iPhone 3g outrageous international data and voice

[alfredolira]

This is Outrageous. AT&T Called me Sept. 19 to advise my iPhone service would be cancelled. They are trying to collect $10,000 because the 3G was ROAMING Data in the background ONE day in Frankfurt Germany, 480MB they say.
After 4 HOURS in the phone today (landline) with mutliple customer service agents, a family ready to go on Prozac because of the anxiety caused by this issue, and much heartburn on myself, I am without service and with a Billing Problem that AT&T does not want to take responsibility for.

I swear to GOD, I did not use such amount of Braodband and I certainly can not afford to pay such large sum just because AT&T says so; fine print or not, this is plain burglary!

AT&T customer services blames the iPhone 3G as a device which constantly "in the Background retrieves data from the network", in other words, the data and broadband was not a direct request of me, the consumer, and therefore not a practical application or service rendered, if in fact the 3G pulled such large amount of data as AT&T claims it did.

If someone have had this problem, of hidden, surprise, OUTRAGEOUS charges, and know a way to resolve, please advise. The AT&T customer service people on the telephone have no authority to investigate and clarify. They cannot offer proof of what are 480MB consisting of, and simply demmand immediate payment if marginally reducing the amount on the spot.

What an intimidating group of people at AT&T. I really hope someone in AT&T would look at these cases and realize how illogical and senseless it is to follow this inpersonal, irrational, unethical billing practice.
I hope somebody in AT&T, or in the legal world, can help me out of this!

A. Lira
Dallas Texas

[jacobjester]

You need to go straight to the top. Forget about the customer service reps, they cannot and will not help you.

I suggest writing a letter or email to the VP who is responsible for this sort of thing at AT&T Mobility. That should be the thing that gets the ball rolling quicker than anything else.

Hope you get this resolved.

[Youngbinks]

I can't possibly imagine racking up 480 MB of data in one day if it was just used in the background. Check your usage statistics and see how much data it says has been used.

[Ohmster]

I had a similar situation about 3 years ago with a relatively large and unexpected international bill. My mother-in-law was making calls like she was still at home! Anyway, I calmly explained the situation to a customer rep who couldn't do anything so I asked to speak to a manager. Told them the situation and they figured out a way to put me on the cheapest rate, back adjusted it, and then added some more discounts. In the end, my 1.5k bill ended up being 200.

[MileHighRob]

I had a similar situation about 3 years ago with a relatively large and unexpected international bill. My mother-in-law was making calls like she was still at home! Anyway, I calmly explained the situation to a customer rep who couldn't do anything so I asked to speak to a manager. Told them the situation and they figured out a way to put me on the cheapest rate, back adjusted it, and then added some more discounts. In the end, my 1.5k bill ended up being 200.
BINGO... the key to getting things resolved is often remaining calm and being polite.

[icecreamman2]

i got a 1000$ bill with my 3g when i went out of the country... i kept telling people to put there boss on the phone. before i sayd one word i would always say calmly i am not hanging up this phone until you reduce the bill and they did by quite a bit.. you just have to be persistent...

[Kaitlyn2004]

I'm going to be going to scotland and not planning to use my cell network, but will want to use it to play games,e tc. and use wifi.

I have data roaming turned off, but I'm just paranoid that something will go wrong!

[icecreamman2]

I'm going to be going to scotland and not planning to use my cell network, but will want to use it to play games,e tc. and use wifi.

I have data roaming turned off, but I'm just paranoid that something will go wrong!

i had data roaming off aswell. honestly if you want wifi and games your best bet is to take out the sim card and put it into a different phone just to be safe...

[Kaitlyn2004]

i had data roaming off aswell. honestly if you want wifi and games your best bet is to take out the sim card and put it into a different phone just to be safe...

the phone doesn't work without sim in does it?

[ravman]

There is an arbitration section on the AT&T website that you should complete and submit. It simply takes your case and bypasses those incompetent customer service reps and takes your case to the top. If AT&T cannot help you, then you have the option of taking your case to small claims court and AT&T will foot the entire bill. AT&T will not want to have the case go to court and will try and resolve it in house. This is the only way I have ever managed to get someone at AT&T to wake up and listen to my issue.

If AT&T cannot prove what you did with those 480 megs, then it won't stand up in court.

I suggest you do the same. Find the form on their site, and submit it. You should hear back very quickly.

[icecreamman2]

the phone doesn't work without sim in does it?

everything works exept for 3g and edge and the phone..... i highly sugest you do this...

[Mr Hyde]

Was data roaming on the phone turned off? Please let us know how this situation gets resolved. Unless you were tethering to a laptop, that much data use has to be an error

[ron ll]

I went to Canada on a boat trip for a couple of weeks. Beforehand I called AT&T and set up an international plan that I thought would help. It STILL cost me well over $100 to use the phone for a total of about 5 minutes and the bill and charges were very hard to understand. When calling them, it got even more confusing and they told me that I should continue the international plan for another month "just in case the Canada bills don't come in the first month". I not-so-politely declined. The were bull-headed to deal with and I believe they deliberately set up their billing systems to be confusing.

My advice; if you are leaving the country, leave your iPhone at home. It just isn't worth the hassle. And it WILL be a hassle.

[Youngbinks]

I've used the International Voice plan with AT&T several times while traveling overseas as well as on cruises in the Caribbean and have never had an issue. I made sure that I turned off the Data Roaming and used the phone as I would otherwise and incurred no overage charges and the bill was actually cheaper than I had expected because in some places the "per-minute" usage was less than I thought.

