Fla. woman shocked by $200,000 cell phone bill

Published 12:01 am Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Associated Press

MIAMI — A South Florida woman got a shock when she opened a recent cell phone bill: she owed $201,000.

It was no mistake.

Celina Aarons has her two brothers on her plan. They are deaf and cannot speak, so the easiest way for them to communicate is by texting. N

ormally, that’s not a problem. Aarons has a data plan that usually costs about $175.

But her brothers spent two weeks in Canada and Aarons never changed to an international plan. Her brothers sent over 2,000 texts and also downloaded videos, sometimes racking up $2,000 in data charges.

T-Mobile told Aarons the bill was correct. She called Miami TV station WSVN, which contacted T-Mobile. The station reports (http://bit.ly/qTMjTw ) that T-Mobile cut Aarons’ bill to $2,500 and gave her six months to pay.