Ah yes, the classic tale of a seemingly innocent wireless carrier customer doing seemingly innocent things with the network, only to find that he or she is slammed with an unbelievably expensive or lengthy phone bill.
Ryan Dunsmore, a 16-year-old from Canada, recently got hooked up with a $35 per month Rogers unlimited texting plan by his dad. His girlfriend, who lives four blocks away from him, downloaded a free app called HeyWire to her iPod touch so they can text back and forth to their hearts’ content. After a month of sending and receiving over 1,000 text messages, Ryan’s father Alex Dunsmore gets an overwhelming bill in the mail from Rogers for $400 citing roaming charges.
As you can imagine, Mr. Dunsmore was furious. He contacted Rogers requesting (or perhaps demanding) an explanation for the bill and was told that the app HeyWire only sends free text messages to people within a same country. The text messages are routed through Arlington, Illinois, which is a roaming location for Rogers customers. After he refused to pay the high charges, Rogers cancelled his and his son’s account and, factoring in the $400 termination fees, brings the total bill up to $1,400.
Rogers isn’t backing down. “I recognize that the customer may find this frustrating. But the account holder is ultimately responsible for the account. We do not monitor how many texts or calls customers make. But we offer the tools to allow our customers to keep a close eye on their usage,” said spokeswoman Leigh-Ann Popek. “Customers are able to see their current usage through our free Rogers MyAccount app on their device or online at www.rogers.com. This is especially helpful for parents.”
HeyWire does say in the description of the app that standard rates apply to send texts to a U.S. phone number from Canada.
Should Rogers back down on the expensive bill or did the Dunsmore family overlook the roaming charges? Weigh in below with your comments.