AfterDawn: News

Download Wall-E for just $62,000 Now!

A caller named Alberto told an incredible story to HLN money expert Clark Howard on CNN which emphasizes once again, the need to read fine print. Recently vacationing in Mexico, Alberto used his data card to download Wall-E for his nephew. When he returned home, he was shocked to receive a bill for $62,000 from his wireless carrier. The carrier lowered the cost to $17,000 when he contested it, saying that is what it cost to deliver the movie to him.

While that cost for downloading a movie is totally ridiculous whatever way you look at it, Alberto did make a huge mistake by not checking and activating roaming options for voice and data plans before he went traveling. Unfortunately, this is quite a common problem. There is another class action case brewing over a $2,000 bill received by an iPhone owner after using the service in Mexico.



The carriers insist that the roaming charges in other countries are extravagant and that they have to pass on the fees to the customers. So, again, remember to check your carrier's website or any information you got when you joined for roaming options before you leave.

Written by: James Delahunty @ 26 Apr 2009 13:01

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• 18 comments

• bryston

  So it is cheaper to use a land line based phone in other countries while visiting, correct ?

  26.4.2009 16:17 #1

• cdman2005

  the carrier shouldn't of reduced it to $17,000 they should of made him pay the full $62,000, although it is a huge amount of money its his fault that he didnt look at what the roaming charges would be before he left.

  26.4.2009 18:42 #2

• ripxrush

  what a dumb ass! technology is the wrong hands is dangerous! I don't just mean criminals hands but fools hands! people who don't understand it! I am curious if this was a legal download or not? My mom did a similar thing when roaming not checking her cell plan when leaving town!

  26.4.2009 19:32 #3

• beanos66

  $17014.99 still got to pay for the film :)

  26.4.2009 19:40 #4

• bomber991

  Originally posted by ripxrush: what a dumb ass! technology is the wrong hands is dangerous! I don't just mean criminals hands but fools hands! people who don't understand it! I am curious if this was a legal download or not? My mom did a similar thing when roaming not checking her cell plan when leaving town!It's pretty darn confusing to tell when you're roaming and when you're not. There should be notifications on your phone that say "Roaming, calls cost $5.00 per minute now"

  26.4.2009 21:50 #5

• dreamer2

  In cell phone options u can always turn off roaming ,thats what i did for my crappy sprint connection

  26.4.2009 22:16 #6

• kubapolak

  I'm happy that this got out. It just shows that some are too confused about what is going on and there needs to be a fool-proof way to help people use the savvy devices. Plainly speaking somebody is making top dollar for not fully educating the customer about their product.

  27.4.2009 00:54 #7

• KillerBug

  Let's assume he is using a sat-phone at $10 per minute...that is still over a day to download. Who would wait that long to a kid's movie?

  27.4.2009 02:14 #8

• mrp73

  Originally posted by cdman2005: the carrier shouldn't of reduced it to $17,000 they should of made him pay the full $62,000, although it is a huge amount of money its his fault that he didn't look at what the roaming charges would be before he left.I understand what you are saying but do you honestly think that because a person overlooked a rule in his contract he should run the risk of losing his home, his future outlook, his children's future education fund, and maybe the financial security that may be keeping things together at home. Financial difficulties can ruin a persons life and possibly his family life. Do you honestly in your heart think a person deserves that for this error. Seems a little harsh don't you think. I know if it happened to me it would destroy my entire financial situation. I understand that people need to be held responsible for their actions but how much should he pay for this? After all I know cell contracts are clear and in plain english for all the world to understand. I have worked for a major telecommunications company for 7 years. There are situations where kids got a hold of the phone one night and racked up 10's of thousand of dollars in one night calling 900 #'s. The kind of 900 # that charges a flat rate of $50-$100 per call even if you hang up after 1 second. I know that parents need to be responsible but do you think that mom, dad, and the whole family should be destroyed because of a kids one night of curiosity. There are ramifications and there is just plain cruelty. Where is the line?

  27.4.2009 03:19 #9

• EnigmaCM

  Originally posted by KillerBug: Let's assume he is using a sat-phone at $10 per minute...that is still over a day to download. Who would wait that long to a kid's movie?
  An idiot. Not that I support piracy but couldn't he had bought either the full movie or a bootleg instead? Serve's him right for being charged that amount, does not make it right he was charged so much but he should of read the fine print.

  27.4.2009 10:31 #10

• EnigmaCM

  Quote:Originally posted by cdman2005: the carrier shouldn't of reduced it to $17,000 they should of made him pay the full $62,000, although it is a huge amount of money its his fault that he didn't look at what the roaming charges would be before he left.I understand what you are saying but do you honestly think that because a person overlooked a rule in his contract he should run the risk of losing his home, his future outlook, his children's future education fund, and maybe the financial security that may be keeping things together at home. Financial difficulties can ruin a persons life and possibly his family life. Do you honestly in your heart think a person deserves that for this error. Seems a little harsh don't you think. I know if it happened to me it would destroy my entire financial situation. I understand that people need to be held responsible for their actions but how much should he pay for this? After all I know cell contracts are clear and in plain english for all the world to understand. I have worked for a major telecommunications company for 7 years. There are situations where kids got a hold of the phone one night and racked up 10's of thousand of dollars in one night calling 900 #'s. The kind of 900 # that charges a flat rate of $50-$100 per call even if you hang up after 1 second. I know that parents need to be responsible but do you think that mom, dad, and the whole family should be destroyed because of a kids one night of curiosity. There are ramifications and there is just plain cruelty. Where is the line?
  Should be no excuse for Alberto not to pay. For one, if you are on vacation, especially in Mexico, and you decide to use your cell phone/data card over there, you are already going to be charged and arm and a leg for doing so, even if you set up an international calling plan or if you think you can use your data card anywhere without any fees. Then, he is roaming. On top of that he decides to download on his data card while roaming while possibly on an expensive plan in another country where he could of actually bought a dvd for a few dollars and now he is whining because is being charged this amount. Sure, I agree it is an exaggerated amount but regardless he is responsible. All he had to say to his nephew was a no and he could of avoided everything.

