pissed off

[icecreamman2]

so heres the deal i live in california and recently updated to a 3g. i currently have the basic 70$ plan because really i cant afford otherwise. i barely txt and try to only use wifi. seing as it was my birthday over the weekend my family decided to fly me over to canada where im originally from. wile i was there i tried not to use the phone because i know id have to pay out the ass. we all went on a road trip that was about 5 hours the whole time i hooked up a plug from my iphone to the car to listen to music. next day i get a call from AT&T telling me that iv had weird activity on my phone. not knowing wtf they are talking about i ask like what. " well it seems you have a 650$ data charge to your account" aparently since my iphone was plugged into the car it counted as internet use... i still dont understand how that works and im no tech genius. i spent forever on the phone with them. does this seem fair that i now have a 740$ bill??????

[aenti]

It wasn't because your phone was plugged into the car, it was because your phone was connected to the internet.
The iPhone is always connected to the internet, 24/7. In order to prevent this while out of the country, you would have to select "data roaming" to off. Unfortunately, that is how it works and you will have to pay the bill.

[kisstine]

Honestly, I'd keep trying to get it waived or at least reduced. They waive charges all the time, especially if you have been a customer for a while and always pay your bill on time. Call customer service. If the first person you talk with "can't" do anything, ask to speak with a manager. Any reduction at all will be better than having to pay the whole thing, seems worth an effort to me.

[jarofclay73]

Yeah, AT&T has helped out people when they go over their minutes and get charged up the yin yang - even after the fact. So, if you can't get your way, rant and rave until you do. SOMEONE will relent.

And that just goes to show - Canada is EVIL. :laugh2: Naw, just kidding! It's so cute when you say "aboot" instead of "about." :smile:

[icecreamman2]

It wasn't because your phone was plugged into the car, it was because your phone was connected to the internet.
The iPhone is always connected to the internet, 24/7. In order to prevent this while out of the country, you would have to select "data roaming" to off. Unfortunately, that is how it works and you will have to pay the bill.

this is what got me confused. data roaming was always off!!!! i only turned it on when i needed to check my e-maills then i would turn it off imediatly. im back on thephone with them i need some sort of refund.

[aenti]

Turning it on:
Data supplied to:
stocks
weather
email
etc. You must have checked your email, alot? Mind elaborating?

BTW- when you turned off data roaming, you were not connected to ANY internet, correct (edge/3g)? I really need to know the answer to this one, mainly because I will be in Canada myself.

[icecreamman2]

Turning it on:
Data supplied to:
stocks
weather
email
etc. You must have checked your email, alot? Mind elaborating?

BTW- when you turned off data roaming, you were not connected to ANY internet, correct (edge/3g)? I really need to know the answer to this one, mainly because I will be in Canada myself.

when data roaming was off i wasnt connected to any edge or 3g service. didnt check my email that often and when i did i tried to make it wifi.i dont understand how it was connected to the internet. i think im going to get half off the bill but i still think its unfair.

[Swagger]

I wish you luck with AT&T. Even when people were being charged for the same mistake, when the iPhone first came out. AT&T took a pretty firm stance that the customer owed the bill. AT&T may have given a little reduction in the bill, but most was still due.

When traveling abroad, or near the southern or northern border. The best thing to do is leave the iPhone at home or take the sim card out until you need to use it, then immediately remove it again...Mark

[aenti]

Or put it in airplane mode.
Youngbinks just put the phone in Data Roaming off and wasnt charged any extra data fees, so I am not sure what the hell is going on.

[hiya1987]

i personally think you should kick up the biggest fuss until you get it reduced or taken off its a bloody joke but knowing how greedy networks are i wish you good luck

[theevilone]

att never gave me a break on a $700 bill. that's when I went to tmo. $50 no contract.

[Swagger]

The way the iPhone has been working (or not working) lately. I wouldn't rely on the phone to turn off anything. I would make sure, by removing the sim card, as I stated before. AT&T is serious about collecting their money...Mark

BTW: It took me like 12 mins to type this on the iPhone. The lag and freezing is back...Mark

[icecreamman2]

well I have been on the phone all day. I remembered when I plugged it in to my iPhone it sayd to reduce frequency put the phone in airplane mode so I don't see how I got stuck with a data fee. I definitly would of givin up after the fifth hour lmao but I just can't afford to shell out 740$ for a stupid phone bill. They finally knocked off half of the bill even though that still a lot of money it's better than nothing. Next time il just pop out the sim card until I need to make a call.

[TangoTango]

we all went on a road trip that was about 5 hours the whole time i hooked up a plug from my iphone to the car to listen to music.


How exactly were you listening to the music?

Were you using Pandora, or AOL radio ?

Did you set the phone to "Data Roaming - Off" or "Airplane Mode" before you started listening to the music?

Let us know all the details so we can hopefully find out how this all came about. Or aboot. :laugh2:

[Kevio]

Ouch...I would be fuming right now if I were you. I don't really have any advice for you other than to plead with them to lower the charge. As most people have already said though, they are a business...and business's like to collect.

[icecreamman2]

I'm real angry but there not going any lower than half. To answer the other question I was just a plug my sister gave me. On top of that it was real ****ty quality. It plugged into the bottom of the iPhone then I had to tune the radio to a special channel to listen.

[mlass]

Just the short time you turned it on is what cost you. I heard it's like $15 a megabite. So just a few minutes here and there can add up. People have had bills for $1500, $6000, and even $20000.

[quillhill]

I'm real angry but there not going any lower than half. To answer the other question I was just a plug my sister gave me. On top of that it was real ****ty quality. It plugged into the bottom of the iPhone then I had to tune the radio to a special channel to listen.

Wait, you used an FM transmitter to play music from your iPhone over a car stereo?

I'm pretty sure that does not use data at all. Now if you were streaming music over the phone, then yes, but just playing your music from your iPhone over an FM transmitter doesn't use network data.

Let me tell you, though, checking your e-mail on the iPhone uses a hell of a lot of data. I have a BlackBerry, too, and I use about 10MB a month getting my e-mail on that and we're talking about 100 e-mail daily. On the iPhone I use about 40 to 50MB of data a month.

I also wasn't aware that the iPhone is pulling data 24/7. If I don't check my e-mail or use any other services that connect to the data network then it won't use any data at all. If that were the case I'd use far more than 40 to 50MB a month just using the iPhone a few days a week.

International data is expensive, period, I know. About two years ago a 10 day trip to Germany with my BB cost an extra $300.

Sounds like you'll just have to pay it but next time get a pre-paid phone when you go to Canada and leave the iPhone at home.

[icecreamman2]

I was just using an fm transmitter that's what it is. After that I didn't use any data like email