Quick, where’s your cell phone?
In a phone “holster?”
Your pocket or your purse?
Your glove compartment?
Your child’s backpack?
Or in a thief’s hands?
Mariel Rauer, 20, kept up with her cell phone’s whereabouts. “Ninety percent of the time, it’s in my school bag or my purse,” said the resident of the New York City borough of Queens. She lives with her parents, takes 12 credits of courses at Baruch College in Manhattan and works full time as a receptionist for a stock brokerage.
She left it to her 17-year-old brother, Michael, to keep tabs on his cell phone. The only problem was that Michael’s cell phone was on Mariel’s account with AT&T Wireless. And in late December, between Christmas and New Year’s, Michael told her that his phone had been missing a day or two.
Her brother waited several days more before reporting the loss or theft. That report was filed Jan. 7, according to the company. Then Rauer received her bill later that month for the two phones. The bill for her phone was about $50; for her brother’s, it exceeded $4,700, with many of the most costly calls to the Dominican Republic.
Travis Larson, spokesman for the Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Association, said there is no federal limit to a customer’s liability for fraudulent calls on a lost or stolen cell phone.
AT&T Wireless, which separated from AT&T Corp. in 2001, covers the issue in its terms under “unauthorized usage.” It says: “If your device, user name or password is stolen or service is fraudulently used, you must immediately notify us and provide us with such documentation as we may request (including affidavits and police reports). Until you notify us, you will remain responsible for all charges.”
Verizon Wireless, the nation’s biggest cell-phone service company, includes a similar policy in its terms. Verizon Wireless spokesman David Samberg said that such reports should be made as soon as a customer realizes the loss or theft. But, he said, as a courtesy, the company credits customers for calls made within the past 48 hours when the phone is reported missing. Like AT&T Wireless, Verizon Wireless customers can request a review of “special circumstances,” Samberg said.
At first, the consumer said, the company insisted on full payment. But when Newsday contacted spokesman Siegel, he said exceptions are made and the case would be reviewed. Later, Siegel said the charges were “nowhere” near normal for the customer and would be waived.
Rauer got good news. The company told her it had decided to reduce that amount to $200, based on undisputed charges. Siegel said a review of calls had shown “something irregular had happened.”
Rauer said the delay of less than two weeks in reporting her brother’s phone loss or theft opened the door to her difficulties. But, she said, the company didn’t have to make the complaint-handling process so frustrating. “I’ve been fighting them from the day I got the bill,” she said.
