[Greeniegriz]

Hello fellow swollen thumbed BB friends of mine!

I wanted to share an experience my wife and i had recently involving my BlackBerry Curve(8310).

At the beginning of October my wife and i went into an AT&T store to find her a new phone. We looked around a little while, before discovering that the Curves had a $100 rebate which brought the total to $100 a piece for the phone, not including fees, ass, etc. Sounded like a good deal to us so we bought two. I did not want to get a data plan yet, since i, at the time, mostly used my old BB for texting. The salesman assured me that was doable and that i could upgrade later, but advised me not to use the internet, since it would cost me a pretty penny. Made sense to me, so i did not use the internet at all....

The next day we ended up returning my wifes. Nothing wrong with the phone per se, but my wife works for the state and already has a "work" BB, which she does not like to talk on, stating its like talking into a piece of toast. So, i kept mine, which i happily still own.

:Weeks Later:

Around the middle of October, a few days ago, well yesterday, our is posted on the AT&T wireless website. Keeping in mind that we have a "family/joint" plan, our bill was $300.00........ I know!.... My wife is at work on her computer when she finds this out, and nearly faints (she was on her lunch break while checking the account, i assure you, your tax dollars are hard at work....).

So, my wife texts and informs me of the bill. Turns out its all from MY BlackBerry!! I know!! After i assuered her i was not using the internet, my wife instantly calls AT&T demanding an explanation. And this is what she found out......

I will paraphrase what the Rep told her over the phone.... "No blackberry should ever be sold without a data plan. Due to thier nature they must update/communicate with "AT&T" frequently. (Basically, every 20minutes the BB was sending and receiving 20kb of information) This update/communication uses the "Internet" therefore you are charged!!"

Remember back to what the salesman told me and my wife? "The salesman assured me that was doable and that i could upgrade later, but advised me not to use the internet, since it would cost me a pretty penny. Made sense to me, so i did not use the internet at all...." Uh huh, pretty penny even if i dont use it.

My wife explained what we were told by the salesman to the AT&T rep, whom apoligized many times. She reduced our bill to what it is suppose to be (about $140.00) and even refunded our upgrade fees. So, a happy ending to quite a crisis.

I wondered if anyone else has had this happen? Been told they did not need a plan, then got charged? Or any variation of that. I wonder if this would happen with all carriers.. etc? All in all, if you a buy a BB... get a data plan!!

Sincerely,

GreenieGriz

p.s. I now have the unlimited data plan. /cheer

[kjjb0204]

Can't happen with Verizon - can't have a BB on their network without a data plan. Glad you were able to get it resolved.

[ezrunner]

Wirelessly posted (off to see the wizard)

This is maybe the third time I have heard of this happening. Generally if you do not have a bb data plan the device willl not communicate using internet though as you found out it can happen there are also ways around the full data plan but again you may see charges such as you did.


The BB on att is sold plenty without data services. Situations such as yours are not common

[Greeniegriz]

I wonder then, if there is settings on the blackberry device to cease such activity. If the owner did not want to get a data plan.

Also, the blackberry i had before the curve never had this problem. I wonder if its a newer BB thing.

Also, you say it is not common, which I do not doubt, I only wonder what made mine do it? I myself would like to know so that others do not run into this problem. Any thoughts?

[ezrunner]

wish I knew why it did it

you can turn data services off completely on the device it will still allow phone service

[sch911]

Last AT&T store I talked to wouldn't sell me a BB without the BB data plan. I thought that was the norm....

[Greeniegriz]

I see. Thank you very much for the insight

[barbwyr]

Did you download any apps like ones that check weather or stocks or perhaps GPS? Sounds like something you are using is connecting to the net. I have a BB on AT&T with no data plan and I only get charged the Pay Per Use fee on the few occasions that I use data like GPS or checking something online or using Y! IM. Also remember if you are using PIN messages BB Messenger that is data too.

[dbltap]

I made sure I had disabled data on my teenager's lines BEFORE I gave them my older 8300 & 8820. No way am I putting a BB plan on their lines.

[Jason Mark]

After reading this I messaged a friend who works at AT&T Iphone and Blackberry escalation. He said that if you didn't access the internet and it was only the "updates" that AT&T would not charge you. He said your bill obviously will show whether or not you were on the internet and if not, ask to speak to someone different and say you want this handled that you're not paying for it. There is no way they can charge you for data used that you yourself did not use. He also said in 5 years he's never heard of this happening.

[Greeniegriz]

Jason, I am not sure if it was only "updates" that contributed. I dont think the Rep my wife spoke with gave specific details. Either way, she acknowledged that i was not using the internet.

Only thing i did as far as "apps" is: I upgraded OS almost that night, got info from my old BB, and downloaded a theme or two(which i did using the desktop manager). So, i dont know.

I did not have anything that would be updating every 20minutes. It quite interesting to look at. lol a bill with small packet transfers every 20minutes.

Either way, in my opinion i would not suggest anyone get a BB without a data plan. Or atleast do what dbltap did, and disable data completely if you can. Of course, would that effect text messages or MMS?? surely not...

GG

[mearziepants]

i haven't heard of a bb sending/receiving data without the user actually doing that. so that's definitely a new one. i do sympathize for that occurring, also, good deal on getting your bill back down to where it needed to be and fees being credited back to you.

as for those who think they have to buy a data plan when purchasing a bb. that is usually not the case at all. i sell many phones without the data plan, even though it is such a good idea to have. i use the internet on mine all day long. aside from that. some rebates require that the data plan be on the account for six months, to receive your money. i know it's irritating, but that's how it goes sometimes.

and if you're wanting to completely block the internet from being able to be used on any phone. [with att, not sure about other carriers] you will NOT being able to send picture messages. that function in every phone, requires internet usage to be atleast, activated on the phone.. but don't forget about bluetooth!!

=]

[devnull]

Lesson learned.... NEVER never ever ever trust salesmen. They have absolutely no interest in what comes after the sale.

[takeshi]

Originally Posted by Greeniegriz

Either way, in my opinion i would not suggest anyone get a BB without a data plan. Or atleast do what dbltap did, and disable data completely if you can. Of course, would that effect text messages or MMS?? surely not...

You can definitely use a BB without a data plan and not incur additional usage fees. The lesson here is that a lot of at&t reps don't know what they're doing. Had they provisioned you properly you wouldn't have been billed for anything. It is best to turn data services off if you don't intend to have a BB data plan.

As for SMS and MMS. Data is required for MMS on a BB. SMS, however, isn't data.

[betterlate1]

Originally Posted by takeshi

You can definitely use a BB without a data plan and not incur additional usage fees. The lesson here is that a lot of at&t reps don't know what they're doing. Had they provisioned you properly you wouldn't have been billed for anything. It is best to turn data services off if you don't intend to have a BB data plan.

As for SMS and MMS. Data is required for MMS on a BB. SMS, however, isn't data.

I absolutely agree. I have on several occasions been forced to turn data off until financial responsibility returns! I have never been charged for data when there was no BB Plan feature active on my 8700. You have been unwillingly "known" in the biblical sense.

[cctraderx]

I have one with the data turned off. Your sales person didn't set the phone right. My BB only shows GSM but the phone and text works everywhere.

[Ricky-Ray]

I don't know about AT&T but I'm on T-Mobile and when my regular cel phone died a co-worker gave me her old BB 7100. I popped my chip in and it worked. I used it as a phone and text only. I never called them to add the data service or anything and I was never charged any extra or did the bill say that data services was used. The whole time I had the 7100 the phone stayed on gprs and never when to GPRS, so maybe that had something to do with it.