Mythbusters’ Adam Savage Hammered by Roaming Fees

Terry Olaes

Terry Olaes

I Used to be the [H] News Guy
Joined
Nov 27, 2006
Messages
4,646
We’ve all felt the bite of an unexpected fee and celebs are no different. Mythbusters’ Adam Savage did a bit of web surfing while up in Canada and has an $11,000 international roaming fee from AT&T to show for it. I don’t think there are any experiments to bust this one.

Now there will be some who say that he should have read the fine print, but considering just how often these sorts of stories pop up, at some point it's worth noting that the fine print isn't working. And... even if you grant the "fine print" premise, it's hard for anyone to figure out how these international roaming rates make any sense whatsoever.
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Mythbusters used to be cool, but now it just sucks and has way too many re-runs. I call this justice. hehehe.
 
I still like it :) The rep SF and it is still very entertaining.
I just watch the new episodes I record on my DVR though!

About the roaming thing, I feel like there should be a warning on the phone before you start using the internet in international or "roaming" areas that says "You are not within your data plan area, you will be charged extra roaming fees....do you wish to proceed?"

But of course they will never have that, even though I am sure its EXTREMELY easy to implement because they bank on people making the mistake and racking up huge bills.
 
CopyCat said:
I still like it :) The rep SF and it is still very entertaining.
I just watch the new episodes I record on my DVR though!

About the roaming thing, I feel like there should be a warning on the phone before you start using the internet in international or "roaming" areas that says "You are not within your data plan area, you will be charged extra roaming fees....do you wish to proceed?"

But of course they will never have that, even though I am sure its EXTREMELY easy to implement because they bank on people making the mistake and racking up huge bills.
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My phone tells me that "welcome to mexico, you are now in a roaming zone"
This usually happens when im in areas that have bad reception on the coast close to mexico and i start to catch mexican cell towers. lol.

Either way, when you're roaming in another country... (atleast with verizon) it lets you know you're gonna pay for it.
 
Here are his TWEETS about the event:
1. And I got the "data is charged at .015 cents, or a penny and a half, per kb". About to try to explain the difference to them. Sigh. 3 minutes ago from web
2. They're claiming I uploaded/downloaded 9 million kilobytes (9 gigs) while in Canada. Frakking impossible. 5 minutes ago from web
3. @sleepingbri you read it right. $11,000.00 about 1 hour ago from web in reply to sleepingbri
4. Did I mention they've turned off my phone until I pay? #attsucks about 1 hour ago from web
5. Almost forgot: Hey AT&T! I will fight this bullshit. about 1 hour ago from web
6. Text messaging fees are stupid robbery? (they are), AT&T is attempting to charge me 11k for a few hours of web surfing in Canada. Pls RT! about 1 hour ago from web
7. @virgiliocorrado I believe the RIAA to be a bunch of venal idiots. I don't think much of the MPAA either for that matter. 2:23 PM Jun 24th from TwitterFon
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HAHA they claim 9gigs of transfers in canada.....while I think it IS possible, it is HIGHLY unlikely especially on a data card...he would have had to be uploading/downloading every second he was there
 
AT&T already agreed to remove the charges from his bill....I guess the press they got yesterday and this morning was to much for them..:)
 
I remember a story of a guy that asked (And indeed it was in his contract) that it would cost him "Point Oh One Cents" (0.01 cents) per text message internationally.

And the morons (this was all recorded and posted to YouTube or something- I don't remember) and even THE MANAGERS didn't know the difference between "Point Oh One Cents" and "Point Oh One Dollars". They even flat out said it was the same thing.

0.01 cents would take 100 of those to make one cent.
0.01 dollars would take 100 of those to make one dollar.
 
RussianHAXOR said:
Either way, when you're roaming in another country... (atleast with verizon) it lets you know you're gonna pay for it.
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ahh...well I was not aware :) Is it like a POP-UP on the foam that you have to "accept" before the roaming fees start? I guess I have never even really taken my US phone overseas to use...at least not the sim card :) The beauty of an unlocked phone...
 
Betaboy1983 said:
Mythbusters used to be cool, but now it just sucks and has way too many re-runs. I call this justice. hehehe.
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Mythbusters started to suck when they brought in those 3 morons. So many of the tests those 3 did were absolutely flawed that I just couldn't watch anymore. Kinda takes away the whole reason for the show when they can't test their myths properly.

Crosshairs said:
AT&T already agreed to remove the charges from his bill....I guess the press they got yesterday and this morning was to much for them..:)
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I hope Adam goes after AT&T, that company should not be allowed to operate in this country. They are one of the biggest abusers of their monopoly in the US (about the only ones I hate more are the RIAA/MPAA).
 
TechieSooner said:
I remember a story of a guy that asked (And indeed it was in his contract) that it would cost him "Point Oh One Cents" (0.01 cents) per text message internationally.

And the morons (this was all recorded and posted to YouTube or something- I don't remember) and even THE MANAGERS didn't know the difference between "Point Oh One Cents" and "Point Oh One Dollars". They even flat out said it was the same thing.

