By: Becky Bracken
The FCC defines "bill shock" as, "a sudden, unexpected increase in a mobile bill from one month to the next." But, for CSPs, bill shock is much worse--a consumer relations nightmare. There are many worst-case scenarios that seem to make for perfect slow-news-day headline fodder.
There's Wayne Burdick who received a $28,067.31 bill after he watched a Chicago Bears football game on his computer while on board a cruise ship docked at a U.S. port. His mobile broadband card had connected to the ship's microcell rather than the local preferred tower. Furious about the bill, Burdick contacted the Chicago Sun-Times and the matter was dropped by the operator. Another bill shock cautionary tale involved a Florida woman who received a $200,000 cell phone bill. Headline grabbers, indeed.
Each year, according to the FCC, the Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau of the FCC handles thousands of complaints on billing, poor service, and other problems affecting telephone
and other communications services. Most of these cases involve unexpected roaming fees, data consumption and voice minute overages.
The FCC has identified six primary sources of bill shock for customer complaints:
- International roaming charges that consumers run up without realizing it and that can add up to thousands of dollars.
- Charges that accrue when consumers exceed the limits on their voice, text, or data plans, and begin accumulating high charges at a per-minute rate.
- Unexpected charges when a phone is used with Wi-Fi in "airplane mode."
- Charges for mandatory data plans that are included with new phones and plans without the consumer being aware.
- Taxes and other fees of which a consumer was not aware.
- Confusion about promotional rates, plans, and billing–including unclear or inconsistent guidance from salespeople and customer service representatives.
In May, the Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau of the FCC released a Public Notice exploring one possible set of remedies for bill shock. The European Union has mandated automatic alerts to let consumers know when they are approaching the limits of their text, voice, and data plans, and when they are about to incur roaming charges. The Public Notice asked whether there would be technological reasons that such a remedy could not be applied in the United States. Alerts could also help avoid other kinds of bill shock. For example, alerting a consumer who thinks he/she is using free Wi-Fi, but in actuality, racking up data charges.
"Last year, the FCC identified a growing problem, known as bill shock, and took important steps toward a solution, which led to today's victory for more than 97 percent of wireless consumers," FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski said in an announcement On October 17, 2011.. "These alerts will give consumers the information they need to save money on their monthly wireless bills. Consistent with the FCC's ongoing efforts, these actions harness technology to empower consumers, and ensure consumers get a fair shake, not bill shock."
