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Dad hammers Wyo. teen's phone after mega-bill

Discussion in 'GENERAL Wireless Discussion' started by strunke, Apr 9, 2009.

  1. strunke

    strunke .:|Always Covered|:.
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    CHEYENNE — In one month, a Cheyenne teenager sent 10,000 text messages and received about the same — all while her family's plan did not include texting.

    That means the family's provider — Verizon — charged them for each incoming and outgoing text message.

    The girl's parents, Gregg and Jaylene Christoffersen, thought texting had been disabled, so one can imagine their surprise when they got the monthly phone bill and it asked for $4,756.25.

    "It just hit us like a rock, like you're stepping into a bus," Gregg Christoffersen said.

    The bill was legit.

    Dena Christoffersen, 13, had apparently been sending most of these messages at school. That's more than 300 texts within an eight-hour period every
    Gregg Christoffersen was shocked to see his daughter's texting bill. (9News)
    day for the whole month.

    Needless to say, it drew attention away from what she should have been doing: paying attention in class.

    "She went from A's and B's one semester to F's in two months," Dena's dad said.

    Hours after the enormous bill arrived, Gregg Christoffersen took a hammer to his daughter's phone.

    He and Jaylene also grounded Dena until the end of school.

    "I felt really bad, and I have learned my lesson," Dena said, with her head down.

    Since she lost her phone, Dena's grades have gone up, and the texting is down to zero.

    As for the phone bill, the family says Verizon has been willing to knock it down to a reasonable level.

    The Christoffersens are asking school administrators at Johnson Junior High School to crack down on cellphone use during school.
    Dad hammers Wyo. teen's phone after mega-bill - The Denver Post
     
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    #1 strunke, Apr 9, 2009
  2. josephd

    josephd Tomorrow is another day.
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    I saw that on the news and I saw the phone, you could not even recognize what kind of phone it was.:D
     
    #2 josephd, Apr 9, 2009
  3. misterSelf

    misterSelf Junior Member
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    Smashing the phone won't pay his bill, though. I'd make her work it off.
     
    #3 misterSelf, Apr 9, 2009
  4. M in LA

    M in LA Mobile 28 Years Plus
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    This is where people need to pay attention to their bills and services. It sounds like they assumed texts were disable when they really weren't.

    My suggestion: use "My Verizon" OLAM to verify services and monitor usage, and make sure necessary blocks are in place for features that could be expensive if misused.

    The key is to be vigilant and informed, which it seems these parent's were not. Oh well, at least Verizon was willing to shuck the charges to a "reasonable" level (which with Verizon, one can only wonder what that is..)
     
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    #4 M in LA, Apr 9, 2009
  5. cheddar

    cheddar Senior Member
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    If it was my kid, I don't think I'd want it lowered. I'd probably want the kid to get a job and pay it off. Although if texting was supposed to be blocked...
     
    #5 cheddar, Apr 10, 2009
  6. misterSelf

    misterSelf Junior Member
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    My point exactly.
     
    #6 misterSelf, Apr 10, 2009
  7. Nextel32708

    Nextel32708 Junior Member
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    I wonder... did they just back-date the plan to the 'Unlimited Family Messaging' pack....

    That is what T-Mobile did for us. We went about $200.00 over our 400 messaging bundle (on one of the lines - at that time only two lines had texting). So, we called, and T-Mobile just added the $9.99 Unlimited Family Messaging package to cover the useage - and we have kept that plan ever since!
     
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    #7 Nextel32708, Apr 10, 2009
  8. M in LA

    M in LA Mobile 28 Years Plus
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    I hope that dad makes his daughter pay for it, but even so, Verizon expects payment, so if they are willing to let the people pay less that what's actually owed, good for them.

    The father can still make his daughter pay back the original full amount. It's the LEAST she can do.
     
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    #8 M in LA, Apr 10, 2009
  9. Matt

    Matt Twin girls!
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    Imagine how many pages that bill would have been if every text was itemized !
     
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    #9 Matt, Apr 11, 2009
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