Florida man’s trip overseas ends in sticker shock over $143,000 phone bill

Floridian Rene Remund and his wife toured Switzerland last September. But when they got home, their cell phone bill had jumped higher than the Swiss Alps. Remund and his wife said they travel frequently and always notify their cell phone carrier before they leave the United States. In this case, Rene said he visited a T-Mobile store to share his travel plan. He's also been a T-Mobile customer for nearly 30 years. “They said you’re covered. Whatever that meant. You're covered,” Rene said.

[@ArceusRiver]

contacting the media was better than hiring the attorney

[@luiv.7550]

Technically it was his attorney who called the media so I mean I guess he did get it resolved lol

[@funwithFred]

Yes. Nowadays in situations like this, oh yes.

[@tbirdboy]

$2500 vs $143k. No brainer.

[@fashiondiva6972]

Try again🙄

[@ThatsRickyyTann]

Once the media puts it out there, attorney's will be licking their lips from all over

[@mistervo8185]

Note to self: don't call a lawyer for legal action. Call a news reporter.

[@MrMrbobo46]

Only when its a company that isnt paying or opening the News Then your on your own

[@Sara-dq3ob]

My neighbor was being overcharged rent & electricity &fees by our landlord. State notified landlord about violating TX law but landlord ignored it & continued overcharging. Neighbor contacted our local news station in TX. The station ignored his complaint and did positive story on landlord. Nothing about Tx finding landlord/property breaking law. Now the neighbor is being evicted because he couldn't pay erroneous charges. Property still breaking the law.

[@SethiozProject]

most companies are more afraid of the media than lawyers, cuz even if they lose the case and have to pay like 500k or even a million, they really don't care, they have the money, BUT if some big media group reveals their scam, they will lose hundreds of thousands of customers, which can potentially cost them millions.

[@lindamastropietro4429]

The lawyer may not have been the aggressive type that you need

[@dannydaw59]

It wouldn't hurt to try the news, but if the story isn't sensational enough, they won't cover it.

[@leadboots72]

What is criminal is we are expected to think $143k is a reasonable price for less than 10gigs of data, even with roaming charges. This is ridiculous and predatory. How is this justified?

[@grayrabbit2211]

I don't even think Inmarsat has the cajones to charge that much.

[@kaistockman6443]

Do other countries have prepaid phones? Because it would be much cheaper to just get a new phone over there each time he travels then the bill he got.

[@fixieroy]

American capitalism

[@86LukeM]

@@fixieroythey're actually owned by a German telecommunications company.

[@TheObeyMayhem]

@@newYorkStories corrupted capitalism, not capitalism.

[@mmz12]

Unless you're roaming on another planet, this just doesn't make any kind of sense.

[@Isacking97]

Really old plan, probably 20+ years old with no roaming included

[@theeraphatsunthornwit6266]

Alien wouldnt charge us that much😂

[@ThePeterDislikeShow]

@@theeraphatsunthornwit6266 Make sure to bring your patience with you. Signals take 10-15 minutes to get to Mars.

[@ChristinaMagma]

Lol true

[@rockyBalboa6699]

Even if you are roaming on another planet you can only get like 20MB data per day between Earth and other planets!

[@Voorhees-Jason]

why does it take someone calling the news for a company to do the right thing?!!?!!?!?

[@ColZep]

Because the company would prefer to sweep it under the rug so they don't have to deal with it.

[@owomushi_vr]

It's because T-Mobile is slimy never trust them . I learned years ago don't trust especially after being lied to about device contracts and wrong prices listed on phones. I am no longer with T-Mobile they can thank the short term greed that I'll never use them again.

[@RoundzMusic]

@@ColZep Imagine all the other people this has happened to that didn't get lucky finding a news station that does these kind of stories..

[@mutiur7396]

But if anyone successful, companies usually refrain from wrong doings

[@TheRobWay1]

It would have been squashed, but this cut through the 6 months of bullshit, late fees, demand letters etc. they did the right thing.

[@e.b.4506]

Those were extortion charges. No phone or data should cost that much, about $15,000.00 per gig!

[@RHpanzerstar]

Maybe his Plan is stuck in 1990😂

[@TheBulge]

​@RHpanzerstar he's been with them for 30 years so it was 100% due to an old grandfathered plan.

