Oct. 6 (Bloomberg) — Liz Szalay said she was shocked when she saw her 14-year-old son’s phone bill. Because he didn’t have a $30 data plan as part of his Verizon Wireless contract, he’d run up charges of $2,000 over two months for downloading songs.
“I would never have allowed my son to accrue such charges, if I had known,” said Szalay, a secretary in Niles, Michigan, who said she withdrew money from her 401(k) retirement plan to cover the expense. “What I did to prevent this from happening in the future was have his Internet access completely blocked by Verizon, but not before they made off with a boatload of money.”
The U.S. Federal Communications Commission may make it mandatory for carriers to warn customers before they get hit with high bills. Next week, the agency will consider requiring companies to alert customers when they approach limits on their contracts. Carriers including Verizon have fought against such requirements, saying they already give customers ways to monitor their usage.
Full Story: Surprise $2,000 Phone Bills Add to Scrutiny of Verizon, AT&T – BusinessWeek