0.01 cents would take 100 of those to make one cent.
0.01 dollars would take 100 of those to make one dollar.
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I was thinking the same thing...

1. And I got the "data is charged at .015 cents, or a penny and a half, per kb". About to try to explain the difference to them. Sigh. 3 minutes ago from web
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That would be 15 thousandths of a penny not a penny and a half. MythBusted?? Maybe AT&T did a double stupid and moved the decimal the other way? *shrug*

Maybe this is for that whole CellPhones could cause problems on airplanes myth :D

I'm glad he twittered about this, I was going to say isn't there any sense of privacy with how much one owes on your bill.
 
Never had this happen myself but the sad part is it's so obviously a scam intended to milk money out of consumers and in the end because it happened to a "celebrity" Adam Savage (who can actually afford to pay the charges) and will get worldwide recognition AT&T immediately removes the charges and tries to sweep it under the rug so noone hears about it.

What happens to Joe Q Public who doesn't have the outlet to publicize this? It's crap like this that puts these companies in jeopardy in the long run, people get fed up with it and stop supporting the companies and in the end the government bails em out with billlions of Joe Q Publics aka taxpayer dollars to keep them in business and then company claims bankruptcy and rips off the government too...oh sweet justice, if only it wasn't our money the government was playing with...

Sorry for the rant this just struck a nerve for some reason...
 
He got his money back, so good for him, but you've got to be an idiot not to think about roaming charges when you leave the country....and he's got a GSM phone, so WTH didn't he just get a prepaid SIM for Canada?

Sorry, but the charges are outrageous, but this isn't the same as the guy who was charged international rates while in Florida. That was AT&T's fault.

Nevertheless, 11k in roaming fees is unbelievably high.
 
Betaboy1983 said:
Mythbusters used to be cool, but now it just sucks and has way too many re-runs. I call this justice. hehehe.
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I notice this on Discovery (Canada) a lot... same 10 episodes over and over, but the show has like 6 seasons now.... figure that out!
 
EXreaction said:
Mythbusters started to suck when they brought in those 3 morons.
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You're referring to Kari Byron, the Asian and that other guy? I'll agree with you 33.3% -- Kari Byron is gorgeous.

If only TiVo could detect when Kari isn't in frame so it would just skip over those parts...
 
Kari is hot yes, but the last episode I had she was quite fat (ok pregnant) and yeah, I don't care what anyone says that's not hot.

Tori (the dude) is a moron, but so is Kari, I think they keep these two around simply to make things look cool with their set-design knowledge.

Grant (the asian) is the only one who seems to have a lick of knowledge, the guy obviously is technically and mechanically talented. I think he should simply be a sidekick to Jamie & Adam.

Also I noticed, they don't all do myth's anymore, Jamie & Adam do theirs, and the 3 stooges do others on their own. Wonder if there's some prima donna attitudes going on.
 
phide said:
You're referring to Kari Byron, the Asian and that other guy? I'll agree with you 33.3% -- Kari Byron is gorgeous.

If only TiVo could detect when Kari isn't in frame so it would just skip over those parts...
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Yeah but now she got knocked up so there is just no reason.
 
These roaming "fees" are really stupid. Does it actually cost the cell phone companies that much extra to route data overseas? I think not. The towers don't know or care whether your phone (SIM card, actually) is from the United States or Mexico; they still do the same thing with the radio traffic.

CopyCat said:
ahh...well I was not aware :) Is it like a POP-UP on the foam that you have to "accept" before the roaming fees start?
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Sorry, but I have to lol at "foam" for "phone." That takes the term "typo" to a whole new level. :D

EXreaction said:
Mythbusters started to suck when they brought in those 3 morons. So many of the tests those 3 did were absolutely flawed that I just couldn't watch anymore. Kinda takes away the whole reason for the show when they can't test their myths properly..
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I love the build team! They may not be scientifically accurate, but they're incredibly fun to watch. And it is supposed to be a show primarily for entertainment.
 
phide said:
I'll agree with you 33.3% -- Kari Byron is gorgeous.
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My math blows. I actually agree 66.6%.

sfsuphysics said:
Kari is hot yes, but the last episode I had she was quite fat (ok pregnant) and yeah, I don't care what anyone says that's not hot.
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Depends. I seem to be at the stage in my life where all I have on my mind is "I NEED TO CREATE AS MANY OFFSPRING AS POSSIBLE IN THE SHORTEST AMOUNT OF TIME", so I do find pregnant women to be pretty appealing. I figure this phase'll pass eventually.
 
The math doesn't add up:

9 million kb * .015 = $135,000. even if it was .0015/kb, that's $13,500

I miss Scotty. She's a certified welder, likes cars and machinery, plays in a rock band and still looks hot!
 
you know, theres a setting so your phone doesnt jump onto "roaming" and you can avoid all these fees, lets face it the phone lets you know you're roaming(annoying beeps every few seconds), and if you think roaming is the same charges you deserve to get charged up the wazoo
 
phide said:
My math blows. I actually agree 66.6%.


