It's not uncommon for teenagers to have cell phones as it seems nearly everyone has one these days. When a loving parent gave his teenage daughter a cell phone he thought was doing the right thing. His daughter managed to send 10,000 text messages and receive about the same amount in one billing cycle. Most of the text messages were sent during school hours which equates to about 300 per day during an 8 hour period.
"She went from A's and B's one semester to F's in two months," and after receiving a $4,756.25 cell phone bill the father took a hammer to his daughters phone and grounded her for the rest of the school year.
It's hard to say who is to blame here; the parents when setting up the phone account asked that text messaging be blocked. Its obvious that the block was never put in place but should have the parents been responsible to check that? Either way Verizon has agreed to knock down the bill to a more reasonable level but the final amount has not been disclosed.
also most schools ban cell phones in the classroom, so while Verizon made the slip up, it's the parent's and school's fault for allowing TXTing to happen.
The burden of responsibility in this case lays squarely on Verizon's shoulders, they were responsible for ensuring the block was in place.
I am sure the customers signed a contract stating that such a block would be included. So an effective breach of contract.
Don't forget the teenager too. I'm pretty sure someone of that age is able to comprehend what they are doing. They were also probably aware already that the parents hadn't wanted her sending the messages.
Now Verizon should cover the bill for not meeting their end of the arrangement, but I wouldn't overlook the kids role in all this too.
Kids at fault. Good parents =D
For what it's worth - I had the same problem with my daughter. Luckily she's more responsible and didn't go nuts with text messages but we asked Sprint to turn off text messaging when we added the line. We thought it was all taken care of until my wife got a text message from her.
I wonder if the carriers do this on purpose. They want kids to use text messaging so it continues to be "cool" and "hip". At the same time the carriers continue to rake in the money.
read the story. they didn't know she was texting.
Maybe you should read his comment...
If I purchased a house to be built with phone lines installed, and cable in every room, should I have to knock down the walls just to make sure they were installed correctly? Nope, it's the providers responsibility to make sure features are enable or disabled at your request.
Here in the UK, the deals are staggering, I got a free Sony PS3, a nice free Sony phone, £15 a month contract with 10,000 minutes and unlimited text messages - it would be hard for me to EVER have a bill more than £15 a month.
If people don't shop around, it's gonna cost.
Here in the UK, the deals are staggering, I got a free Sony PS3, a nice free Sony phone, £15 a month contract with 10,000 minutes and unlimited text messages - it would be hard for me to EVER have a bill more than £15 a month.
If people don't shop around, it's gonna cost.
Yeah, a deal like that is unheard of in the US.
Here in the UK, the deals are staggering, I got a free Sony PS3, a nice free Sony phone, £15 a month contract with 10,000 minutes and unlimited text messages - it would be hard for me to EVER have a bill more than £15 a month.
If people don't shop around, it's gonna cost.
Yeah, a deal like that is unheard of in the US.
A deal like that is normally unheard of in the UK too, the average is around £35 for ~600 mins and 1000 texts, and most the offers with free PS3s etc are £45/month. There are, however, deals if you really hunt.
Dunno where & when you looked (possibly only the shops), but those averages were typical for mid-2008, have you looked recently?
Even a simple 30 day contract is £20, with 600 minutes, unlimited text and FREE mobile internet, if you've been with the same phone company for more than 12 months, often they'll drop the price further.
Well, I have a £15/mth 30-day contract (didn't come with a phone), which is 200 minutes and unlimited texts... So that doesn't sound too unbelievable to me. It's on Vodafone... £5 extra for mobile internet, and I'm good to go.
10,000 minutes plus a PS3 and phone for £15 a month, that cost wouldn't even cover the PS3.
Theres a massive diffrence between 200 and 10,000 minutes.
Theres a massive diffrence between 200 and 10,000 minutes.
Apologies, I thought you were replying to another comment.
Yes, that does sound rather nice...