[@ProSePlaintiff]

Guy was still ripped off. $2500 for an attorney? To do what? He could have contacted the reporter himself with the bill.

[@jerseygirl6155]

seems like everyone thinks they need to get an attorney before realizing they can do it themselves

[@oldtwinsna8347]

Actually, $2500 is a warning sign as that is far too cheap to retain an attorney of any quality at all.

[@Im_just_super_sayin]

I hear this complaint often as a repair man. It's not about how hard the task is to perform, the homeowner do not know he he could receive results going to a reporter, which is pretty normal when thinking about potential legal issues... It's knowledge you're often paying for, so could you do it yourself? Probably but first you need to acquire the knowledge then hopefully succeed

[@ProSePlaintiff]

@@Im_just_super_sayin KZbin has videos how to repair stuff. Nobody is going to pay you for simple repairs when they are one google search away to fixing stuff.

[@ProSePlaintiff]

@@Im_just_super_sayin You must make lots of dough with just a high school diploma.

[@quadplays924]

$2500 Lawyer was useless. Tryin to mail the president of T mobile, seriously? Only took this reporter 1 phone call to make things right.

[@halberderdier8073]

So mainstream media are useful after all?

[@jetli740]

TV media have lots of power they cant piss off. with lawyer it one to one but TV you talk about millions.

[@stra2g]

The lawyer... is literally the reason this was reported on lol... come on man...

[@stoneneils]

You guys online keep proving you have literally NO IDEA how ther real world works. That comment is beyond the pale lol. I won't even bother explaining...it should be obvious to you by now. The lawyer was key, trust me. Its not like youtube where anyone can clickk and get the same result.

[@TechDogeth]

@@stoneneils That's correct, lawyer will leave a trail of paper T-Mobile cannot slither out of. Everything will be official and dated, also proving they had tried to get things corrected via the normal channels first before going to the media.

[@ccr7712]

T mobile customer service representative gave him the wrong information before he went for his trip 🤷🏼‍♂️, they need to train their customer service better.

[@JoeKyser]

I know when he got the roaming alert and enhanced charges will be assessed, he totally didnt beleive it because customer service told him different 😂

[@JoeKyser]

I beleive it

[@Eleahchris]

He didn’t give wrong information, he LIED to him. T-Mobile is sneaky like that.

[@gingercat7925]

@@Eleahchris Yeah because the fully expect some random guy to pay their $140k bill.

[@gdiup9241]

Customer service don’t care. They won’t feel it. Get it in writing. They say the call is recorded, where is the recording?

[@BUFFDgaming]

for anyone to say yeah this looks right should be punished

[@leestill3733]

😂😂😂😂😂

[@majorlagg9321]

@@techshabby0001 He's referring to the T-Mobile customer service people.

[@Hans-gb4mv]

So, what is someone at a support desk supposed to say? They don't have the power to credit something like that to the customer. They can only verify that the amount is correct according to the plan the customer has and the consumption of data. The only other thing they can do is escalate it. And this guy was lucky that he media attention helped. I once saw a 10k phone bill and the carrier was willing to credit back half the amount.

[@joanndaprile9076]

@@techshabby0001 It was said by the T-Mobile rep the man spoke to about the bill before the attorney and media got involved

[@thanosianthemadtitanic]

reminds me of the 1.4 million doller speeding ticket in georgia

[@moazfareed1409]

I made an 8 mins call to Samoa with T-Mobile, the bill came at 77$, I switched to another carrier the same day. T-Mobile’s billing is out of control.

[@ua7pyro591]

🗑️

[@luisderivas6005]

T-Mobile isn't the originating problem - It's the provider in Samoa who charges these crazy rates. Your local provider just passes their their fee on.

[@88997799]

Even roaming data of 9.5Gb shouldn’t be $143,000…. Nobody is that rich or that stupid. He should file a case for emotional distress. Sue them for $250,000

[@gingercat7925]

You watch way too much TV.

[@chuckm6274]

Oh yes data is that much. Now each carrier is different in what they charge. But on average a pay per use for min is about 2.99 a min, text is like .50 per text and data is about 2.00 per MB. Yes that is per MB. And these days it's nothing to use a MB of data.

