This article was originally published by Technorati on 1 May 2010. To see all my Technorati articles, click Lifestyle in the Contents listing on the sidebar.
Most of us have been there: shouting into the phone at some poor, underpaid "customer service representative" who was with us shortly. No doubt a great deal of acrimony has been exchanged in the case of Bob and Mary St. Germain over an
$18,000 Verizon cell phone bill racked up by their son back in 2006. The account remains in dispute.
To be fair, the St. Germain's have a few good points. First, wireless contracts are indecipherable gibberish. Hard to argue with this one; their purpose is to confuse the customer.
Second, experts say unlimited data plans are marketed by other companies for $30 a month. Another good point. If that's the case, its hard to imagine how $18,000 could be fair a price.
Third, the St. Germains say they were unaware that they had just gone off a promotional plan under which data downloads were free. Verizon reps admit this contention, though Verizon claims the St. Germains were duly warned of the expiration of the promotion when the patriarch of the family renewed his wireless contract with the company a short time before the bill came--nothing like a reverse signing bonus, is there?
Word didn't make it to their son, however, who continued to download songs at a respectable clip.
, Number 48:
