14 DAY TRIAL // Do you think paying $85,000 for an unlimited connection to the Internet is the craziest thing you've ever heard of? If not, you should know that a Canadian resident is now forced to pay approximately $85,000 for an Internet connection after browsing the web using his Motorola Krzr, purchased from Bell Mobility. Obviously, Piotr Staniaszek didn't actually know that he's going to pay that much for browsing the web, so he decided to fight against the mobile company to reduce the charges. But read the entire story:
It was a calm and nice day when Piotr decided to buy a new Morotola phone. He chose the Krzr model provided by Bell Mobility. After he bought the device, he connected it to the PC and started browsing the web. Nothing strange yet. But here comes the beginning of December when the phone company informed the Calgary man that he had to pay no less than $85,000 after having surfed the Internet the entire month. 'What the heck?' he probably said when he first saw the charges. I guess everyone would say something similar when receiving such a bill.
"I didn't know what to think. I thought there was probably a mistake", Piotr Staniaszek told CBC News. "The thing is, they've cut my phone off for being like $100 over. Here, I'm $85,000 over and nobody bothered to give me a call and tell me what was going on. I told them I wasn't aware that I would be charged for hooking up my phone to the computer. I'm going to try and fight it, because I didn't know about the extra charges. Nobody explained any of this to me."
Obviously, he can't afford to pay so much for an Internet connection, so he decided to fight against the charges. Meanwhile, the phone company analyzed his bill and decided to reduce the bill to approximately $5,000. But, it's still enormous for such a cheap service like the Internet.
"What happened is that the client used the cellphone as a modem linking it directly to the computer and downloading huge files, ... high-res movies for instance", spokesman Jacques Bouchard told the same source.
So, next time you decide to browse the web and download large movies, don't forget to unplug your mobile phone, close your windows, close your door, turn off your TV. Just to be sure nothing else can be charged for your web connection...