Customers Pay For Lost Cell Calls

(CBS)  There are few things we Americans depend on more than our cell phones, and few things we lose more often. In New York, cell phones are the most frequently lost items on the subways.

But losing a cell phone can cost you a lot more than the price of the phone, reports CBS News correspondent John Blackstone.

While Wendy Nguyen was away on vacation, she didn't realize back home in San Francisco her cell phone had been stolen and someone was running up a huge bill.

"It was to places like Guatemala, El Salvador, places that I obviously had never called before," says Nguyen.

Her usual bill is under $50. This one was over $26,000 and her carrier, Cingular Wireless, demanded payment.

"Our customers are responsible for unauthorized charges before they contact Cingular," says Lauren Garner of Cingular

In Chicago, Lauren Ortosky didn't know her cell phone had been stolen until she was charged $4,000 for calls to Europe and Africa. Her mother called the provider, T-Mobile.

"They said, 'Listen honey, we see this all the time. Just pay it and be more careful next time,'" says Maureen Ortosky.

By law, if you lose your credit card, your liability is limited to just $50. But the same laws don't apply to cell phones — and cell phone companies like it that way.

Geoff Brown of the California Public Utilities Commission pushed hard for a cell phone customers' bill of rights. He was defeated, he says, by a politically powerful industry.

"They want no regulation. I was disgusted by the pressure," Brown says. "But I understood where it was coming from — enormous financial contributions that are made to politicians."

John Walls speaks for the cell phone industry, which, he says, serves consumers well without regulation.

"Some legislators think we need a law for everything," Walls says. "We have delivered a product that people love. That's why we have nearly 200 million subscribers right now."

But the Better Business Bureau gets more complaints about cell phone companies than any other business. Still, no state regulations protect consumers.

"I consider it a crime against the public," Brown says.

The industry says it tries hard to keep customers happy. But Cingular pursued Wendy Nguyen for months for $26,000. Only after she told her story to CBS station KPIX-TV in San Francisco did Cingular drop the charges.

And after Lauren Ortosky told CBS station WBBM-TV in Chicago about her $4,000 bill, T-Mobile cut it to $1,200.

[mehmoodh]

I was a customer of T-Mobile, and they are currently charging me $25,571.14 for one month's phone bill.

I was in South Africa in May 2011, where I was assaulted by three people in Johannesburg and lost my phone to them along with other belongings and valuables. I filed a police report and when I arrived back in the US, I closed down the number at the first available opportunity.

I then got a call from T-Mobile. Apparently, my bill for the that billing cycle is $25,571.14 for roaming charges. I told them that I was mugged and have an affidavit for the police report handy, and they said they will look into it. I faxed a copy of the report to them as well. Then I kept getting automated follow up calls, and none of the callers knew the history on the case. The departments that were supposed to get back to me never did, and whenever I called T-Mobile to follow up myself, they told me that concerned departments that I had spoken to earlier will get back to me and I cannot call them directly.

Now T-Mobile has transferred the bill to a collections agency, Diversified Consultants. The agency called me and I ensured they was aware of the circumstances in which the charges were incurred. They also threatened me with reporting me to credit bureaus.

Neither T-Mobile or the collections agency have disputed my evidence, so knowing that I am not responsible and knowing fully well that a charge of this amount can be crippling for an average person, they continue to harass me. It is exploitative that a phone company is charging an individual $25,571.14 for a month's bill knowing that the individual didn't incur those charges and especially when the actual cost of international calls is a fraction of the bill in reality.

I have filed a complaint with FCC. I am told that telecoms companies have been successful in lobbying against any consumer liability protection similar to what exists for credit cards. Something needs to be done about it.