My 9yr old son took my version phone and charged over $1000.00 in games, music.movie trailers and crap. When I called verison to explain what had happened I was told tuff. He didn't know what he was doing cost money. I now have boost mobil and version can hold there breath waiting for their money.

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I am also with AT&T when we got a really high cellphone bill my grandmother questioned it and I informed her that we were charged international rates for calls to and from Canada ( that makes sense since Canada is not part of the United States) and she made the person who made those international calls pay for them. Last time I looked all cellphone companies have a different charge for calling Canada which for those of you complaining is an international call ( puerto rico is part of the US so it is a domestic call per ATT). It also pays that I paid attention to my father when I was old enough to sign things on my own legally....READ EVERYTHING AND IF YOU ARE HURRIED TO SIGN TELL THEM NOT TILL YOU READ EVERY LINE AND WORD!!!!!!!

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Does it really cost AT&T THAT much more for international service? Or is it just jacked up because AT&T realizes most people don't know it's gonna be that much more so use it freely.

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So it's ATT's fault because this family failed to read the contract?

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this is another good reason why I don't have a cell phone

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Sounds like a bit of a mess on everyone's part. Personally, I have had nothing but problems with AT&T, they are almost unreachable by phone, and if you are travelling and don't have your bill with you, or know your account number, they won't discuss anything with you, won't even tell you what you owe so you can pay them. Plus their ad reps are reprehensible, lying and altering contracts because the consumer has no recourse. Were the company to fold tomorrow, I would be singing at their grave!

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I hate wireless companies. When I used to get them for my company they would hike up rates just because. Imagine how far my company would get if I charged fees like that. I believe in customer satisfaction that is good enuff for me. I told ATT they needed to see how I run my construction company I will teach them how to treat valued customers that supply a living for you. I hate also geting on the phone with a rep and they speak almost no english omg!!! I get so mad, I am already mad because of a false charge then I get more mad when Mohammad get on the phone and sound like he just steped off a home-made raft UGH!!!!!!!!

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Just like Tracy said," It's the customers responsibility to know the cost before using the service." That's plain and simple.

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After dealing with ATT, I switched to Magic Jack for all my home phone needs. It costs only $20.00 a year ! The initial start up cost is a total of $46.90, which covers phone service for one year, the actual Magic Jack hardware, and shipping costs.
No more monthly phone charges - I pay $20.00 a YEAR for phone service.
It took a total of about 3 minutes to hook up the Magic Jack and start making and receiving phone calls.

Forget dealing with ATT and use Magic Jack - that's the way to make the big companies understand that we don't have to be screwed by them.
I've had Magic Jack now for two months, and I love it !!!
Try their website - www.MagicJack.com

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I had T-mobile and took my phone on vacation to jamaica with me and left it in my room just in case there was a emergency with my elderly mother and someone needed to reach me, I left the phone on the charger and accidently left it on. Meanwhile my number got on some siding companies direct dialing hell computer, I never answered the phone but recieved a bill for about 600 dollars for 1 minute phone calls they said I answered while on vacation from this damn computer that kept dialing me. Needless to say I had to pay the bill and now I know to never ever give your phone number to anyone but family, dont give it to contractors etc. they sell it to other companies and god forbid do not use the direct debit from your account to pay your bills as they will take from your account whatever they say you owe which may overdraw your account then you really have fun trying to fix that mess too. This took me 6 months to repair all the damage this did to me. I no longer have t mobile but sprint isnt any better, so I dont know what the answer is.

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Credit cards alert you when there is more activity going on then the norm incase it was stolen,why not AT&T? I would have reported my phone stolen then..assholes

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AT&T is horrible when it comes to security! I was an AT&T customer until February 2008.. I received a bill for $2704.00 and no one from AT&T could give an explanation as to what happened. They tried to tell me that my child was using the game on her cell phone and the game uses the internet. So, all the charges were data charges..Once, I talk to their IT department he advised that the games on the cell phone does not use the internet in order to play them. I advised several reps. that there was suppose to be a block for the internet for 2 of the lines on my account. They could not tell me how or why the block was taken off. I asked the AT&T rep why I was not notified about this bill once it hit $300.00 I was told that AT&T does not notify their customers and they did not have a plan in place to notify their customers. I was also told it was my responsibility to check my account frequently. I believe AT&T needs to put their customers first and not send them bogus bills! It does not take much effort or time to notify their customers about high than normal usage on the account. It more time and effort for me to get my account credited than it would for them to notify me of the problem.

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We had the same thing happen to us, but fortunately, not to the same degree. We have a wireless card and thought we were paying for wireless service via a monthly charge wherever we went.
We went to Mexico and used the computer for stupid things like googling things we saw, sending pictures, etc. Just more out of boredom than anything else.
We were shocked by the $300 bill we got when we got home. We have Verizon and they were pretty nice about it since it was a first offense. They dropped it by half. We learned the hard way.
Definitely, there should be an alert when you are using your wireless service when it is "out of range" the first time you use it so you are aware that you are paying international rates.
If we had known, we would not have used the computer at all.

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When ATT or other provders sell you this tech. they sould have large warning lables to alert you. Instead they sell features that encourage the use to bill you. Of course Tracey (The Author) works for firms and will back the large corporate attitude. Remember when advertisers had to pay for the TV we watched?
Getting soved in in both ends these days. The consumer needs much better protection.

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There should be some sort of computer based alert for roaming charges. I would imagine that our technology has come far enough for this to be thought of by our large technology companies. As a cell phone user and parent of a college age adult child, I recommend that all parents check what their worst case senario charges will be based on where they might be traveling. Consumers need to head their responsibility in being responsible consumers. We can't allow all the responsibility to rest on the service providers. Always question.

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When I was a teenager, I babysat for my sister. She would tell me all the time, "You can call Lesa anytime you want to. Just pick up the phone and call." Well, hell, I did. But it was long distance, and I had absolutely no concept of long distance charges. At home there was one phone... on the kitchen wall. And we kids were hardly allowed to use it. So... one day, my sister's phone bill was $50 bucks because of my "call Lesa anytime" calls. Back then, $50 bucks was like $500, and man, the sh*t hit the fan when the bill came. Needless to say I learned an expensive lesson. But this is nearly impossible to do by accident today.

The AT&T Aircard should have had the specific exclusions printed on the back. Probably in fine print... you know... that stuff that bites you in the ass every time. It must have been included in the disclaimer information which accompanied the card. So now, Daddy lets the whole family use the Aircard, and blames AT&T when his son runs up the bill to $20k. The dad is entirely responsible for this mess, and he should have to pay the bill. It was his responsibility to find out if the card covered International use. That's common sense, as well as business sense.

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Don't misunderstand because I HATE ATT. That said and while I feel for this family, ATT is like any business and they're business is to make a profit. Morally speaking, yes they should have an agreed limit point when they'd alert the user. From a business point of view, why should they? ATT should cut the bill to actual cost and write the rest off and they have the ability if they have the heart. The flip side; If they cut the bill this time then another will come along then another. Where would they draw the line? If you spent your last $10 on gas but absentmindley filled up, would you expect the gas station to let you have the difference and leave? Sorry but if you use, you pay. I'm intererested to see how this case ends.

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This is why I like Verizon. They send me a text when it looks like things are getting out of hand and offer me another type of service to assist with the cost. My company offers a discount with at&t but I just can't let go of the company that lets me know if I need to change something.

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AT@T SUCKS NO 3G IN THIS AREA THAT IS WHY I WORK FOR SPRINT BEST COMPANY IN THE WORLS

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