[@jameson6537]

I agree…

[@jewelsverne9027]

@@chuckm6274 $143,000 for 9.5Gb is $15 per MB so definitely still gouged him, $13 more than your alleged average

[@eile4219]

My T-Mobile plan was free for roaming data. I was in Japan, keep using it. No charger

[@BurnzOfficial]

Should get back his money from that attorney

[@flygirlsonly]

The attorney used his connections to have his story broadcasted on the news which ultimately got T-Mobile to credit the account I think the attorney earned his pay but T-Mobile could definitely reimburse him

[@KiamKweli]

They charged that man like it's 2004 again. Insane that even a lawyer couldn't help him.

[@theflanman1986]

Criminal corporate over allowance of ridiculous fees and this is allowed. Thieves

[@bdiamond545]

😂😂😂😂😂

[@luogl]

You eat a steak at restaurant without checking for price first? Then don't be shocked when paying.

[@johnnolan5579]

@@luogl This is a case where you wouldn't know the price until you received the bill. Not the same at all.

[@TheLucidSpecter]

​@@luoglshows how little you know 😂😂

[@pearlsswine]

​@@TheLucidSpecterI know right? This guy is literally advocating for being responsible. Like, this is 2024 bruh, get with the times!

[@idkwhyiam9440]

Looks like that attorney owes the reporter $2500 lol

[@stra2g]

The attorney is the catalyst the to problem being resolved though lol. I think it's money well earned.

[@JayTee2985]

This exactly what I fear was with international roaming charges. I went to talk to a T-Mobile store employee and bought a 15GB international pass for data, calls, and texts for $50 before my trip to visit South Korea, Japan, and Vietnam.

[@darex0827]

I grabbed an orange sim in Spain for like 20 euro for 10 gigs or so. Best 20 I spent the whole trip.

[@ntatenarin]

Thanks for the tip!

[@Love2Cruise]

T-Mobile's international pass is great for me, too. I'm on an old T-Mobile plan that doesn't include international roaming. That pass is a must when I travel internationally.

[@bnkrazie]

I got the global plus plan when I traveled to the Philippines. No issues until I got home and turned it off. They removed the global plus data but didn't add my previous data. I could make and receive calls and text but no internet data.... A huge ordeal. It as great using the global data plan but I'll probably use a local esim next time. Couldn't use a local email because my phone was locked and I'm pissed off about that as well.. Strike 2 for me with T-Mobile.

[@asianstud7]

​@@Love2Cruisecurious as to what plan you are on?

[@ManachanJapan]

I had a similar issue back in 2012. I went to university in Germany and had a contract with a local mobile phone carrier. They had a monthly option to pay 10€ on top and be able to use data/texts/phone calls under the same conditions EU-wide. As I was planning a Europe trip I booked that option and on top set my roaming limit to 50€, as I was planning to travel to Moscow and St Petersburg for 4 days as well (non-EU). Back in Germany, my next bill was almost 300€. I called their hotline and was asked to send them an email and explain everything. I did, and 2 weeks later right before Christmas, I got a reply with an apology and an re-calculated bill as a PDF. I only had to pay the 50€ roaming limit in the end.

[@asherhouseman6838]

Why, in this modern age, do phone companies even charge huge, exorbitant fees for a 'roaming' calls? Sattelite communication is so connected now that all calls are just local calls anywhere in the world.

[@chuckm6274]

No, it's not. You are talking about 2 different things. Satellite is not cellular. A Sat phone can be used anywhere but are very expensive and there are not a lot of carriers for that. When you use cellular and you are in another country you are not using T-Mobile, att, or Verizon, etc. you are using that countries local carrier and that means that carrier charges your carrier to place or receive that call or text or data. Just like in the days where you were roaming if you just went out of your county, it's the same thing.

[@dan-tv1kp]

You probably mean fiber infrastructure instead of satcomm infrastructure.

[@zepplin839]

I bet this is a forgotten about grandfathered plan

[@Maik-lf5mh]

Well, if his contract is 30yrs old.. those roaming fees make sense 😂😂😂😂

[@epicpeppy2977]

Iv seen this before. I worked for a competitor. The customer came in beforehand to see if there would be charges like this. I was instructed to tell them no, they were covered. The came back with 1,500 bill. Fortunately it was resolved.

[@pearlsswine]

You destroyed someone's life for a mediocre week's salary. Are you proud of that? This will be your legacy on this earth. And your step papi said you'd never accomplish anything!

