Well, I'm about to get a nasty shock   

Im expecting a cell phone bill in the region of £230 for the month in about a weeks time  



Anyone had a high (or higher) cell phone bill recently, or ever?


Lee

Yes, from Australia I managed to run up a bill from Vodafone of £420. I got back and they gave me an upgrade for being such a great customer.

My last bill was enough and I still haven't got around to paying it so I'm cut off at the moment. 

250 GBP once    After heaps of international calls from/to the UK, New York and Denmark I didn't expect it to be small either... Luckily, I was allowed to pay it, spread over 4 months... but PHEW   

My highest was around 90 EUR, never managed it to get above 100 EUR.

Patrick

Well, last two months here I've reached my credit limit. I pay 70 pesos (about 20 dollars) for 190 minutes free, free calls during weekends and 300 SMS -- but the two past months, I've reached the level of 230 pesos (80 dollars), consuming 278 extra minutes and 349 extra short messages, as well as 90 pesos (30 dollars) in international calls.

This sucks. And I don't know what's going to be the next bill yet  

Cheers!  
Gastón - The MD11 Junkie

Quoting MD11junkie (Reply 4): 300 SMS

Quoting MD11junkie (Reply 4): 349 extra short messages

649 txts in a month? yikes   


Im lucky to send 100


Lee

Because I live in Windsor next to Detroit and I am technically inept my phone was roaming to the Detroit Verision Wireless towers while I was still in Canada. So all of my phone calls home to Toronto from Windsor appeared to the phone comany that I used at the time (Bell Canada) to actually be from Detroit. How this happened, I have no idea, I didn't know that my phone would roam across the border, I eventually figured out how to turn this off by using a Home Only mode. However, the phone bill for all of this, which lasted a little under a month, was...

$ 1 750.00 Canadian...

Although I should point out that I got all of those charges reversed after bothering the phone company for about a month, but the charge did go onto my credit card, and I did pay it before Bell Canada gave me the refund.

Live and learn I suppose, I now always make sure that my phone isn't roaming before I place a call.

- Neil

Quoting NeilYYZ (Reply 6): Because I live in Windsor next to Detroit and I am technically inept my phone was roaming to the Detroit Verision Wireless towers while I was still in Canada. So all of my phone calls home to Toronto from Windsor appeared to the phone comany that I used at the time (Bell Canada) to actually be from Detroit.

Interesting, a friend of me was just sent to Detroit to fix something in T-Mobile's network there. I just visited him three week ago.

Patrick

Yes, Paris Air Show this year, rented a Vodafone at the Airport for a week - bill two weeks later showed $947.00

I was pissed and disputed it.

Then came the 'oh we made a mistake, it should be $133.00'..... Correct, paid it.

I have had a cell bill as high as $400US for my personal phone. Only once or twice. I have an excellent package with Cellular One (formerly AT&T).

$60US per month, 1000 anytime minutes, no roaming charges, US Nation Wide, including Hawaii, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Works in Guam and the Caribbean as well. Will also work in most of Europe (with a call to Cell One to make that happen). I rarely get over 1000 minutes - that's a lot jaw flapping . . . it would be an excellent package for a woman . . .   

Quoting BMIFlyer (Reply 5): 649 txts in a month? yikes

I don't know how I managed to do that either -- LOL! I can't believe it.

Cheers!  
Gastón - The MD11 Junkie

607 quid for a fortnight, when I came out to NZ for my job interview I used my phone for e-mail, txts and phone calls to the UK as well as in NZ.

BTW that was using an NZ SIM so there wasn't even a roaming component!!

Money well spent though!

[Edited 2006-02-25 00:15:25]

Quoting MD11junkie (Reply 10): I don't know how I managed to do that either -- LOL! I can't believe it.

720 was my record, I was getting 1,500 free a month though.

Quoting Jafa39 (Reply 12):

Jafa, don't make say I loathe you right now because of all of those text messages you have available    Send some to the poor! LOL 

Cheers!  
Gastón - The MD11 Junkie

Got one for £95 in January that covered Christmas, that's the biggest I've had in ages. My bills are normally pretty low as I use the minutes included.

Had a £250 one in the past! The good old days of 50p a minute and no part minutes in the days of analog signal mobiles.

Most I paid was $75. Have Cingular. 900 anytime minutes, free nights and weekends, free mobile to mobile. I use about 800 minutes a month and the rest roll over. Have 1000 text messages and unlimited picture sharing. Usually use all 1000 text messages. Gotta pass the time some how in class during lecture.

Quoting MD11junkie (Reply 13): Jafa, don't make say I loathe you right now because of all of those text messages you have available

I'm afraid I sold the SIm when I emigrated, I get 500 txts for $10NZ on my work phone now and free txting on weekends with my personal phone.

jeez I thought i was bad for running it up to over £100 in 1 month!

I've gotten $150 before...was on "vacation" in Florida and managed to make enough business-related phone calls to rack up the roaming charges. Some vacation that was...

