Who knew movies and e-mail could cost you $10,000? Weyburn resident John Gibson learned this lesson the hard way recently. The welder found out his family had ran a $10,668.39 Internet bill while on a trip to Phoenix, Ariz.
Who knew movies and e-mail could cost you $10,000? Weyburn resident John Gibson learned this lesson the hard way recently. The welder found out his family had ran a $10,668.39 Internet bill while on a trip to Phoenix, Ariz.
The family had taken a laptop outfitted with a mobile air stick so they could access the web. Gibson's grandchildren, Rebecca, Jayden, and Sawyer, then used the computer to watch movies while on holiday.
The Weyburn man said that the computer was used "quite a bit everyday."
"All the time someone was on the computer, watching movies, or checking e-mails, or Googling something," Gibson added.
Two weeks later Gibson received his bill. When he saw the enormous sum, he thought that it was a joke.
"I started laughing. When I got the bill I was in the office at the time, and I showed it to a couple of guys like 'ha-ha, look what happened to me'," Gibson said.
When Gibson contacted SaskTel, he learned there was no comedy involved. The bill was completely correct.
"I told him that it must be fraud, but the SaskTel guy said that with roaming charges, that it was due to what we had done," said Gibson.
Gibson and his family had no idea roaming charges would be that high. They went down to Arizona with only their plan for Saskatchewan, without a backup plan for trips down south.
When this was explained to another SaskTel representative, the bill was reduced by $9,600. Gibson is fine with paying the $1,000 that he still owes.
"I didn't think about (the roaming costs), and because of that it was my fault," Gibson explained.
There is one important lesson Gibson has learned from this experience.
"The next time I'm going down to the States I'm either not taking an air stick or I'll look for a plan down there," Gibson stated.
