I went overseas for 10 days. They charged me US$3-4 per minute in roaming charges. Got home to a HUGE cell bill. US$2000 and change. My normal usage is about US$250 a month.
I called to complain. I’d made some calls on previous trips, and the bill was never more than a few hundred dollars extra, and charged at US$1 per minute. Taiwan Cellular responded with “Your calls were made on the AT&T network, which charges high rates for roaming. There is nothing we can do.” I asked for a payment plan, they refused.
I’ve got another cell phone that I use, so I don’t need this one. I’d try and walk away from this one after paying what I think I should owe, but the account was set up through a local friend whom I don’t want to harm.
Is there any sort of appeal process I can work through here? I’ve got the money, but damn, this is ridiculous.
Sanctimonious replies along the lines of “you should take responsibility for your mistakes” are not welcome. I do pay my bills, and I do take responsibility for my mistakes. In this case, I’m getting ripped off, and I’m wondering what I can do about it.
That’s a monstrous ripoff, totally appalling! It’s hard to see what you can do about it, but it would probably be worth giving a call to the Consumer Protection Foundation to see if they can offer any helpful suggestions (there are likely to have been many complaints similar to yours in the past, and the CPF might have taken or be in the process of taking some action to challenge them on it).
In which case you would first need to prove that you were ripped off. If Taiwan Cellular did bill you according to the correct charging rates then it’s not a rip-off but your fault for not being aware of those charges beforehand.
That said roaming charges do indeed depend on the foreign network operator and what agreement your home network operator has with them, i.e. it can greatly differ even you roam in the same country (but on different networks).
The only fault by TCC I see is that they refuse to provide you with the payment plan.
I would hold back any judgement / accusation until then.
BTW: I just called the customer service for the fun of it and asked about the roaming charges in the US.
Without mentioning it he advised me not to use the AT&T network as this would be very expensive.
If there was a rip-off it was by AT&T - TCC just passed on the charges and Tomas is at fault for not enquiring about the charges beforehand. Thus I see no reason to blame TCC nor any grounds for refusing payment to them.
If there was a rip-off it was by AT&T - TCC just passed on the charges and Tomas is at fault for not enquiring about the charges beforehand. Thus I see no reason to blame TCC nor any grounds for refusing payment to them.[/quote]
Thanks to Rascal for finding those links for me.
I did in fact receive an itemized bill. In some cases, I was charged more than double the posted rates. I will not take it lying down, will find some way to file an appeal.
I can’t refuse to pay because the account was opened under a friend’s name and I don’t want to harm that person’s credit. Remember that in Taiwan, ARC holders don’t qualify for an account under their own name (unless you’ve had it for a while and you get the original account holder to officially transfer to your name–that might be the way to go, if they’ll let me at this point).
I am willing to pay at the posted rates, but not at double the posted rates. I’ll let you know how it works out.
If there was a rip-off it was by AT&T - TCC just passed on the charges and Tomas is at fault for not enquiring about the charges beforehand. Thus I see no reason to blame TCC nor any grounds for refusing payment to them.[/quote]
Thanks to Rascal for finding those links for me.
I did in fact receive an itemized bill. In some cases, I was charged more than double the posted rates. I will not take it lying down, will find some way to file an appeal.
I can’t refuse to pay because the account was opened under a friend’s name and I don’t want to harm that person’s credit. Remember that in Taiwan, ARC holders don’t qualify for an account under their own name (unless you’ve had it for a while and you get the original account holder to officially transfer to your name–that might be the way to go, if they’ll let me at this point).
I am willing to pay at the posted rates, but not at double the posted rates. I’ll let you know how it works out.[/quote]
My guess is that you could really only appeal to AT&T, and they will tell you to take a hike (I am an VERY ex-AT&T customer in all ways). You might think about a pre-paid card, a lot of ARC holders get around the no-cell-phones-for-irresponsible-foreign-devil-children-of-dawgs rule that way.
[quote=“Tomas”][
I can’t refuse to pay because the account was opened under a friend’s name and I don’t want to harm that person’s credit. Remember that in Taiwan, ARC holders don’t qualify for an account under their own name (unless you’ve had it for a while and you get the original account holder to officially transfer to your name–that might be the way to go, if they’ll let me at this point).
I am willing to pay at the posted rates, but not at double the posted rates. I’ll let you know how it works out.[/quote]
I got my phone with my ARC. I think I had to pay a deposit that locals don’t have to pay but that was okay with me. My phone is through Fareastone. I didn’t have anyone use their name in order to do so. Some of the first places I walked into told me to get a friend. I didn’t have a friend since I’d just arrived and I didn’t see the point since I had an ARC. This thing about guarantors and cell phones seems mythical to me.
