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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  • 66 Posted by den_lhll on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:41PM EDT Report Abuse

    with att what do you expect,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

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

    I am with cellone just bought by AT&T, I surely hope they dont change my plan. I've been with them for ten years and they have never done me wrong.I use a Blackberry Pearl and dont care for the over priced iPhone...

  • 68 Posted by tineshea on Thu Sep 3, 2009 10:10PM EDT Report Abuse

    I am so sick of people standing in line for hours (or days)to purchase the "latest" in technology only to whine and complain about it for the next 6 months. Why on earth would you buy a product that has only been tested under "ideal" circumstance with no real-world data to back the product up? Example...the home gaming systems...people waited in line forever only to get a piece of overpriced equipment that causes their whole neighborhood to blackout if it overheats, in which case you just wasted a few hundred bucks on junk that you have to wait until enough people complain about the same situation thatyou have unfortuantely experienced then wait until the makers can come up with a way to fix it, etc. It is absolutely ridiculous how fickle people can be. This is the very reason I didn't jump on the iPhone bandwagon. My suggestion...let the product permeate the market at least 6 to 12 months and see what it really entails before quitting your job so you can stand in line for 3 days so you can be the first on the block to say, "I just got the latest and greatest," only to be outraged that it is not at all what you expected.

  • 69 Posted by bcweir on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:03PM EDT Report Abuse

    But...but.. he became RICH so that he wouldn't HAVE to THINK anymore! Thinking is too much like manual labor for these people. They leave the thinking to their valets, chauffeurs, maids, personal assistants. Why strain THEIR brain when they have bought and paid for someone else's?

  • 71 Posted by chicagolimodriver on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:23PM EDT Report Abuse

    First off AT&T also known as americas telephone terrorists have found new ways to sucker the public into surrendering there paychecks to a company who is in the top five out of ten list of non-customer friendly service companys and inching there way to the top. Years ago i used to have americas telephone terrorist as my provider. I signed up for what was there regional plan or so i thought, went to california ,in the u.s.aand somehow they switch ed to a local calling planand neglcted to tell me or even ask me. How thoughtful of them.When i returned from l.a.my first bill was 650.00, second 825.00, third 1000.00.I call customer service and the game begins . They threatened me with collections , they harrased me with calls to pay , everytime i called up i got a different moron to talk to. After 6 months of this battle i had to contact an attorney who investigated this problem and found out i was 1 of 950 people who were currently filing a class action law suit against at&t wireless for changing their plans without there consent and forceing them to pay or go to collections or even get sued for the money. In the end att settled the suit out of court and out of public eye and every body named in the suit got ther bills credited and put back where on the plan that they had bought. They gave me back 2700.00 plus payed my attorney 1500.00, and once the check claesred bye bye att and good ridance! On international calling, verizon just came out with a phone that works here and in europ, also t-mobile has decent internation prices from what i have been told.My boss goes has family there abd calls here from their to check up on me from time to time and its cheaper to have him call me than me call him. I have u.s. cellular and i'm happy.I used to have nextheck together with shintto serve you better and i would drop 1 out of 5 calls , no service bad connection , and there answer was get a new phone. I said i've got one better how about a new carrier! SEE YA! Now i have made over 1000 plus calls and i have dropped maybe 5 or even 6 and thats acceptable because unless you a satalite phone you will drop a call from time to time. Basically buyer beware before you sign on the dotted line and do your homework especially if you go out of the country. Good luck getting that bill reduced because att is worse now than before!

  • 72 Posted by makeulaugh72 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 7:04PM EDT Report Abuse

    i will just stick to the basic plans and save all that big money for my mustang!

  • 73 Posted by i3ull24 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:22PM EDT Report Abuse

    cant the guy juast get an unlimited data plan?

  • 74 Posted by commodude90 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:28PM EDT Report Abuse

    Just the fact after scanning the replies and seeing the number of double entries or more posted to this comment site, proves how a little technology can be taken for granted. How many times did they hit the post comment button or was it a site error? What if AT+T were charging you for it? 1MB web pages, I believe it. Remember when Steve Jobs for Apple said you'd never need a hard drive bigger than 100mb? We all know the answer to that.Back then (80's) programmers had to write tighter programs because of memory restrictions. Now with the corporate push to get to applications to market while still relevant in today's fast paced markets, their left sloppy and fat and full of bugs that consume the huge amount of memory available in todays computers. Planned obsolesence.

  • 75 Posted by gusjrcgl on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:14PM EDT Report Abuse

    Gees if your going on vacation common sense would dictate that you leave your stupid cell at home,and enjoy your self. Of course any body that has an ipod has no sense at all,duh.

  • 76 Posted by poolmanmike1967 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 8:16PM EDT Report Abuse

    There's a sucker born every minute.Do some caculating on that!And business' like AT&T are very aware of that fact.Yo people,wake up and smell reality!

  • 77 Posted by beth82292 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:05PM EDT Report Abuse

    If you want the technology, you have to pay for technology. I think it is a kick in the you know what that this bill was waived for this dult who didn't "realize" he was going to be charged like this. Come on!! Leave a note with your agenda at home with a neighbor or a loved one next to your iPhone, cell phone, palm pilot, laptop, whatever and go ENJOY YOUR VACATION. Nothing is so urgent that you won't be able to get to a phone (they actually have them in other places besides belt loops and pocketbooks) and by they way - the evening news is still on TV in the evening! Go figure!

  • 78 Posted by carl_ivar on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:18PM EDT Report Abuse

    What web page is 1 megabyte? Example please?

  • 79 Posted by jtleeis on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:43PM EDT Report Abuse

    why use the phone if you are overseas. $3,000.00 !!!! my God in Heaven. What happened in using a computer or going to a internet cafe? or pulling out your lap top, if you have one..?

  • 80 Posted by k.j.ferguson@sbcglobal.net on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:45PM EDT Report Abuse

    If you do need to be conected by Voice just get a STAT Phone. yea cost $1.50 (or more) per min but also you can get a dile tone any where, not cheep but you will not need a cell tower near.

  • 81 Posted by extruba on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:57PM EDT Report Abuse

    When I travel overseas, I'll leave my IPhone home. I also have a TMobile account that doesn't even charge roaming when in Europe.

  • 82 Posted by here_now11 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:18PM EDT Report Abuse

    boo hoo hoo.I live in florida and used t mobile...went to north carolina for a month well between te raoming charged and overage i had a 2000 dollar phone bill.at least the guy got to see europe

  • 83 Posted by laurentboye on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:57PM EDT Report Abuse

    M my partner with his Blackberry ends up with the same type of bill, when he travels to Europe or Asia. What you can do, is to stop the automated email update, by going to settings and choose the 'Manual Auto-Check' (with the internet cafe or Wifi spots, you could check easily for a cheap amount of money or even for free at free Wifi spots) Refrain the use of Safari and Maps.

  • 84 Posted by neilandcrystal04 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 7:35PM EDT Report Abuse

    As many cell phone company's nowadays there are hidden fees and you only know about it when you get your expensive bill and decide to not just run and pay it but to get on your celly and call customer service. Maybe 5 out of 10 times your concern will be addressed and problem solved.

  • 85 Posted by mastersypro on Thu Sep 3, 2009 7:10PM EDT Report Abuse

    Unless its a buisness phone, why wouldnt you just go to an internet cafe for the the same info at a cheaper price.

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