[@jaxonmattox9267]

Been charged $103 dollars for calling one hotel internationally, these international usage scams need to be shut down

[@crosswalklarry]

How is roaming even a thing in 2024? T-mobile has a big set of balls. They must have a team of lawyers making up rules buried deep in contracts. Personally I would have switched providers and told t-mobile to kick rocks.

[@yenxion6516]

For anyone who plans to travel just get a prepaid SIM card it so much easier there are even apps now too.

[@JCcreates927]

If they're stupid. I am old and know better, but I'm a techie.

[@garypinsker]

New phones have Esim. Can’t do that.

[@madierose]

@@garypinskermy family all bought eSims for travel to Spain this past summer. Very, very cheap and worked great!

[@Paul_R1206]

@@garypinskerYes you can. I use Airalo. Look them up. esim right to your phone.

[@shaggydawg5419]

@@garypinsker it's even quicker with eSIM. You don't have to buy any physical SIM card. Just sign up at the destination or buy eSIM for international use before leaving. Instant delivery.

[@IND4GR0V3]

"credit your account for the entire amount" doesnt matter if its roaming data 9.5 gigs never costs anywhere near that much no matter the case.

[@Juice_WRLD1998]

The only reason T-Mobile dropped the charges is because it made the news if it wasn’t talked about he would’ve been forced to pay it

[@TalesoftheMidnightrealm]

they should pay his lawyer fees

[@jeffclark5268]

Why? He hired the lawyer…why should they pay for that? Or is going to claim ignorance to how lawyers work too to try and get out of paying that bill too?

[@TWORARETWOSPARE]

The lawyer was joke. He didnt do anything that the guy couldn't have done himself.

[@hansenluu]

@@TWORARETWOSPARE the lawyer worths every penny. They sent the bill to the media. Great move.

[@hansenluu]

I'm sure he's happy that the lawyer was smart enough to get the media involved. 143k off the hook vs 2.5k. I'd happily pay the lawyer.

[@Av987]

So they charge $15 for each MB of roaming data. That’s criminal!

[@Chad-Giga.]

Roaming charges are for your provider, not you. T-Mobile is supposed to pay that fee. This is why you only do prepaid unlimited phone plans.

[@RaisedxFist]

This is criminal.

[@TheBulge]

It is not. It's an issue with grandfathered plans and a big reason why the mobile companies say to get off of them. He could've solved this easily by himself by calling more times or mailing corporate for an escalated case.

[@L2002]

@@TheBulge it's, my ISP's roaming service is always off by default, to use it you need to manually enable it, this is how it should works. for any plan/prepaid that doesn't include roaming balance, should be disabled by default. and you tell me that T-Mobile can't do that??

[@TheBulge]

@L2002 I'm saying it was his responsibility to know what his plan details and coverage was. But just like with anything, people ignore the details. His plan was likely 20ish years old with those rates do yes, very much his fault. And again, very easy to fix with a letter at ZERO cost. Instead he got a lawyer and assumed the worst and that's why he is in the position he is in.

[@voytech3892]

I'm disgusted with cell phone companies.

[@LatinaNHim]

If you're not sure, just get a local sim card.

[@yvr2002rtw]

In the U.S., it is very common for phones to be subsidized by the carrier and locked to their own SIM cards. You need to buy an unlocked phone (or get your phone unlocked once the contract is up) before you can use local SIM in other countries.

[@OldLordSpeedy]

Exactly. Or inform myself before I travel to an Non-EU country. People forget all time that phone call in / out, SMS in / out, MMS in / out, data in / out, are eight different things how can charge different the provider. So own phone company brand (here German Telekom) is differently to non-contact phone companies too! So do you can have in this situation sixteen different prices! 😂 All paid from customers of course, no company give you a free gift!

[@brotakig1531]

@@yvr2002rtw Then you buy a $30 phone, never once have I used my sim overseas and if need be buy a cheap phone that yes can actually connect to the internet and do everything as our $1000 phones do.

[@HuplesCat]

@@yvr2002rtwit’s actually cheap to buy a small phone in Europe. Give up screen time on vacation

[@vistazo9]

Shocking and useful story 😮. Thanks !

[@programmer437]

I’ve roamed international with T-mobile and it was something like $10/day for up to 500MB a day. Never had an issue like this. Still $300 for a full month but it was manageable.

