE OF MONEY = Non educated consumerism

  • 18 Posted by ugyan2 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 10:27PM EDT Report Abuse

    Dave Stolte sounds like the kind of guy who might buy a used car right off of the lot. Or take his car in for repairs with the instuctions, "Just fix whatever needs fixing!" Where I come from, we refer to people like that as morons.

  • 19 Posted by koffeebrown03 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:53PM EDT Report Abuse

    ha ha ha!!! Thats why I have helio. It's on a 3g network and I pay $65 a month. Great great investment because everything else is free except your daytime minutes. n

  • 20 Posted by pena82@verizon.net on Thu Sep 3, 2009 8:06PM EDT Report Abuse

    To michael_w_anderson, there are no roaming charges on att only if you go out of the U.S. and any U.S carrier used overseas will cost you a fortune. THE!!!! let me guess u went to verizon, good for u. try using ur unlocked phone (TDMA/CDMA) Phone overseas, O u cant. 90% of the world is on GSM. and no i dont work for them. i just know if u go overseas or any place in the world ur better off having a GSM phone.

  • 21 Posted by smarie82181 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 9:28PM EDT Report Abuse

    This happened to me years ago with AT&T. Don't even bother taking your phone overseas...

  • 22 Posted by beautiful_disaster_562 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:04PM EDT Report Abuse

    How about if you have a laptop which I'm sure many of us do then take it with you and use it to email home instead of ending up with a 3k bill. Can you say moron. Well I guess if he was stupid enough to buy the darn thing for the amount he paid for it he would be able to pay the bill.

  • 23 Posted by beautiful_disaster_562 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:04PM EDT Report Abuse

    How about if you have a laptop which I'm sure many of us do then take it with you and use it to email home instead of ending up with a 3k bill. Can you say moron. Well I guess if he was stupid enough to buy the darn thing for the amount he paid for it he would be able to pay the bill.

  • 24 Posted by beautiful_disaster_562 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:04PM EDT Report Abuse

    How about if you have a laptop which I'm sure many of us do then take it with you and use it to email home instead of ending up with a 3k bill. Can you say moron. Well I guess if he was stupid enough to buy the darn thing for the amount he paid for it he would be able to pay the bill.

  • 25 Posted by beautiful_disaster_562 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:04PM EDT Report Abuse

    How about if you have a laptop which I'm sure many of us do then take it with you and use it to email home instead of ending up with a 3k bill. Can you say moron. Well I guess if he was stupid enough to buy the darn thing for the amount he paid for it he would be able to pay the bill.

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