Meet Piotr Staniaszek, a 22-year-old oil-field worker from Calgary -- also the man with the bedazing $85,000 mobile phone bill. Staniaszek thought he could use his new phone as a modem for his computer under his $10 unlimited mobile browser plan from Bell Mobility. He was right and wrong -- right about the technical specs (the phone could be used as a modem indeed), wrong about the corresponding rates and charges.
Uninformed
Thinking an earlier bill of $65,000 was just a mistake, Staniaszek spoke to Bell Mobility only to realize that the bill had already upped by almost $20,000.
He said he normally paid about $150 a month for his phone and used to be notified of high charges.
"The thing is, they've cut my phone off for being like $100 over."
"Here, I'm $85,000 over and nobody bothered to give me a call and tell me what was going on."
"I told them I wasn't aware I would be charged for hooking up my phone to the computer. I'm going to try and fight it, because I didn't know about the extra charges."
Bell Mobility said they would lower the bill to $3,243 in a "goodwill gesture" to match the best data plan available for using mobile phones as a modem, the Globe and Mail reported.
How's that for the real need to be not only tech-savvy -- to be a vigilant consumer as well.
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