Urm yeah - I thought the same, is this the same story again?
http://www.neowin.net/news/main/09/01/14/t...ts-in-one-month
I am in the industry...I know how people are. Once they see a huge bill, then they will say whatever it takes to get a credit. First thing they will obviously say is I requested a package and it was not added or I wanted it blocked and it was not put on........don't jump to conclusions and blame the carrier. At least they are working with this guy on it.
Most carriers, including verizon, allow you to check your current usage at any point via your phone or the web and I honestly believe that consumers should take advantage of these free tools. If he would have taken 2 minutes to check the usage, it would have been identified early and taken care of.
But lets be real they asked for something and were told that they got it
I also have worked in the industry and your job is to save your company's bottom line In reality Verizon or *put your provider hear* does not give a sh*t about you ofcorse they are going to try and SPLIT the bill with you because its more profitable for them once you sign that contract you ars is theirs this is why I love T-mobile in the USA I pay month to month and get all the bells and whistles that every one else gets with out a 1-2 year thumb up my ass
Not like the father did not tell his child NOT to do it anyways...if the kid would have just listened, it would not have happened in the first place.
How is she even allowed to txt during school anyways? Sounds like the school should takes some steps here as well...ban them during school hours. Something. If she is doing worse in school, it would be clear that she is not paying attention during class....do the teachers not notice her looking down all the time instead of paying attention lol.
They "claimed" to have asked
When you sign up for service, you are given a Customer Agreement. On this agreement, EVERYTHING is listed including any text blocks. If consumers would take 1 minute before leaving the store to read over it, they would have noticed Text Block is not on there. Sales reps deal with lots of people each day which is why there is a paper trail to prevent this. If the customer requested it, yes it should have been put on there, but the customer also should have read over the Legally binding agreement they signed
I don't know how fast you can read, but it takes a lot longer than one minute to read the agreement.
I do agree though that not following up to see if the block is in place, if they did indeed ask for the block, puts most of the responsibility on the parent.
but all that girl would need to have to reactivate texts is the last 4 of hey dads social security number and say(in a deep voice) yeha id like oto reactivate text messaging
another option. i think they offer unlimited texting for 20 dollars a month. cant they just make that retroactive.. which means they didnt add it on to their plan until today but it would appear to been on there since the beginning of the month.... covering their ass for all those texts
this is the verizion version of the 10k dollar at&t iphone bill lol
I used to work in the retail industry for 6 years and the amount of times a customer cocked up and ordered the wrong thing but blamed us was unreal.
Customers will never admit when they get it wrong and will almost always blame the company and lie about what they asked for in order to get a discount.
Don't believe what the father claims. I have the opinion he most likely forgot to ask for it to be blocked but doesn't want to admit it for obvious reasons.
I'm surprised the supplier has agreed to lower the bill and he should count himself lucky and thank them for that. If I was the dad I would make his daughter pay for it either by working it off over time or making her pay it back with interest when she leaves school and gets a job.
Oh dear, I need to goto sleep. :|
Get a life much?
Exaggeration...
The parent should have tested the phone first. Trust but verify.
Unless the girl is brain damaged she is more at fault than anyone.
You have to be brain damaged to send all those messages in such a short period of time
"The text messages utilize a reserved field in the header of packets which transmit other types of data"
That's a quote from one of the comments but I also confirmed the same with friends that work in the industry and service actual cell towers.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-10784_3-9982251-7.html
No it isn't. Verizon should have had the block in place and therefore must not charge for the texts. Not hard to figure out.
That said, you have to wonder how a kid could send over 300 texts a day without her parents ever noticing. It amazes me to see the sense of self-importance kids have today. When they hit the real world they are in for a shocking surprise.
While Verizon SHOULD have had it blocked, I don't understand how the parents could let that go unnoticed. Then again, many parents have that "I don't care" attitude, at least until it becomes an inconvenience to the parent.
