Aid Worker in Haiti Racks up $35,000 Phone Bill With T-Mobile

by Amar Toor on October 16, 2010 at 03:00 PM

When 27-year-old Kerfye Pierre returned home to the U.S. after volunteering in earthquake-ravaged Haiti, she returned to the open arms of her friends and family -- and a $35,000 phone bill from T-Mobile.

In the aftermath of the devastating Haiti earthquake, T-Mobile offered all American aid workers a temporary free voice plan, so that they could communicate without worrying about racking up significant charges. As Pierre understood it, the phone plan would allow her to use every feature of her phone with financial impunity. As CNN explains, however, the plan apparently applied only to voice calls -- not to the SMS and Facebook messages that Pierre sent to her worried family back in the States. The texts and messages soon piled up, and eventually culminated in the $35,000 bill that the aid worker found upon her arrival home.

"I would be OK to pay for it if everything was disclosed, and I knew upfront that, if I used this part of the service [data and texts], I would be charged," she says. "But I did not know." T-Mobile, for its part, insists that most customers in Haiti are well aware that the free plan pertains only to voice calls. The company did agree to cover part of Pierre's debt, although it still wants about $5,000 from her.

Hope for similarly befuddled cell-phone users, however, may be on the horizon. This week, the FCC is discussing new regulations to clamp down on the so-called "bill shock" that many customers experience due to hidden charges or unanticipated fees. Among the rules under consideration is one that would force cell-phone companies to alert customers whenever their bills escalate precipitously. This would allow users to limit Internet or text message use before things get out of hand.

This kind of transparency, of course, should always be welcomed in any market -- and especially one as notoriously opaque as the mobile-phone market. Sure, customers should also be expected to stay on top of their data plans, and familiarize themselves with the terms of their mobile contracts. But, sometimes, we all have more important things to worry about -- like saving lives in Haiti.

Tags: cellphone, charge, DataPlan, FCC, haiti, HaitiAid, HaitiEarthquake, money, PhoneCall, plan, Texting, TMobile, top

via: Textually.org
source: CNN

Comments

mairondilOct 16th 2010 3:36PM

Neutral

This kind of happened to me. I have T-mobile, 1 cell phone and the @Home service (T-mobile's version of Vonage). Kid dropped the home phone in the toilet, so I pulled the SIM card out of the @Home router and put it in an old cell phone. Used it for 2 months before I noticed the bill. Every call made and received on the cell phone with the @Home SIM card was charged. When I called them they said that SIM card is only for the @Home service because it's VOIP. They worked out payment arrangements for my $280 overage, though some kind of credit would have been nice.

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Mike ZachaczewskiOct 16th 2010 5:08PM

Neutral

Yes I agree with FCC. There should be new regulations governing hidden charges and unticipated fees. Mobile phone network shoulds alert customers with escalading bills to avoid this kind of incident. I think this would solve problems like this one.

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NemephosisOct 16th 2010 6:08PM

Neutral

@mikezaha I think "Not being stupid" would solve the problem. If they explicitly stated "free voice plan" then what's the confusion? That doesn't mean "free text: or "free internet", it means free voice. If they DID specify it, I think she should have to pay the full amount.

And if you're ever in doubt about anything like that? Don't assume it, ask it. It even says right here: "T-Mobile offered all American aid workers a temporary free voice plan". Not "free everything plan". She should have to pay it.

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Mike ZachaczewskiOct 17th 2010 4:11PM

Neutral

@(Unverified)
hey dude, will this hurt the telecom company, i guess not! consider this just a value added service.... a plus point to the telecom company.

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sandfarmerOct 16th 2010 10:28PM

Neutral

TMobile knew exactly what they were doing and probably hoped that this would happen. All big business, especially the telcos, jump at profiting on disaster. I'm not surprised at all. Hopefully they will get theirs with this new legislation.

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