300 Page AT&T iPhone Bill
Pittsburgh blogger Justine Ezarik received her first iPhone bill from AT&T — all 300 pages of it — delivered in a box. So she made a video and posted it on YouTube and a few other video posting sites. Almost immediately, the video “went viral” with more than 200,000 views…
Like many others, I suspect, I was alarmed; I didn’t think we’d received our AT&T iPhone bill and wondered if we should expect a similar surprise-in-a-box. Well, after seeing Justine interviewed on TV (yes, her video landed her an interview) I think we’re safe. Turns out she’s a heavy text messager, with 30,000 texts on AT&T alone. And she receives cellphone billing detail which accounts for all the pages. In AT&T’s defense, customers can request billing without detail, and there’s even an option to receive e-bills (pdf files via email) instead. But since most adults use text messaging more sparingly, I think the video is much ado about nothing, although it’s certainly garnered Ms. Ezarik a lot of media buzz.
Doug
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Reader Comments (10)
OMG this is all over the net! I was afraid to buy an iPhone! So I'm kinda glad to know it's not a problem if you don't overuse text.
She seems a bit loopy to me. During the interview, she was unable to describe "why" she made the video or what "message" she was trying to convey (if any.) I liked the tag at the end, however: "E-billing. Save a forest." Good one!
I watched most of one of her other videos; nothing redeeming there.
Enjoy the weekend and the fair.
Jason
Apple sure seems to be enjoying quite a ride with their new phone. I see it on the news several times a night. It looks like a wonderful thing but I wouldn't want to get a huge phone bill. I probably wouldn't because I don't send text messages.
Wait until she has teenage kids. At least she is paying her own way (I assume.) This texting thing has been a curse for parents.
Beauty fades. Dumb is forever.
Mama always says, "Stupid is as stupid does..." Justine proves the point.
30000 text messages / 31 days month / 16 waking hours (assuming she sleeps 8 hours) in a day = 60.48 messages an hour each and every waking hour on average for the month....
Bet her daddy is so proud.
That is a lot of messaging. I would say the iPhone works well for her as her usage testifies. I think she is getting her money's worth if she switches to the unlimited plan ($20 per month unlimited texts) and elects to receive consolidated (not detailed) billing.
Watch Justine live here. She is sitting in a booth texing, you can read along and watch her eating chips. Kule!!!
http://www.justin.tv/ijustine
You will be happy to know that AT&T has just announced that they are changing their policy and will be sending only non-detailed billings from now on unless the customer requests detailed billing. You have to winder why they didn't do that to start with?