[@Johntheheadache]

Roaming charges were a thing 15 years ago when we didn't have as many towers, today roaming doesn't exist, but T-mobile, Verizon and At&t will never miss an opportunity to take your money. What worked here was public shaming a greedy company. I left T-mobile years ago and I will never go back.

[@neilkurzman4907]

Your traveling to other countries. The rules don’t apply the same.

[@tonyjones9782]

I agree I had Tmobile years ago I'll never use them

[@pearlsswine]

Pesants LOVE to throw around the word "greed" with a complete lack of self-awareness. First, roaming involves using another carriers towers. That's what dictates the charges, not the quantity of towers. Second, you're the one demanding to use another carrier's towers for free, so that makes you greedy. For for the shjt you use, honey.

[@neilkurzman4907]

@@pearlsswine There’s a difference between free and $143,000.

[@Johntheheadache]

@@pearlsswine Learn to spell and write cohesive sentences, then maybe we can have an exchange. Until then, be quiet.

[@doorguru168888]

People don't read their contract or understand it And then when something like this happens, they are surprised.

[@anon8373]

thats criminal.

[@760mom]

Thank you for helping.

[@ronbelanger4113]

Going on a trip, leave your phone at home and get a burner.

[@mmafan3]

Facts..truthfully, I don't even use my phone much to begin with, save for calling or texting a couple of people stateside to let them know i'm ok. Plus, it's easy to get a nice phone stolen anyway and there will be bigger problems.

[@JB_Hobbies]

Wow, that's crazy. As someone on T-Mobile, I am very surprised that those kinds of charges are even possible. That's completely out of control.

[@cyber-tron2633]

They guy was an idiot and should have paid the full the amount

[@TheBulge]

You should be surprised, he was one grandfathered plan. These charges don't happen and this is why plans are constantly updated. He could have solved all of this by himself easily with a plan backdate

[@KingBueno619]

The true winner: Attorney

[@leebutz4727]

Now sue the attorney to get your $2500 back 😂

[@gene081976]

I agree 143K for roaming is ridiculous! But still, why are you using 9GB of data roaming overseas? I have an iPhone and I setup my iPhone never to data roam. There’s also other settings to disable roaming. When I travel internationally, I purchase a local plan for basic data and calls, and use Wi-Fi for the rest - yes go to places where Wi-Fi is available. I don’t blame them, but I guess the older you get, you might forget to do a few things you would have thought of to do before you travel.

[@jazzyflorida3757]

Switch carriers, and then don’t pay the bill. Ridiculous, why would this old man fall for this

[@jerrynadler2883]

He has assets. T mobile can sue and take his assets.

[@CarlosG1111]

@@jerrynadler2883Lol no they can’t. It’s a phone company not the IRS.

[@yahshua4928]

Leaving won’t stop collections agency.

[@majorlagg9321]

@@CarlosG1111 Of course, they can. You think the IRS is the only organization that can file a lawsuit?

[@CarlosG1111]

@@majorlagg9321 But can the phone company seize your property or assets like the IRS?

[@darkfur93]

He probably has a old grandfathered in plan from around 2008 when international data was $14.99 per MB. When people used packet data to look up news or send emails on wap sites. The customer service rep was in the wrong, I'm sure the phone company has a policy in place for when this happens. The roaming company in Switzerland isn't charging anywhere near $143K to T-Mobile for 10GB of data now days, it was probably $75 max.

[@ricahrdb]

The video is vague about it but you are probably right. Roaming rates are pretty much nowhere this high.

[@houseandhobby6971]

The fact that t mobile had such a calculation and issued such a bill et's me know that for me and my family...they will never ever get my business.

[@williamnews9051]

Dude had a plan from 20 years ago before international cellphones and smartphones were common. All of T Mobiles up to data plans include international roaming. This dude sticks with his $30 outdated grandfathered plan and then goes and uses international data. T Mobile has new phones, international, and more included in there $90 and $100 plan(1line). They beat the price of Verizon while doing 24 month financing not 36 month like AT&T. And if you’re prepaid well ur data must suck.

[@ForumArcade]

Why should leaving the country make internet any more expensive? I don't get it.

[@politicsuncensored5617]

T-Mobile should kick in the $2,500.00 that Mr. Remund had to pay to an attorney and they still refused to respond until the media got in on this~! Shalom

[@c421t]

This is crazy. When you land, you get a text that tells you about all the roaming rates . He knew he just didn't care.

