Help Me Hank: Big Bill

Let's say you got a bill for more than $3000 -- what did you buy? A Hawaiian vacation? A really fancy watch One of those flat screen TVs?

Three thousand dollars would pay two months rent or get you 6000 doughnuts.

Eileen Morrell, Cell phone customer
"I was just dumbfounded when I got the bill."

But Eileen's $3000 bill wasn't for a vacation or jewelry or a lifetime supply of baked goods -- it was for one month of her daughter's cell phone use!

Eileen Morrell, Cell phone customer
"I was totally devastated."

Daughter Jess needed a cell phone--after all she was off to college in New York and needed to stay connected to her mom at home in Roslindale.

Eileen Morrell, Cell phone customer
"I just wanted to be able to get in touch with my daughter. That's the bottom line."

So she finally found a deal where Jess's calls home from NYC would be treated as local calls.

Eileen Morrell, Cell phone customer
"I just felt like I entrusted myself. He sold me a plan and I bought it."

So Jess moved into her dorm, and called her mom, and saw some Broadway shows and called her mom, went shopping called her mom, even studied! And called her mom. And then she noticed the phone said "roam". Jess called her mom.

Jess Morrell, Cell phone customer
"And I was like maybe you should call because its not supposed to say this. I knew something was wrong."

In fact, "roam" meant every time Jess called home she was charged a long distance rate.

Eileen Morrell, Cell phone customer
"I screamed, literally."

That's after the bill arrived.

Eileen Morrell, Cell phone customer
"I felt like this was a bad dream and I was stuck in it and it wasn’t going away."

But when she called the company to complain, they essentially hung up on her.

Eileen Morrell, Cell phone customer
"He didn’t care. He was like, ‘This is your phone bill. Just pay it.’"

That’s when she called "Help Me Hank".

So we called the company to see how who got which wires crossed and soon after they re-figured Jess's bill to the proper plan, that lowered her bill from $3000 to $100.

And now, even though Jess will soon leave home again for second semester, now calling from the big apple won't mean big bucks.

Eileen Morrell, Cell phone customer
"I can talk to her all the time, she can talk to me."

If you're picking a cell phone plan, make sure you explain your needs, get everything in writing, and check every bill to make sure your understand the charges.