Comments on: Stolen cellphone rings up $24,000 charge!

By: FIlip Piatrou

FIlip Piatrou — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 19:56:37 +0000

Use the pin code and block the cell phone the same day it is stolen.
How hard is that?

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By: Suspicious

Suspicious — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 06:44:26 +0000

Having been a Bell mobility representative, I'm confused as to how exactly this can occur, since out of country cellular service has to be activated by the customer through a call to Bell's customer service centre. I don't doubt what this young man is claiming but unless he had activated the "overseas" calling on this line, the phone should not have been able to make calls while out of the country. Either way billing discrepancies with Bell are a nightmare to resolve, as the majority of their customer service representatives are there only to service the company's interest and not the consumers. This case illustrates this perfectly, the phone was reported stolen, but Bell still managed to bill an additional $11,000 (or 3,151 minutes of airtime) on top of the original $13,000 (or 3,749 minutes of airtime, which is 62.5 hours). Ridiculous, considering the average cellular plan has approximately 200-500 minutes per month. You'd think that maybe this kind of use should trigger some suspicion at Bell's end.

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By: Bob Knob

Bob Knob — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 07:58:14 +0000

Peru.

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By: toyandme

toyandme — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 12:57:07 +0000

This astronomical bill, AGAIN, is entirely the fault of Bell. They should have a cap on all accounts except those foolish enough not to have one. Caps and anti-fraud measures have been all over the place forever. About 10 years ago a friend of mine in the state of Maine in the US got a call from his cell provider asking him if he had been in California the day before making lots of phone calls to Hong Kong. He said no! Their system had flagged this unusual activity. They informed him that his phone had been cloned and used illegally. They blocked the line, gave him a new phone number and it never cost him an extra penny.

The same goes with stolen credit cards. Anything unusual and they call you but Bell, which has already many ways to enforce caps, goes out of its way to leave you exposed as they themselves rake in huge profits from these scams except that in this case it has turned into another Public Relations disaster.

This once again shows that we need more regulation and more competition in this country. Next time you look for a contract, ask for protective caps.

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By: criminalogic

criminalogic — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 00:13:43 +0000

OOh sorry he was sticking to tha story it was stolin..

still who would not contact some one to report a phone stolin? on a monthly term at that? no way! prepaid Maybe! 4real he could call anyone to add tha blocks from day one..

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By: criminalogic

criminalogic — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 00:06:16 +0000

well im not one to side wit telcomms but come on now… how did this happin? they don't charge for being located internationaly.. what are tha charges for? if his phone placed a call or accessed data on its own I can't see it staying connected long enuff to do that damage.. I meen get real.. post tha kids bill you'll probly see him calling his buddys etc tha whole while plotting some BS to feed bell apon his return.. no way bell should wave tha charges.. who doesn't check there phone constantly ?? especially at 18? come on now.. but for real id like to see tha bill//usage.. its not hard to confirm fraud or accidental usage.. I deal wit it daily as a CSR.. and this don't seem it… good for bell if they make him pay! just feel bad cause you know mommy and daddy will be tha one to foot tha charges! I agree though High Usage Teams should act quicker or telcomms should put High Usage in check.. cell bills shouldn't be able to jump that High with out flags poping up!

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