[@Joeindimension]

Thanks you all

[@Johngoodman454]

I would never pay that ever scam

[@suzybearheart530]

I once spent 8 days in Spain and foolishly didn't spring for an international plan. It was 2012, I didn't plan on using my phone at all except to take pictures. Well, I got lost a few times and used my mobile data for maps etc, then ended up sending a few texts and it all added up to an extra $300 bucks on my bill. I thought that was bad. Can't imagine getting a bill for six figures!

[@1234crevis]

Anyone with T-Mobile u have been warned lol

[@theboldeagle8775]

The worst company never answer the phone if they do ,no results 😒 just wasting time in between line ,if go to the near dealer 🙄 they'll say call customer service, I think it's their standard to not pay what they stole, it happened to me until I changed my debit card

[@mastahyo0210]

I also have t-mobile for over 23 years and I been traveling all over the world always have free text and roaming data.

[@TheBulge]

He has a grandfathered plan.

[@wickedpawn5437]

This amounts to $14,000 per GB. What's in T-Mobile's freaking mind?

[@mikefly562]

That's why I like ATT - When on an International trip, it's $10 per day flat fee for unlimited data, voice, text, etc...very easy, plus they only charge up to $100 per billing cycle. I was on a 3 week trip overseas, using my phone as if I was at home, and the cost was $100. No worries at all.

[@cruzanmongoose]

But if you make a local call in a foreign country you get banged by the minute plus the ten dollars a day. It happened to me when I was in St Maarten, I called a girl I knew there from an ATT carrier and they charged us like 6 dollars a minute for the local call plus the 10 dollars a day. you can only make calls to the US and it's territories from a foreign country for the 10 dollars a day not local calls.

[@robwebster1098]

Same, been in Japan since Oct and my bill is $100 more a month but unlimited everything

[@cruzanmongoose]

@@robwebster1098 We got ripped for the local calls in St Maarten.

[@GamesFromSpace]

And that's still an exorbitant fee.

[@grayrabbit2211]

That's with your rate plan. There are plenty of grandfathered AT&T plans which would put you in the same predicament as this chap in the video.

[@kevinmach730]

What t-mobile did is called throwing shit up against a wall and seeing what sticks. They know if this bill had been a few thousand dollars, most customers would just pay it to make it go away. Imagine how many times they get away with that.

[@ua7pyro591]

Sad. So sad

[@yennyku5240]

I told my carrier that i was going to Switzerland and I still got charged around 500 bucks. You gotta tell the carrier every time you go

[@taurussho86]

What's crazy is all they do is shift service to a close by network, which is all done automatically.

[@keekeeking7360]

So true

[@zaram131]

I went to Switzerland and AT&T was only $10 a day. We told them we were going.

[@yennyku5240]

@@zaram131 I have att as well but I didn't just go to switzerland :/ I went to 6 other countries for a period of 3 1/2 weeks

[@gffjjuu2697]

I use Google Fi and all I have to do is swap to their international plan for my trip (unlimited everything for $65) and swap back to my regular plan when I return home. It's waaaay easier than traditional carriers

[@peccatumDei]

International Roaming charges are something every traveler should be aware of. There was a story years ago of a man who watched a movie on his phone while the cruise ship he had boarded was still docked in Miami. His data however went though the ship's cell service, and international roaming charges applied...

[@DinaOnyu-ih7hw]

What kind of response is that from t-mobile? If the customer has been with you for so long that their outdated plan does not include international roaming, freaking update their plan for free rather than setting up that trap for your loyal customer to step in.

[@TheBulge]

Outsourced call center I bet.

[@i00Productions]

@2:50 The news states that if you're on an older plan, that doesn't include international roaming.. If it doesn't include it, why does TMobile let you do it??!!.. What a stupid suggestion to turn on aeroplane mode while you re overseas if you're on one of these plans!.. If it's not included in your plan, they shouldn't provide it plain and simple.

[@JLocke573]

But who actually sent that? Who sat there, printed out a $140,000 bill, put it in an envelope and sent it to this man as if he's going to pay it? Even if he did misunderstand how roaming data works, why have a system where someone can ACCIDENTALLY spend $140,000 in three weeks, without their knowledge!? Kind of a stupid ass system isn't it?