Depends. I seem to be at the stage in my life where all I have on my mind is "I NEED TO CREATE AS MANY OFFSPRING AS POSSIBLE IN THE SHORTEST AMOUNT OF TIME", so I do find pregnant women to be pretty appealing. I figure this phase'll pass eventually.
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You dig the pregnant chicks you sick bastard. ;)
 
CopyCat said:
ahh...well I was not aware :) Is it like a POP-UP on the foam that you have to "accept" before the roaming fees start? I guess I have never even really taken my US phone overseas to use...at least not the sim card :) The beauty of an unlocked phone...
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Actually, the verizon network sends me a text message informing me of the fees, etc.
 
I dunno, last time I accidentally went over $100 on my data usage, which was totally FIDO's fault, I got a text message. And then they simply reversed the charges.

But to sit on $11,000 dollar bill is just low. Nobody wants/expects to pay that.

The second he hit $100+ he shoulda gotten a call/txt/notice.
 
CopyCat said:
Here are his TWEETS about the event:


HAHA they claim 9gigs of transfers in canada.....while I think it IS possible, it is HIGHLY unlikely especially on a data card...he would have had to be uploading/downloading every second he was there
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9 gigs is cake walk on broadband cards.


He should have known better. When I was in Canada a couple weeks ago, I saw Rogers appear on my phone, immediately I was prompted that I will be charged for foreign data transfers. You could ignore the message if you wanted, which is what I did. The difference is here that I actually remembered the message.


People argue that it happens to a lot of people so perhaps it's not the fine print. Well, refute this: People run the stop lights daily, on accident or intentional.... and there is no fine print, there is bold letter print and everyone knows the consequences... but it still happens more than we care about.
 
Vorazan said:
I dunno, last time I accidentally went over $100 on my data usage, which was totally FIDO's fault, I got a text message. And then they simply reversed the charges.

But to sit on $11,000 dollar bill is just low. Nobody wants/expects to pay that.

The second he hit $100+ he shoulda gotten a call/txt/notice.
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Yeah... i agree. Verizon is actually pretty good about that too. Their computer system calls you when you're on track to go over your minutes. Im actually really satisfied with them in that sense. There are other things i hate about them though. :p
 
Ever notice that it's almost always AT&T that's the service provider when cases like these come up?
 
At least EU is doing some good trying to set a maximum limit to cell phones, wireless internet and such. At least while traveling within the EU.

I never use such things when I'm abroad. If I need to call I use a pre paid card that give you many, many hours for $10.
 
^ Yep, that's at least going in the right way. Unexpected bills like these are just ridiculous. The carriers are really robbing customers.
 
RussianHAXOR said:
Yeah... i agree. Verizon is actually pretty good about that too. Their computer system calls you when you're on track to go over your minutes. Im actually really satisfied with them in that sense.
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Nice :)

Down here they give you a certain amount for cheap, and if you go over it's around 100x the price for each extra megabyte you use, with no warnings. Most providers don't even have a way to find out how much you've actually used :p That way they can make lots of cash via the customers who slip up and go slightly over :(
 
RussianHAXOR said:
Yeah... i agree. Verizon is actually pretty good about that too. Their computer system calls you when you're on track to go over your minutes. Im actually really satisfied with them in that sense. There are other things i hate about them though. :p
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Verizon didn't call me. Instead I received a nice lil addition to my bill in the sum of $25 for going 50 minutes over.

Thankfully the company I worked for during the month when I went over is reviewing my bill and is gonna reimburse me for those charges.
 
86 5.0L said:
you know, theres a setting so your phone doesnt jump onto "roaming" and you can avoid all these fees, lets face it the phone lets you know you're roaming(annoying beeps every few seconds), and if you think roaming is the same charges you deserve to get charged up the wazoo
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No...actually, you don't. It's thinking like this that allows these companies to get away with crap like this in the first place.

They're blatantly overcharging people and too many people think the customer "deserves" it because he or she had the temerity to go outside of the coverage area without being technically proficient.

And that's as bullshit as the charges are.
 
HOCP4ME said:
These roaming "fees" are really stupid. Does it actually cost the cell phone companies that much extra to route data overseas? I think not. The towers don't know or care whether your phone (SIM card, actually) is from the United States or Mexico; they still do the same thing with the radio traffic.
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I don't know what type of agreement AT&T has, but in order for you to roam off network, there has to be a roaming agreement between your carrier and the carrier that owns the towers you're roaming on. What they charge per minute or per KB is negotiated, but are typically between $0.02 and $0.05 per minute for domestic roaming. How much the central clearing house (the company that determines how much AT&T owes Verizon or how much Verizon Owes AT&T each month) I'm not sure.
 
TechieSooner said:
I remember a story of a guy that asked (And indeed it was in his contract) that it would cost him "Point Oh Two Cents" (0.01 cents) per kilobyte of data sent/recieved.

And the morons (this was all recorded and posted to YouTube or something- I don't remember) and even THE MANAGERS didn't know the difference between "Point Oh Two Cents" and "Point Oh Two Dollars". They even flat out said it was the same thing.

0.01 cents would take 100 of those to make one cent.
0.01 dollars would take 100 of those to make one dollar.
Click to expand...

Fixed, and you're talking about Verizon Math.
 
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