A Calgary man is disputing a cellphone bill of nearly $85,000, claiming the phone company failed to tell him using his phone to surf the internet would cost so much. The Motorola Krzr model Piotr Staniaszek bought from Bell Mobility allows him to use the phone to connect with his computer; downloading data to the computer resulted in the shocking charges. "I didn"t know what to think. I thought there was probably a mistake," the 22-year-old oil-field worker said of the extraordinary total. A spokesman for Bell said the company will adjust Staniaszek"s bill in "a measure of goodwill." But he will still owe Bell more than $5,000.
A bill that large is extremely rare, spokesman Jacques Bouchard said. "What happened is that the client used the cellphone as a modem linking it directly to the computer and downloading huge files, ... high-res movies for instance." Staniaszek said he pays $10 a month for unlimited mobile browsing on his cellphone. "So I figured that was the same thing, but I guess not." After speaking to Bell about November charges of $65,000, Staniaszek said he was informed his bill had increased to nearly $85,000 after more downloading in December.