[@jessev5761]

A computer did that, not a person. Please understand the world you live in.

[@pearlsswine]

Boomer fell asleep on his Percocet in 1975 and woke up in 2024 and doesn't understand the concept of automation

[@jeremyr7147]

Ai dont care...

[@KatieBellino]

I do feel like there should be a max amount that you use before it warns you and you have to approve to continue using.

[@zepplin839]

This entire thing was automated. And voided when someone who knew what happened noticed.

[@InfiniteTony]

Does every phone carrier do this??

[@nickh509]

Note to self: Don't go with T-mobile

[@James_Knott]

I'm on Rogers in Canada and roaming to Switzerland is $15 (CDN)/day, with maximum charge of 20 days per billing month. This includes calls, texts and data. Also, if I the customer has a Rogers credit card, 5 days are included for free. Another option would be for him to get a local SIM while traveling.

[@Mysticinvestigations]

A lawyer doesn't phase a large corporation but even a little bad PR scares them!

[@Errr717]

The international travel plan only costs $50. Obviously T-Mobile office he went to didn't know what they were talking about. It's too bad he had to spend $2,500.00 for an attorney and still got no response. That was bad. This piece of story just cost them tons of customers. I have to remember to call a TV station if I come into an outrages situation with a company.

[@TheBulge]

It's because he definitely had a grandfathered plan probably 20+ years old.

[@stra2g]

The $2500 was well spent. The lawyer is the reason the TV station reported

[@TheBulge]

@stra2g not well spent. It didn't even need reporting. He had a grandfathered plan, all he had to do was check his bill for an address or fax number and spend 5 minutes writing his situation. After a week tmobile would have called him to change his phone plan and backdate the international charge to its usual amount. He is 2.5k under for pretty much nothing.

[@stra2g]

@@TheBulge That's insane talk lol. You think T-mobile is going to do that when they literally just ignored an attorney about the issue? The Attorney knew contacting the station would be an appropriate solution and it worked. He did his job and was the catalyst to the solution. It's a job well done.

[@TheBulge]

@stra2g yes, it's a difference between departments. I used to work for one of these companies. You need to go through the proper channels.

[@EricKremer]

I can’t understand why cell phone carriers think it’s okay to charge for “roaming” fees when it’s all digital data on a connected network. They are taking advantage of their old contracts from the early 2000s.

[@bevonostro................]

I suspect a lot of people will see this as a virtuous decision on the part of T-Mobile. But T-Mobile billing software does not seem capable of detecting a single customer bill that was a thousand times larger than normal. And what if the erroneous amount had only been double the amount the couple expected? Who would have caught that?

[@JoeKyser]

Notifying the company doesnt give you free roaming anywhere

[@nachobroryan8824]

He likely asked them what he needed to do not to be charged an exorbitant amount and they gave him incorrect information.

[@luckofhan]

You must be fun at parties @joe

[@davidc5027]

My daughter went to Europe and we paid extra to T-Mobile for data in Europe and when she got back they tried to hand me a hefty bill. They credited my account, but wonder if this isn't just a numbers game. Listen, data isn't 'Physical' and costs no more to move around than the electrical impulses it takes to move it.

[@jjitjare]

There are many ways to pay $10 for 10GB roaming fee anywhere in the world. Only problem the information is hidden and nobody tells you how find it.

[@Dallas-214]

Thats why i cancelled Tmobile years ago

[@tshaffer9681]

They are the biggest bunch of liars and thieves.

[@gentile88]

😂😂😂

[@Ur-_-Killa-TV]

It’s disgusting that the news had to intervene just to get this poor guy some help

[@BASvist]

My phone carrier even if charging data by MB and not by package (which they automatically activate you if you spend more than €100 in roaming data and warn you about your spending), would in Zone 3 (meaning countries like Afghanistan, Bhutan, Botswana, Fiji, Yemen, Laos, Madagascar, Seychelles, Uruguay or data on International Seas) charged less than half of that. Even if I went from Europe to USA (similar to what the guy did) I'd be charged "only" €20000 for basic data, or I could activate 1GB Data package for USA 10x and it would cost me €120.

[@PuffOfSmoke]

This is why I buy local SIM the minute I land at a country I'm visiting. Local SIM are available at the airport and they'll give you a plan you can use for a certain GB.

