Talk about wasting paper... check this out (video)

[ReverendDeuce]

Maybe some of you have heard this before, but customers of AT&T are now getting their iPhone bills in the mail. It looks like AT&T is listing every since text message and period of data use on the bills and they are accordingly getting very, very large.

Here's a link to one gal with a 300 page AT&T bill that was delivered in a box:



http://www.tastyblogsnack.com/2007/08/13/iphone-bill/

Seriously... WTF is up with that, AT&T?

[Nomad559]

1. I saw that yesterday

From what I read, many people are getting these huge bills.

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070811-iphone-bill-is-surprisingly-xbox-huge-lol.html

As you enjoy your weekend, ponder this bit of humor: while the iPhone may be master of the digital mobile experience (for now), dead trees come in for a flogging, as AT&T's iPhone bills are quite impressive in their own right. We're starting to get bills for the iPhone here at Ars, and while many of us have had smartphones for some time, we've never seen a bill like this.

One of our bills is a whopping 52 pages long, and my own bill is 34 pages long. They're printed on both sides, too. What gives?

The AT&T bill itemizes your data usage whenever you surf the Internet via EDGE, even if you're signed up for the unlimited data plan. AT&T also goes into an incredible amount of detail to tell you—well, almost nothing. For instance, I know that on July 27 at 3:21 p.m. I had some data use that, under the To/From heading, AT&T has helpfully listed as "Data Transfer." The Type of file? "Data." My total charge? $0.00.

[Up2Late]

2. I heard about this on the PRI (Public Radio) program "Marketplace"...

...they interview another guy who got one that's only 45 pages. Gotta love that ATT/iPhone deal now!

Audio and Transcript at link: <http://marketplace.publicradio.org/shows/2007/08/15/PM200708153.html>

[rucognizant]

3. What's the bottom line?

How much are they charging on that 300 page bill?
And I thought Medicare/ + part D was bad! I am healthy, run up minimal Dr. charges yet they send me reems of paper.............

[trumad]

4. I have 5 phones on my account with Cingular/ATT

And it easily averages 50 pages. My kids don't have Text messaging on thier phones--- thank God---or the bill would be huge.

[enough]

5. Why in the world are they sending paper bills at all?

[Liberal In Texas]

6. As opposed to...? On line?

Not everybody has a computer, believe it or not.

Also, my wife, who pays the house bills on-line, went back to getting paper in the mail when there were too many problems with different places paying on-line and no paper trail. She feels better having a paper back-up to the on-line statement.

[FormerDittoHead]

7. iPhones have integrated web browsers, so even if they don't have a PC...

HOWEVER, I *DO* get printed statements from my bank and credit cards....

[VLC]

8. Certain companies are REQUIRED to send paper bills by mail even if you sign up for electronic bills

Banks, mortgage companies, etc. I found this out when I signed up for electronic and then tried to complain I was still getting paper. You get both.

[MessiahRp]

9. I guess the question I have is...

How much did a 300 page bill cost? If she had that much usage, AT&T must have charged her a crazy amount. I got their $14.95 Media Net plan that's supposed to cover 1MB of data. Apparently the first time I went to MySpace with it, nevermind that the cellphone browser was shit and could not log in, put me over. Without realizing it and finding out my phone didn't connect to hardly any websites that I would normally go to, I had a $173 bill. Pretty ridiculous if you ask me.

Now it's phone calls and voicemail and that's it for me. Cingular/AT&T's rates are nuts.

Rp

[orleans]

10. maybe at&t want to give the customer all the data they are turning over to

the spy agency

at&t: spying on you like never before!

http://www.eff.org/legal/cases/att/

http://www.buzzflash.com/articles/contributors/1232

[onehandle]

11. I want to point out that this is AT&T's fault, not Apple. It's the AT&T bill.

I cut off my paper bill and can view it online.