Who the HELL sends 10,000 text messages in ONE MONTH!? Did her parents get her a Blackberry Curve which came with a job as CFO at an international corporation? It's her god damn fault.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/28/business...mp;ref=business
I thought that was very professional from them
My sister doesn't even answer her phone. For all she cares it's just a text messaging device, and that's all itll ever be. She responds to texts though. Constantly.
That's completely wrong. When you send a text, you are not being charged for the amount of millwatts it takes to include the message in the Header signals, you are paying for the cost of maintaining the cell network, Employees, Contractors, Administration Costs/Overhead, R&D, etc. and to the Shareholders that make it all possible for that Message to be sent.
lool
anyways, verizon has a user page called "My Verizon" which you can um CHECK to see if you have text messageing disabled, it's one of their options... how about checking it when you buy a phone to MAKE SURE?!
anyways, verizon has a user page called "My Verizon" which you can um CHECK to see if you have text messageing disabled, it's one of their options... how about checking it when you buy a phone to MAKE SURE?!
I thought Verizon charged more than that for messages. This is from their TOS page:
http://support.vzw.com/terms/txt_messaging.html
Well I am just going by what they charge me, she might have an older plan or a newer one then me...
Because, of course, there's no way she could, oh, I don't know, GET ANOTHER ONE!
Because, of course, there's no way she could, oh, I don't know, GET ANOTHER ONE!
If she has the money, sure. Or a credit card (in which case... shame on the parents).
This sort of thing happens all the time so how is this possibly front page news?
and with that out of the way, how could the school miss that? I mean 300 texts per day...surely she would have been texting almost constantly in most lessons?
When I originally got my Blackberry last November, I thought I'd been signed up for the unlimited TXTing/picture messaging plan. Well, I apparently hadn't, and I was billed for about $30 in TXT charges. I called up, and they were happy to backdate it. They allowed me to upgrade my TXT'ing plan a couple years ago when I went over, too.
So, I don't understand why they wouldn't allow her to get a TXTing plan to keep her on as a customer. I'm guessing they didn't want to do this because they thought they were making more money off of her up front than what they could for a few years...sad.
( Start Date: 03/27/09 - End Date: 04/26/09 )
Text Messages Whenever Messages Unlimited 5,430.0 Unlimited
BUT wouldnt you think they would of saw her ALWAYS on her cell phone pressing buttons and thought texting?!... then wondered why she was able to do it?
I can't even get 100 texts in a month even if I try my hardest to waste them. Hearing someone's voice simply works better lol.
maybe they thought she was playing frozen bubble...
No wonder kids these days are so screwed up. They don't take responsibility for their actions, and society doesn't even expect them to. Expect someone to be stupid, and they'll rarely disappoint.
Plus salesmen screw up all the time, its no big deal.
No, it isn't. The air-headed bitch who sent 10,000 text messages is to blame.
Teens take these things too much for granted.
I disagree. Parents put the block and the company didnt do it. The company is the "bad guy".
Wrong, I work for a phone company. Do you know how many we get a month complaining they didnt want this or that? But didnt actually read the agreement or change anything?
If the childs brain dead enough to send 10,000 texts in a month and the parents are to stupid to realise my moneys on them not putting a block on it either but just blame the "big corporation"
Here (Egypt) NO SINGLE TEEN use that sort of unlimited service (called "Khat" or "Line" ), they all use the service of rechargeable cards ("Kart" ), so you have for example 10$ credit, after it finish you can't talk or send SMS until you charge again using a recharge card you buy from shop or charge credit directly on-the-fly from special shops, and so on, so that that sort of disaster don't happen.
Last edited by kInG aLeXo on 09 Apr 2009 - 23:09
And yes Alexo, perhaps it is a better idea to give teenagers pay-as-you-go service (what we call your "kart").
Good luck to everyone trying to cut your wireless expenses in this rough economy.
Dylan
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