U.S. Soldier in Afghanistan Got $16,000 AT&T Bill

[nebun]

[citation][nom]clownbaby[/nom]why the hell does a private in the army have a cell phone overseas? OPSEC? I served in Iraq with the marines, and the very thought of having anything like that on your person seems absurd to me. For very important reasons, communication with the states was only done from a service that was set up in camp. Aside from obvious security issues, it was very important that families be notified through the proper channels when marines were wounded or killed. How can a unit accomplish that with non english speaking, stupid (can't understand a phone bill), shitbird pfcs running around with cell phones. The $16000 bill should be the least worrisome thing in this story. I'm more concerned with the lackluster complacency in his military unit. What the hell is this dipshit kid doing in Afghanistan that he has time to rack up a $16000 phone bill? Maybe there should be more sandbag filling and a few less calls home.[/citation]
totally agree with you...he has way too much time on his hands to make so many calls...don't they have call center where you call or connect to the internet for free???

 

[gurboura]

[citation][nom]nebun[/nom]this is crap...do you know how much money a armed forces person makes when he or she is overseas? armed forces or not, you should know how to manage what you have, not make stupid decisions and hope that the companies will help you just because you are fighting in the war[/citation]
They deserve the amount of money they paid for putting their lives on the line 24/7. Period.

Everyone ragging on the soldier, let's a put a rifle in your hands, send you to a shithole of a country, keep you there for a year if you all think you could do better.

 

[alidan]

this guy was a moron, no question about it, but i will defend him

1) lets assume that english isnt his first language. can someone in the military tell me all the freebees discounts, and other misc things you ge in the military. even though english isnt his first language, he should know this and if its true he confiremd it, that means he though it was low, asked again, than thought it was a perc for military people over seas, a reduced rate.

2) anyone ragging on him for english isnt his native language, you learn a second language and see how proficient you are in EVERY aspect of it, even slang and cultural uses, that aren't taught in school. im assuming he can speak it just fine, its just that its not his native language.

and who the hell are you to tell someone willing to die for you to learn english

 

[xrodney]

One thing is guy being stupid and calling so much with roaming, but 5$ per minute they charge is joke. Other vendors will charge you 2-3$ at most for same not mentioning soldiers should get cheaper plans if they are deployed overseas for extended period of time.

Thank god EU is pushing to force decreased prices for roaming calls and data.
It stinks when in past few years expenses for local and roaming calls have to get down substantially as technology got much cheaper and more widespread but charges to customers actually went up.

 

[aaron88_7]

Seems to be a lot of cases in which the pot is calling the kettle black around here. Everyone saying the guy is stupid for getting a $16000 phone bill, give me a break!

You've got to be dumber than Forest Gump to actually believe it costs AT&T anywhere near that much money to provide these calls for one single person. AT&T backed down because they know they are raping their customers and this one happened to be a US soldier. Anybody defending AT&T for charging such ridiculous amounts to one customer is a fucking moron, period.

 

[Silmarunya]

[citation][nom]snuffalupugus[/nom]So, what is this guy doing in the US Military if English is not his first language? MAybe if he spoke English better like he should, there wouldn't be any problem. You can bet his wife is going to pop out 3 or 4 more pepitos they can't afford[/citation]

That's an insane and utterly racist statement.

1) You can't accuse someone of not having English as his or her native language. English is only a third language for me, does that classify me as stupid and in want of 3, 4 or more 'pepitos' I can't afford?

2) This soldier was obviously an American citizen who just happens not to be raised with English as his mother tongue. Oddly enough, a vast majority of Americans was in that situation once. Millions of Americans have Scandinavian, Italian, Dutch, French, Spanish, Native American, Asian,... ancestors and all of them were unable to speak, let alone read, English properly once. Their children did all right though, and I'm sure that applies to present day immigrants as well.

3) I wonder what you, as a proper English speaker, do for your country other than insulting compatriots?

 

[frragnarsson]

The real solution is to consider a cell phone as the last option, and an US one NOT as an option.
The options should be in this order:
skype or similar
prepaid international Calling card (use on landline)
landline
prepaid local cell phone number

regarding sms:
Sending email through a cell phone is cheaper than sms abroad, preferably using the built in email client (in the phone).

 

[nebun]

[citation][nom]gurboura[/nom]They deserve the amount of money they paid for putting their lives on the line 24/7. Period.Everyone ragging on the soldier, let's a put a rifle in your hands, send you to a shithole of a country, keep you there for a year if you all think you could do better.[/citation]
i have done it, trust me, you get used to it...it's a way of life

 

[Guest]

English was not his native language is no excuse. AT&T is loaded with Spanish speaking employees and I'm sure he requested one when he called about the service. Why are people always quick to point a finger at someone or something else when they do something stupid?