Jeff

Ok, seems to me I had one of the highest. Back when I was working in Nigeria, I had my spanish mobile with me. Before I travelled Vodafone had told me that a call to Spain would cost me under 1€ x minute. After the 1st month there, I recieved a bill of roughly 1000€! Apparently the cost was 2.5€ x minute ... i wanted to put a claim against the Vodafone operator but I think it would have been virtually impossible to make a case.

regards  

I once had a bill for 1600 bucks (USD).... I was on a trip to Miami and the phone somehow got stuck on "roam" for the entire month, so nearly every call had roaming charges attached to it.

Took a while on the phone with the cell company to get that taken care of.

Quoting Sabena332 (Reply 7): Interesting, a friend of me was just sent to Detroit to fix something in T-Mobile's network there. I just visited him three week ago.

After that fiasco I decided to switch to Rogers Wireless, I have never seen my phone roam to Detroit since. I was told when I contacted Bell that the Verizion signal from Detroit must have been stronger than the Bell signal from Windsor, which I thought was bad just because I would figure that the signal from the country you're actually in should be stronger. But then again, who knows, I checked my phone just now and I searched for other networks and got a great signal from Verizion in Detroit, maybe they just have better phone service and signal in the states.

- Neil

I just got a blackberry from Rogers Wireless here in Canada, nad I have a sneaking suspicion it's gonna cost me a little fortune..

I've even pulled RRSP's outta the bank so I can pay for it hAHAHAH

1011yyz

I thought my monthly bill was high. $185 per.

Worst ever bill was 1500+ Canadian Dollars during a busy month where I was only in Canada for 3 days, the rest was roaming in Dubai, Sana'a, Kathmandu, Osaka. Mind you my company paid for it.

YOWza

Quoting FutureSDPDcop (Reply 15): Gotta pass the time some how in class during lecture.

God forbid you actually pay attention. 

I forgot to pay my Sprint bill once and the bill comes the next month as two billing cycles, which amounted to about $180. For excessive yapping, I think I paid no more than $100 on a bill that should have been $70 or so.

I have Cingular now and I get 600 day minutes, unlimited nights and weekends and free mobile to mobile and rollover, plus 200 SMS that I usually don't use all of it anyway. Including taxes, I pay $80/month.

Quoting ANCFlyer (Reply 9): $60US per month, 1000 anytime minutes, no roaming charges, US Nation Wide, including Hawaii, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Works in Guam and the Caribbean as well. Will also work in most of Europe (with a call to Cell One to make that happen). I rarely get over 1000 minutes - that's a lot jaw flapping . . . it would be an excellent package for a woman . . .

ANCflyer: I dont know if T-Mobile offers this package up there but I have 1000 anytime mins, free nights and weekends nationwide for $39.99 + you can place calls in Europe (which of course I never do because I swap SIMs)

But for $70 I have 1000 anytime mins, free nights and weekends, FULL unlimited and email + Unlimited SMS/MMS.

I send about 1300-1400 texts a month.

Never more than $120.

Quoting Senorcarnival (Reply 25): God forbid you actually pay attention

You pay attention the first class. After that, it's fair game.

My highest was this January, ZAR 4,859 (USD 810, EUR 665, GBP 450). It averages about ZAR 1,800 per month.

When I was working in retail mismanagement, one of my shop assistants (16YO girl) got a new phone with the help of her parents (they signed the contract) She wasn't allowed to see her boyfirend at the time, so shw was on the phone to him for hours every night. We knew what was going on, and were all guessing on how much her first bill would be. She got a call from her sister one afternoon at work, the first bill had been sent to her - $1200! Let's just say she was in deep trouble after that!!!

I had one 400 dollar phone call from Belize to Tennessee once.

Ouch.

hahahaha your bills pail in comparison to my bill from August 2004!

I spent 10 days in Hong Kong and when i got my bill it was £1,040 or so!  

I got confused with the calling times, vodaphone said it was cheap between 7pm and 8pm and i assumed they meant Hong Kong time, so i spent an hour on the phone every night. Only to find they meant 7pm to 8pm UK time! I was sitting there for an hour every day at something in the region of £1.50 a minute.

My average monthly bill is between £90-£160. I get 500 mintues free and 1000 txts free for about £75-£90 but i usually go over with calls and txts.

Chris

Highest ive had was £1055.30.

Lew

Quoting TFSPhoto (Reply 32): Highest ive had was £1055.30. Lew

You git, beat me by £15! Grrrrrrrr. LOL

Hope your feeling better now mate!

Chris

I've had a 500$ bill from Cingular last summer. Over 500+ texts sent, plus roaming in Russia, Ukraine, and France. Yeah, basically it kind of added up....

Aeroflot777

Quoting BMIFlyer (Reply 5): Im lucky to send 100

i reguarly send over a thousand a month! sometimes up to 1200!

Quoting Chris78cpr (Reply 33): You git, beat me by £15! Grrrrrrrr. LOL Hope your feeling better now mate! Chris

Thanks Chris, getting there slowly. I wouldnt advise trying to beat my bill though  

Lew

Slightly off-topic but a great saver for calls from home to eveywhere - I started to use www.jajah.at and have achieved tremendous savings .
It works different than Skype and uses actually your fix home-phone or mobile but routes the call through the Internet.
Making calls to China,Russia or USA are about 2-5 Euro-cents/minute and the bill is paid by credit-card. I just finished a call to Moscow ( 15 minutes ) -it was less than 1 € and the voice-quality excellent.