[@AhmedAljazwi]

If you're staying for more than 1 week why not buy a local sim card? Data will be cheap and you can make calls easily...

[@baileyryanpatrick17]

I love that he didn't even bother to remove the eyeglass strength sticker!

[@cindy6787]

Surely they texted him about the overages and usage fees. I was in Indonesia and it cost me over $800 in fees with AT&T but I received texts every day about the additional charges.

[@ChosenOne6666]

I have Google Fi the coverage is worldwide for $65

[@dynodon9182]

Can you hear me now?

[@JabbaDahut-cv9up]

I cant hear you, can you hear ME?

[@doctordl7757]

@JabbaDahut-cv9up 😅 I don't think your old enough to know the real answer to that

[@MattyIcecubes]

I just started with T-Mobile and I'm already having issues. When I switched over I verified several times that I wanted the $55 plan, and was told that was what my payment would be. Just got the first bill and sure enough I'm on the $75 plan which I declined at the time of the switch.

[@detroitshadowlands]

Darwin award of the week goes to Florida man who fails to realize you need to stick to WiFi when using data overseas. Christalmighty

[@momentomori1747]

Right, it's totally not the fault of the company for charging more than $10k per GB of data.

[@ruleaus7664]

Not really. This sort of bill shouldn't even be possible.

[@JesusIsReal925]

Why didn't they use wifi calling

[@cadavis5314]

I got roaming charges on Nellis AB. Apparently you have to connect to a military tower & a roaming fee is charged. However if you pull up a coverage map no mention of roaming fees & clearly indicates a well covered area. Only way I got them to forgive a $300 bill (hefty for the time). Told them no where does it state roaming fees apply on base for none military visitors.

[@ericwelsh4853]

My carrier notifies me when my roaming charges get expensive -- usually after $50 or $100. They send me text messages and emails. This guy didn't get ANY warnings???

[@ntsecrets]

I left t-mobile years ago due to a similar issue, was in the hundreds of dollars of bogus roaming charges and they wouldn’t budge. I paid it, ported all of my phones and never used them again.

[@RejectHumanityReturn2Monke]

It still surprises me how much companies charge for roaming data when it's just regular data being bounced off a few more cell towers than usual. It should just be local data charge + your subscription.

[@KageSama19]

Roaming charges are an outright scam.

[@jla1977]

I worked for T-Mobile USA for many years. Around 2005 we went through a training class where we were explained that it only cost the company $0.01 per minute for people to use their network. Fast forward several years later we were trained that the company now needs to make money out of overcharges, features, etc. because plans now included unlimited calls and texting. Nothing necessarily bad in this but still the way it was said it was questionable. And let’s not start with the culture in the call centers. Management were evil. There was a lot of sleeping around with new hot hires. It was a mess!

[@emarr3720]

I had a similar experience with AT&T but it was for $1,200 only. I got stuck at a Peruvian military base en route to Lima from Cuzco for 10 hours with no explanation!! I was bored & used roaming data & got the sticker shock. AT&T was cool about & ask me to pay half & they’d call it even.

[@LeyAkino]

there should be a feature like a warning text that they're using international data or a feature that automatically stop the data once they're in international waters so this hassle can be avoided

[@ianbattles7290]

Why the hell does it cost thousands of dollars a day to use your cell phone in a different country???

[@Random_4400]

While nowhere near as crazy i was one charged over 150$ for a few megabytes of data because i was in the states and digit to turn my data off! So i didn't even purposely use it i just forgot it on! 150$!! I had to contact the carrier and tell them about the issue and they did eventually refund me after telling them that i refuse to pay such an exorbitant price for a few megabytes, but yeah stuff like this should be illegal!! They shouldn't be allowed to charge whatever they want for somebody mistakenly using their data/forgetting to turn it off!

[@chrisholdren2495]

If you go international, always make sure your sim is unlocked. Get a pay as you go from a local cell carrier while you are there.

[@GamersBay]

Absolute crooks! They should give him back the money he was forced to pay his lawyer over their greedy charges.

[@rfalias]

If you owe the phone company 1000 dollars, it's probably your fault. If you owe them 100,000 it's theirs. Just don't pay it.

[@Aman-rs4uz]

Haha right

[@rickysain4959]

Plenty to see here, happy travels

[@FlatsToLet]

Always buy a SIM in another country