Janice
03-01-2005, 08:08 PM
http://www.9news.com/acm_news.aspx?OSGNAME=KUSA&IKOBJECTID=5bb0ed38-0abe-421a-0010-b34094c5ae3f&TEMPLATEID=0c76dce6-ac1f-02d8-0047-c589c01ca7bf
Good intention turned costly for cell phone donor
ARVADA - The Rea family usually pays about $60 a month for their cell phone use. So, when they got a bill for $49,868, they thought it was just a mistake. "All of our calls are to California or local. Obviously, we didn't call Pakistan or India - ever," said Dave Rea. But the bill for January and part of February listed call after call to Pakistan, India, the United Kingdom and the United Arab Emirates.
The Reas then realized that the phone they thought they had deactivated was still active, when they dropped it in a fundraising donation bin at an Arvada elementary school last November. The company, "Cartridges for Kids," takes donated cell phones and sells them to recyclers who refurbish the phones and resell them. The Rea's phone ended up in Houston, Texas.
Dave Rea said he thought he had deactivated the phone and bought a new one at a kiosk at Colorado Mills shopping mall. Cingular/AT&T Wireless' regional director of public relations, Anne Marshall, said the Reas donated a live phone, never calling a customer service agent to deactivate the cell phone or suspend the service plan. But the company has agreed to waive the expensive phone bill.
"We do try to monitor calls," Marshall said. "We don't do it in all cases. Unfortunately, this is one we did not catch."
Marshall said it is up to the customer to make sure service has been deactivated and no personal information is left in the phone before it is discarded or donated.
Good intention turned costly for cell phone donor
ARVADA - The Rea family usually pays about $60 a month for their cell phone use. So, when they got a bill for $49,868, they thought it was just a mistake. "All of our calls are to California or local. Obviously, we didn't call Pakistan or India - ever," said Dave Rea. But the bill for January and part of February listed call after call to Pakistan, India, the United Kingdom and the United Arab Emirates.
The Reas then realized that the phone they thought they had deactivated was still active, when they dropped it in a fundraising donation bin at an Arvada elementary school last November. The company, "Cartridges for Kids," takes donated cell phones and sells them to recyclers who refurbish the phones and resell them. The Rea's phone ended up in Houston, Texas.
Dave Rea said he thought he had deactivated the phone and bought a new one at a kiosk at Colorado Mills shopping mall. Cingular/AT&T Wireless' regional director of public relations, Anne Marshall, said the Reas donated a live phone, never calling a customer service agent to deactivate the cell phone or suspend the service plan. But the company has agreed to waive the expensive phone bill.
"We do try to monitor calls," Marshall said. "We don't do it in all cases. Unfortunately, this is one we did not catch."
Marshall said it is up to the customer to make sure service has been deactivated and no personal information is left in the phone before it is discarded or donated.