Man Charged $28K for Watching Football at Port of Miami

We know that to many American tourists, Miami might seem like a foreign country, but the phone companies should do better. An Illinois man got aboard a cruise ship this past November at the Port of Miami and realized he had about three hours to kill before the ship took...

By Kyle Munzenrieder

February 26, 2009

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We know that to many American tourists, Miami might seem like a foreign country, but the phone companies should do better.

An Illinois man got aboard a cruise ship this past November at the Port of Miami and realized he had about three hours to kill before the ship took off. So, through some fancy web setup and a wireless card, he was able to watch about two and a half hours of a Chicago Bears game.

After watching his beloved Bears play, the ship took off and he did whatever it is you do on cruise ships.

When he got back home, he found a $28,067.31 cell phone bill! Seems AT&T was charging him international rates of two cents per kb. He called AT&T to straighten out that he was actually in the United States of America, but the best they could do for him was a $6,000 bill.

The Chicago Sun-Times got on the case, and found his wireless card was picking up signals it shouldn't have, and that Miami is indeed part of America. AT&T credited $27,776.66 to his bill.

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