When I moved to the US as an exchange student back in 2000, I brought my cell phone with me. My dad cancelled the service after I managed to rack up over $1000 in a month...lol.

Quoting BMIFlyer (Reply 5): 649 txts in a month? yikes

Quoting Jafa39 (Reply 12): 720 was my record, I was getting 1,500 free a month though.

Quoting LOT767-300ER (Reply 26): I send about 1300-1400 texts a month.

You guys are all amateurs   Last month I sent about 5500 text messaged (well, sent and received). Take a look at my usage so far this month (look at the dates):

Quoting TFSPhoto (Reply 36): Thanks Chris, getting there slowly. I wouldnt advise trying to beat my bill though Lew

With a £275 laptop repair bill, a £110 police fine and about £4000 in credit card debt i wont be trying too soon!

Chris

The biggest mobile bill I've had was around £125 about a year ago, when I used to ring an ex-member of a.net in YYZ. I cancelled my contract and went to pay as you go. So much cheaper now, I'm glad to say.

I think I once when through £10 of credit in a month. That is the most ever for me.

I don't use my phone very often...

How about the smallest? Since September last year my cellphone bills have totalled about 36p 

I never use my British cellphone since I arrived in the US and sent three text messages to a friend whilst back in the UK at Xmas.

As it happens I got myself a US billed cellphone today. To be frank I hate cellphones, I've seen my brother become a slave to his with the thing glued to his ear, the same for my father who has had one since about 1985 when he was working in sales.

Just got my T Mobile bill through, a whopping £495.68   Wasnt a good idea taking it to California and then India   

T-Mobile have always had extortionate roaming rates  



Lee

Quoting KaiGywer (Reply 38): You guys are all amateurs Wink Last month I sent about 5500 text messaged (well, sent and received). Take a look at my usage so far this month (look at the dates):

One of my good friends it practicly obsessed with text messaging (she runs AIM on her phone). At the end of her bill a week ago she had over 65,000 txt messages sent/recieved. As for me, I'm usually just a little over 500.

Quoting UAalltheway (Reply 45): One of my good friends it practicly obsessed with text messaging (she runs AIM on her phone). At the end of her bill a week ago she had over 65,000 txt messages sent/recieved. As for me, I'm usually just a little over 500.

I can see that happen. Now if they had MSN, we would be talking...lol

Oh, good thing T-Mobile has their unlimited msg plan

Last July my bill was about $600, due to someone calling me from the office phone and not their cell phone, because of time differences.

Luckily my wife believed the excuse I gave her   and the other person is long gone. Now all my friends are in my own area and most of the time we only talk in work.

personal phone bill is usaully around $68 for one phone and around $106 for the other on a monthly basis.

worst ever was a bill for one month totally $2100 because i spent a few weeks in london and zurich for work and was having to make all my calls from my blackberry. i didnt have to pay since it was a work related thing. thank goodness.

I spend the last month the excessive amount of US$5 [approximately]  

Just last month, even though T-Mobile gave me an extra 200 minutes free, I ran up an extra hundred bucks or so (usually $35 for 300 min +unlimited text).
One time deal, hopefully. (I was the guy who started that "My best friend killed herself" thread. Lotsa extra calls!)

I got you all beat. Back about a summer ago, I had a bill for $4000 US dollars. Something about roaming being on the whole time. Talk about a shocker. I one day got a piece of mail from Verizon, opened it, and looked inside, only to find a bill for a whopping 4 G's. And that was for only a month. I called em up, and sort of got it straightened around, they knocked the majority of charges off my account. Needless to say, I'm not with Verizon anymore.

-Copa

I was vacationing in Hawaii, meeting some family for the first time. I was told that I had a sister close to my age living in Pheonix. Well, someone found her number and I called her up out of the blue on my cell. We chatted until my battery died - about 2 hours. The bill for that one call came to almost $500 CAD.

Hawaiian roaming charges - $200
Canadian (Telus) out of area usage charges - $200
Long distance charges - $100
Getting to talk to my sister for the first time - Priceless.

(Though I was a bit peeved that I got charged out of area charges when I'm not even accessing my home network)

1011yyz, could be Verizon has a "border-blaster" tower, putting out a strong amount of signal over the water into Windsor, seeming stronger than Bell *DINGs* signal. However, what's odd is your phone with Bell has something caleld a PRL (Preferred Roaming List), that should have always favored Bell's network over Verizon's

By the way, if any of you guys have the Verizon Wireless Motorola V3c RAZR, there's a bug with it launching some very long data calls.. It should be a known bug, and you'll have to call Verizon to get it fixed. It usually makes a data call in the system, that is shown as active, even if your doing a voice call at the.. Same time!

-Mr. X

I buy text bundles from Virgin Mobile. They run over a 28 day period, and i usually go for the package which is £14 (400 texts a month). Good value really, all i usually ever do is text.