Sign in / up

back to article Aussie MP slapped with $10k phone bill

An Australian politician was slapped with a $10,500 phone bill after his 12-year-old son downloaded soccer and AFL games on his iPhone. Russell Wortley, a member of South Australia's Upper House, doesn't see his mobile bill, usually $200 a month - the tab is picked up by tax payers. He was told the news on Friday by …

COMMENTS

House rules Send corrections
This topic is closed for new posts.
  1. Anonymous Coward
    Thumb Down

    Why

    the hell should this man be able to "negotiate" with Telstra? - the data was downloaded, the charges were in accordance with his plan, so why should any concessions be made? - none would be forth comeing if I did the same.

    The fact that he's an MP is irrelevant to the billing, although it does make the item more newsworthy - he should be made to personally pay the full amount on time, it might encourage the man to think about his spending of the taxpayer's dollar more carefully in future.

    1 0
    1. Raumkraut
      Reply Icon

      Assholes go by the book

      Yes, Telstra are entirely within their rights to just say "give us what you owe", but doing this when a story gets to the media, they end up looking like right gits. Which is pretty bad for PR.

      This is why you often hear of companies making "good-will gestures". Effectively paying off the complaining punter to appease the media and PR people, without setting any precedent.

      1 0
    2. Anonymous Coward
      Reply Icon
      Anonymous Coward

      i can tell you why

      Our dept is on the same contract. 3G data access was meant to be disabled by default, but some clever clogs at telstra decided to flick the switch and enable it for everyone. So all our Iphone users started getting hit with $500+ monthly phone bills, probably from inadvertently roaming outside wifi range. Nice little earner for telstra.

      0 0
  2. Sorry that handle is already taken. Silver badge

    Ahh, must be a Telstra customer

    No text here

    0 0
  3. Anonymous Coward
    Boffin

    Something doesn't sound right

    $10,500, if charged at the suggested $2 per MB, that's about 5GB of data. That's the sort of usage from LOT of browsing on a 3G modem on a laptop, not the data associated with downloading a couple of mobile phone games, or even the sorts of data downloaded within a mobile game.

    3 0
  4. Anonymous Coward
    FAIL

    And the next question....

    ...why is he allowing his 12yr old son to use, (what must be inorder to screw the taxpayer) a business phone? How many other things has the kid done that haven't be picked up and just paid for by the taxpayer?

    See MP's, no matter where, are useless sponges.

    2 1
    1. Winkypop Silver badge
      Reply Icon
      FAIL

      My thoughts exactly...

      I used to work with Execs who would hand over all their new company supplied phones, laptops etc to their children to use and abuse. They were too dim/greedy to use/buy the gear!

      0 0
  5. Ian Wellock

    Doesn't sound likely

    The iPhone requires any app over 10MB to be downloaded over wi-fi or sync'ed via a computer. You'd have to download more than 500 apps to get a cell data bill of $10,000 -- the kid must have been surfing.

    0 0
    1. James Henstridge
      Reply Icon

      Re: Doesn't sound likely

      It sounds like they're talking about an application that can stream video of sports games. The app itself would probably be quite small: it's the downloads required to use the app that would have contributed to the bill.

      1 0
  6. Sir Runcible Spoon
    WTF?

    Sir

    $2/Meg

    Fuck me backwards, that's a bit steep!

    Can someone tell me why the regulators allow a sub two hour 'phone' call to cost more than a car!

    1 0
    1. Lennart Sorensen
      Reply Icon
      Happy

      Could be worse.

      $2/MB isn't that bad. In Canada I have seen $0.05/KB for data if you don't have a plan. That makes $50/MB.

      0 0
  7. JohnG

    More likely a few games and a whole lot of porn.

    So, this guy is implicitly admitting that he failed to adequately supervise his son and is not competent to understand his mobile phone tariff but he is in a job in which he is responsible for participating in decisions that affect millions of people. He is also a JP.

    0 0
  8. The First Dave
    Dead Vulture

    Cost

    Any chance of a conversion into real money?

    1 0
    1. Anonymous Coward
      Reply Icon
      Anonymous Coward

      Dear lord is this 1998?

      http://lmgtfy.com/?q=10000+AUD+in+GBP

      0 0
    2. John Dougald McCallum
      Reply Icon

      Real money

      £6036 at todays exchange rate

      0 0
  9. TeeCee Gold badge
    Coat

    "Ouch."

    Don't you mean: "Strewth!"?

    Better in context I think.

    0 0
  10. Ross 7

    *cough* duckhouse *cough*

    See title

    0 0
  11. Frank Bitterlich
    FAIL

    Take away his iPhone. Now.

    And his parliament seat, too. He is clearly incompetent to hand either of them.

    Anybody who buys an iPhone without a decent data plan should be put under strict supervision.

    OTOH, that answers a lot of question about that planned Aussie "firewall"...

    0 0
  12. Paul 129
    Welcome

    Typical

    With data up and down all totaled towards your data usage and plans setup to catch out those that go over their limit, often hidden in the fine details of what otherwise looks like a good plan, its unconscionable.

    There also has been debate locally that Telsra is not a bank and thus cannot extend such a line of credit.

    In Australia if your hit with something like this you go to the Telecom Communications Ombudsman. Telstra and others know this, but they prey on those that are simply too embarrassed, or don't know, and pay up.

    0 1
    1. Drew 10
      Reply Icon
      FAIL

      bzzt try again

      The TIO is not for this kind of thing. The TIO is to settle disputes between you and a Telecommunications Provider (Phone or Internet).

      If you don't read the fine print in a contract and are obliged under that contract to pay for data usage, it's your problem, not the carriers.

      Whilst Telstra may be a rip off, they're 100% allowed to demand payment and not write it off or have the TIO tell them to do so.

      The TIO is the most toothless tiger i've seen. They don't care about anything but revenue. Opening a case with the TIO immediately passes costs to the providers. Passing costs = increase in telcos costs.

      If you can't read the fine print, you shouldn't be using the service. Jumping up and down like a petulant child does not do anyone any favours.

      0 0
  13. Goat Jam
    FAIL

    An iPhone without a data plan?

    <== See icon

    0 0
  14. M7S
    Thumb Up

    Now he can see what his constituents have to put up with

    maybe he can get the rates made fairer for all users.

    Just, you know, a radical idea for a politician

    0 0
This topic is closed for new posts.

Other stories you might like