 

[christop]

DAMN!!

 

[kingnoobe]

I call bs clownboy. I'm in Afghan right now, everybody has a phone. Most are smart enough to have afgan phones and calling cards. O by the way the towers get cut off at 1800 here. But we also have civilian internet. It's on the unit to make sure on blackouts that things get shut down properly.

Now as far as the kid. I will agree he's an idoit. But hopefully he learned his lesson (which I doubt). People can bitch about AT&T all they want (don't care for them myselves) but this would've happened with other carriers also.

 

[kingnoobe]

O also we do have call center and other things like that (but that doesn't mean you won't be waiting in line forever, or if the line is even up).

As far as the english thing, will I would like to call bs but I just can't. As I've know quite a few people were it's really hard to understand and not just because of their acent. I do think the army needs to do more with people that have a hard time speaking english.

Now QUIT defending this kid just because he's in the military. An idiot is an idiot no matter what job you do.

 

[distanted]

[citation][nom]snuffalupugus[/nom]No, YOU ARE THE RACIST!! My response was designed to elicit a response exactly from people like you who need a reality check!! But you know what, your'e right. We need people like Jose to eat a bullet and be stupid so people like you can enjoy all your constitutional rights and freedoms and complain about people being racist.[/citation]
If your goal was looking like a jackass, mission accomplished. The Army allows non-Americans to serve while they work towards their U.S. citizenship. That doesn't mean they're dumber than the people who grew up in the States, it just means they have to work much harder to earn what other people are given at birth.

That being said, this guy having a personal phone while deployed seems counter to security procedures and common sense. Maybe he got special permission because of his wife's condition, but still, he talked for 53 hours before he saw any bill? Even if there was a language break-down, most people could figure out that talking 53 hours from the Middle East to where-ever on a cell phone would not be $5 per month. Sounds more like he ignored the obvious and then got a pass because AT&T didn't want the negative publicity of taking a soldier to the cleaners.

Some soldiers are true heroes, others have simply exhausted all other avenues of revenue before signing up. I've worked with both kinds. He sounds like the kind of soldier that forces the Army to create mandatory briefings about not clearing your weapon while looking down the barrel.

 

[tat2demon]

Wow he spent 53.3 hours in one month talking on the phone?

 

[rfunes]

So this guy is risking his own life to serve USA, and you are insulting him?
No matter what he did, everyone that puts his/her life at risk for the others, is a hero in my book.

 

[Nightsilver]

I've had AT&T as my carrier for over two years. I have never had a dropped call, been over billed, or otherwise had any sort of negative experience doing business with this company.

I take this whole story with a grain of salt. I don't see how anyone with any sense would have believed that they could call across seas for 1/10th and in a lot of cases 1/20th the fee it is just to call people in the states. I mean, really? They gave this guy a gun?

Anyone who has ever worked in any kind of customer service position knows that customers, specifically consumers, are ALWAYS out to get something for nothing. They are self obsessed, deceitful creatures who will make up any sort of reason to blame you for their own grave incompetencies.

 

[Kahless01]

Young soldier with minimal experience with phone planes or overseas travel? thats CO speach for hes an idiot and they cant outright say it. you dont have to have experience to understand simple things like that. and english MF can you speak it? come into this country have the respect to learn the damn language. doesnt matter if its not your primary language but learn to speak it well enough so that your phone bill doesnt hit 16k. stupid private. dont worry with that 16k he saved on the phone bill he will come back and buy a new car like the rest of the gi joes. what you think it was going to be used for something more noble?

 

[feeddagoat]

Roaming charges are a pile of bull manure. For example it costs me 3-4 times more to text my aunt and uncle in Letterkenny from derry (30miles) even though we're on the same network run by the same company, be it O2, vodafone, 3, tesco! Data charges are even more excessive when roaming. there is no reason these companies have to charge extra for some bloody invisible line on a piece of paper. Even using the same carriers sim in another country on their network I get a kick in the teeth. It's bloody stupid

 

[cookoy]

why do so many comments assume Rivera doesn't know English?
English not being his first language doesn't mean he can't speak it.
He preferred to ask his commanding officer's help as the CO may be
able to communicate better his plight.

 

[bildo123]

[citation][nom]IzzyCraft[/nom]"spoke to AT&T where he claimed a representative told him that he could call home for $4.95 a month" that should have been a hint to read the contract.[/citation]

Or...you could deal with a company that doesn't even have shady contracts, superior companies like Straight Talk and, well Straight Talk. 1k min/1k txts $30 + basic tax + Verizon Network = Win. Can't be beat, unless your one of those phone junkies, but even then they have a very competitive data plan as well.