Piotr Staniaszek a 22 year old oil and gas well tester in rural northwest Alberta has come to national media attention, and not from dancing with the stars. He may well have seen stars along with his $$83,700 cell phone bill.
How do you get an ,700 bill? It seems the lonely guy stranded in the far reaches of Alberta thought he could use his new phone as a modem for his computer as part of his C unlimited browser plan.. He downloaded movies and other high-resolution files unaware of the charges they would incur.
His father, who shares the same name, and first brought the story to media attention stated, “He’s working in the field sometimes, alone, in the shack. What to do? Drink vodka or go on the internet?” “Now it’s $85,000 and nobody told him,” he said. According to the invoice, the son rang up $60,000 in charges in November, and they have since climbed to $85,000.
The company, Bell Mobility a division of Bell Canada, did reduce the bill to $3,400 as a goodwill gesture, but it is not enough according to the father.
A Bell spokesman said the plan is not intended for downloading files to a computer, and that it is clear in the contract.
I’m certain it is clear in his contract, but it certainly seemed to work well for the reasons not intended, perhaps the company is at fault here as well? Cell Phone Charges Reuters