I do believe that in this case there is an error as racking up 480 MB in one day seems far fetched, unless the phone was tethered or this was over the course of several days.

[OJsakila]

It seems like that before leaving the US to go on a trip to accross Europe, you might check with your carrier about what to expect..... Plus, this is not something new..

[carrera.owner]

taking out the sim seems extreme. Couldn't one simply switching over to Airplane mode to solve the whole roaming issue? And with 2.1, one would still be able to use wifi (by turning it on after switching over the airplane mode). Or am I missing something? (My interest is real as I will be out of the country for 6-wks.)

[MileHighRob]

taking out the sim seems extreme. Couldn't one simply switching over to Airplane mode to solve the whole roaming issue? And with 2.1, one would still be able to use wifi (by turning it on after switching over the airplane mode). Or am I missing something? (My interest is real as I will be out of the country for 6-wks.)
Yes, you can use Airplane Mode and Wi-Fi together.

[Kaitlyn2004]

didn't know you could combine wifi on and airplane mode, thanks!

[MileHighRob]

didn't know you could combine wifi on and airplane mode, thanks!
You're welcome... I discovered that recently; not sure if it is new with 2.1 or not.

[barbie]

I used airplane mode on and wi fi on before the update. If I were going out of the country I would also turn off all the location fuctions, 3g, push etc just incase I accidently got off airplane mode

[alfredolira]

This is Outrageous. AT&T Called me Sept. 19 to advise my iPhone service would be cancelled. They are trying to collect $10,000 because the 3G was ROAMING Data in the background ONE day in Frankfurt Germany, 480MB they say.
After 4 HOURS in the phone today (landline) with mutliple customer service agents, a family ready to go on Prozac because of the anxiety caused by this issue, and much heartburn on myself, I am without service and with a Billing Problem that AT&T does not want to take responsibility for.

I swear to GOD, I did not use such amount of Braodband and I certainly can not afford to pay such large sum just because AT&T says so; fine print or not, this is plain burglary!

AT&T customer services blames the iPhone 3G as a device which constantly "in the Background retrieves data from the network", in other words, the data and broadband was not a direct request of me, the consumer, and therefore not a practical application or service rendered, if in fact the 3G pulled such large amount of data as AT&T claims it did.

If someone have had this problem, of hidden, surprise, OUTRAGEOUS charges, and know a way to resolve, please advise. The AT&T customer service people on the telephone have no authority to investigate and clarify. They cannot offer proof of what are 480MB consisting of, and simply demmand immediate payment if marginally reducing the amount on the spot.

What an intimidating group of people at AT&T. I really hope someone in AT&T would look at these cases and realize how illogical and senseless it is to follow this inpersonal, irrational, unethical billing practice.
I hope somebody in AT&T, or in the legal world, can help me out of this!

A. Lira
Dallas Texas


I have also compalined at the FCC.gov website. Form 2000 B.. Still AT&T insists to charge $20/MB of 500+MB, and will not listen I DID NOT USE THOSE, nor can they explain WHERE or HOW where those 500= MB dispensed / used etc.

[OJsakila]

I have also compalined at the FCC.gov website. Form 2000 B.. Still AT&T insists to charge $20/MB of 500+MB, and will not listen I DID NOT USE THOSE, nor can they explain WHERE or HOW where those 500= MB dispensed / used etc.


Next time I'll bet you make sure to ask your carrier what to expect when YOU LEAVE THE COUNTRY.

I definatley feel for you but isn't the service you buy just for the US? It's not world-wide unless you purchase that particular plan, right? What did you think was going to happen?

[ciro]

This is Outrageous. AT&T Called me Sept. 19 to advise my iPhone service would be cancelled. They are trying to collect $10,000 because the 3G was ROAMING Data in the background ONE day in Frankfurt Germany, 480MB they say.
After 4 HOURS in the phone today (landline) with mutliple customer service agents, a family ready to go on Prozac because of the anxiety caused by this issue, and much heartburn on myself, I am without service and with a Billing Problem that AT&T does not want to take responsibility for.

I swear to GOD, I did not use such amount of Braodband and I certainly can not afford to pay such large sum just because AT&T says so; fine print or not, this is plain burglary!

AT&T customer services blames the iPhone 3G as a device which constantly "in the Background retrieves data from the network", in other words, the data and broadband was not a direct request of me, the consumer, and therefore not a practical application or service rendered, if in fact the 3G pulled such large amount of data as AT&T claims it did.

If someone have had this problem, of hidden, surprise, OUTRAGEOUS charges, and know a way to resolve, please advise. The AT&T customer service people on the telephone have no authority to investigate and clarify. They cannot offer proof of what are 480MB consisting of, and simply demmand immediate payment if marginally reducing the amount on the spot.

What an intimidating group of people at AT&T. I really hope someone in AT&T would look at these cases and realize how illogical and senseless it is to follow this inpersonal, irrational, unethical billing practice.
I hope somebody in AT&T, or in the legal world, can help me out of this!

A. Lira
Dallas Texas


I'm having a similar problem with my iPhone 3G. Fortunately it is an iPhone purchased in Paris with a prepaid acc. so I've not spent more than a few bucks so far.

What I noticed is that my credit is consummed without my interference.
I've switched everything off: data roaming, automatic time adjustment,
3G, email accounts (one by one to be sure), etc.
My credit is still disappearing without explanation.
I tried to change the sim card, using another sim with other number (all of the french operator Orange) and the situation is the same. The credit disappears when the iPhone is on.

Any suggestion?

Ciro