  27.4.2009 10:40 #11

• EnigmaCM

  Originally posted by kubapolak: I'm happy that this got out. It just shows that some are too confused about what is going on and there needs to be a fool-proof way to help people use the savvy devices. Plainly speaking somebody is making top dollar for not fully educating the customer about their product.
  Completely agree with you but now a days a consumer needs to educate themselves since most companies either have poor customer service, do not provide information upfront, CAN have inept employees or expect for you to figure everything out. It is just a matter of educating yourself

  27.4.2009 10:43 #12

• XdjxedxdX

  Eh I've got Verizon im good lmao.
  But seriously theres no need to charge the guy even 17000.Thats just excess and be cause they can! I agree with MRP73.While he shouldve known he obviously didnt and to be charge A few hundred buck for bein plain oblivious sure but not 17 Grand.

  27.4.2009 10:57 #13

• inagasake

  There needs to be a system in place that would prevent outrageous charges like that. Like a bandwidth cap on how much data you can download on your cell phone when you are roaming/overseas (seriously, does anyone really need $17,000 worth of data??) I'm pretty sure that he's probably not going to be the only person who is burned on something like this. It was a dumb mistake but I don't think making one little mistake should bankrupt the guy.
  
  This is why I only do prepaid with cell phones. At least you know how much you are paying up front this way. Prepaid is expensive per minute but I don't talk on the cell phone that much. I just don't see the point of chatting so much with other people on the thing when you can do so with a landline phone for a reasonable flat monthly fee. And downloading movies on a cell phone is dumb. Who wants to watch a movie on a tiny little screen like that? Go rent the DVD for the kid.

  27.4.2009 11:05 #14

• locobrown

  He should have gotten the DVD version instead, its only worth 5 pesos. I'm not a huge fan of piracy, but Mexico discreetly allows the distribution of pirated goods. It's very common to see police buying pirated DVDs and CDs. The local government benefits from this because they collect a small percentage of the total goods sold by each media pirate. Walk into a small town, and when these pirates roll in a huge manifestation is demonstrated. My point is, why download? I say make him pay the full $62,000. No common sense. It seems that for this individual technology only reduces his IQ points and his understanding of fine print.

  27.4.2009 11:28 #15

• hermes_vb

  I am proposing a universal roaming symbol. Something a guy being kicked on the nuts or taking it in the rear. That should make it explicit.

  30.4.2009 13:27 #16

• mrp73

  Quote:Quote:Originally posted by cdman2005: the carrier shouldn't of reduced it to $17,000 they should of made him pay the full $62,000, although it is a huge amount of money its his fault that he didn't look at what the roaming charges would be before he left.I understand what you are saying but do you honestly think that because a person overlooked a rule in his contract he should run the risk of losing his home, his future outlook, his children's future education fund, and maybe the financial security that may be keeping things together at home. Financial difficulties can ruin a persons life and possibly his family life. Do you honestly in your heart think a person deserves that for this error. Seems a little harsh don't you think. I know if it happened to me it would destroy my entire financial situation. I understand that people need to be held responsible for their actions but how much should he pay for this? After all I know cell contracts are clear and in plain english for all the world to understand. I have worked for a major telecommunications company for 7 years. There are situations where kids got a hold of the phone one night and racked up 10's of thousand of dollars in one night calling 900 #'s. The kind of 900 # that charges a flat rate of $50-$100 per call even if you hang up after 1 second. I know that parents need to be responsible but do you think that mom, dad, and the whole family should be destroyed because of a kids one night of curiosity. There are ramifications and there is just plain cruelty. Where is the line?
  Should be no excuse for Alberto not to pay. For one, if you are on vacation, especially in Mexico, and you decide to use your cell phone/data card over there, you are already going to be charged and arm and a leg for doing so, even if you set up an international calling plan or if you think you can use your data card anywhere without any fees. Then, he is roaming. On top of that he decides to download on his data card while roaming while possibly on an expensive plan in another country where he could of actually bought a dvd for a few dollars and now he is whining because is being charged this amount. Sure, I agree it is an exaggerated amount but regardless he is responsible. All he had to say to his nephew was a no and he could of avoided everything.Again reminding you that I worked for a major communications company for 7 years and saw many circumstances. I can't tell you the amount of times a customer would express their needs and expectations (Basically their rules they want out of us before signing) only to have someone slam them just so they can get commission. They will say whatever you want to hear just to earn $10 commission. Maybe people should start drafting customer service agreements they expect the company to sign as well. After all don't individuals also have a right to have expectations. I can't see any company giving me large sums of money for violating my expectation clause I gave to them when I got slammed with false promises.

  30.4.2009 14:31 #17

• champman

  I don't have any sympathy for him. I legally got this film on release for £10/$15 on blu-ray, delivered in 2 days on morning for my children to watch in afternoon.

  2.5.2009 04:36 #18