Can you hear me? Calif. teen racks up $21,900 cell bill

[Nagishkaw 510]

When Ted Estarija of Hayward, Calif., added his 13-year-old son to his Verizon account, he thought it would cost him an additional $50 a month. He had the phone company restrict his son's calls and texts.

Dad forgot about downloads.

Estarija, who recently lost his job, now owes Verizon $21,917.59. His bill shows that his son downloaded 1.5 million kilobytes of data.

"I was completely caught off guard," Estarija told KTVU-TV in Oakland. "This is outrageous. It seems like it comes to almost $100 a minute. There's no way I can pay this, so [i'll do] whatever I can to get this resolved."

He said his son is not entirely at fault. "I put more blame on Verizon than anybody. They shouldn't allow this to happen."

A Verizon spokeswoman told the station the company would work with Estarija to resolve the bill.

But Estarija said he's more concerned about his son, who has become despondent over the financial trouble and emotional distress he's caused his father.

http://content.usatoday.com/communities/on...00-cell-bill-/1

[john & jean 37]

a trip to the wood shed for a good ol' country azz whoopin?

[Nizzy 1]

I don't think Verizon is at fault at all. Why does your 13 year old need a cell phone when you recently got laid off? I would NEVER EVER NEVER EVER add anyone to my cell plan. I had my MIL on it once (hubby said he would pay the bill) and we got a bill that was equal to our car payment. That was all it took and off she went.

[Marilyn. 340]

I don't think Verizon is at fault at all. Why does your 13 year old need a cell phone when you recently got laid off? I would NEVER EVER NEVER EVER add anyone to my cell plan. I had my MIL on it once (hubby said he would pay the bill) and we got a bill that was equal to our car payment. That was all it took and off she went.

well I am assuming he gave his son the phone before he lost his job.. it said in the article that he recently lost his job...

[SuperDuper! 230]

Dad needs to pay the bill. He cheaped out and did not get son a $15/month cell phone internet plan. Son has no idea what it costs to use the internet, he just logs in to commune with his Emo pals.

[Ban Hammer 13,634]

Estarija, who recently lost his job, now owes Verizon $21,917.59. His bill shows that his son downloaded 1.5 million kilobytes of data.

that's a lot of porn!

[Nagishkaw 510]

[Nizzy 1]

I don't think Verizon is at fault at all. Why does your 13 year old need a cell phone when you recently got laid off? I would NEVER EVER NEVER EVER add anyone to my cell plan. I had my MIL on it once (hubby said he would pay the bill) and we got a bill that was equal to our car payment. That was all it took and off she went.

well I am assuming he gave his son the phone before he lost his job.. it said in the article that he recently lost his job...

That is true...but I wasn't thinking recent as in a week ago.

[mawilson 2,133]

Estarija, who recently lost his job, now owes Verizon $21,917.59. His bill shows that his son downloaded 1.5 million kilobytes of data.

that's a lot of porn!

Of course, he could have paid $29.99 for an unlimited data plan instead of paying per KB.

[thongd4me 69]

Father Guido Sarducci says:

10 hail Marys for the son and some weed for the dad...

[slim 1,533]

Wow. And yes, that is a lot of porn.

What they need to do is start telling 13-year-olds "back in my day, we didn't have cell phones. And we rode our bikes. And we played outside. We weren't obese because we didn't have junk food to eat. Oh, and no video games. If we wanted to play those we had to ride our bikes to the store and drop quarters in the machine. Where'd we get the quarters? From our FULL TIME JOBS!"

Most kids nowadays need a good @$$-whoopin. Then again, so do most dads. I'm constantly amazed by our culture's willingness to celebrate the simple act of reproduction as if it's some grand achievement. So you had a kid? WOW! You really are special. Oh, I'm sorry... you had FIVE kids! You're really doing something with your life. Way to go! No, I don't mind working my @$$ off to pay for them... that's your right, isn't it? Once again, great job!

[SuperDuper! 230]

Estarija, who recently lost his job, now owes Verizon $21,917.59. His bill shows that his son downloaded 1.5 million kilobytes of data.

that's a lot of porn!

Of course, he could have paid $29.99 for an unlimited data plan instead of paying per KB.

Maw, I already covered this point, and you get the all-you-can-eat cell phone internet plan for even $15.00 on most carriers. Dad is to blame for NOT thinking that his son wont use CP internet to commune with his Emo Crew.

[slim 1,533]

We can't start holding parents accountable for the actions of their children, can we?

[DARUMA07 25]

Blaming Verizon for his lack of parenting...jeez!

[Niels Bohr 72]

If the account has been in good standing prior, most times Verizon would just remove those charges. It takes about 2-4 weeks to have it removed. Verizon has been good with stuff like this in the past. They would issue a warning the first time it happens, remove the charges. The second time, they would not take it off.