HAYWARD, Calif. -- A Hayward man is hoping his cell-phone service provider will work with him after receiving a massive bill for over $21,000 largely made up of charges incurred by his son after the teen was added to the family account.
When he first got the bill in the mail, Ted Estarija couldn't believe his eyes. How could his cell phone charges for a single month approach the cost of a full year's tuition at UC Berkeley? The number on the bill wasn't a typo, but Estarija's story may serve as a cautionary tale to parents who get cell phones for their children.
Estarija said he thought adding his 13-year-old son to his cell-phone account would cost him an extra $50 a month. Instead, the recently unemployed Hayward father now owes Verizon $21,917.59.
"I was completely caught off guard," said Estarija. "This is outrageous. It seems like it comes to almost $100 a minute."
Estarija said he asked Verizon to restrict his son's usage to phone calls and texts, but the bill shows his son downloaded about a million and a half kilobytes of data with his phone while racking up the massive charges.
"This is not completely his fault," said Estarija. "I put more blame on Verizon than anybody. They shouldn't allow this to happen."
A Verizon spokeswoman told KTVU she couldn't comment specifically about the issue while it is being investigated, but said the company planned to work with Estarija to resolve the problem.
Parents of teenagers who have dealt with surprise cell phone bills before said the only way to prevent them is to keep an eye on usage.
"Sometimes I have to take the phone away from her just to protect my wallet," said Hayward resident Joel Campos.
Sonia Garcia of Hayward shared her method of tracking charges: "I just check their phone use constantly. Text messages. Everything that's coming through."
Verizon's message board is filled with postings on how to avoid megabyte and data charges.
Estarija admitted there may be a lesson to be learned here, but at almost $22,000 it comes at too high a cost.
"There's no way I can pay this, so [I'll do] whatever I can to get this resolved," said Estarija.
He said his biggest concern right now is not paying the bill, but helping his son. The teen has become despondent for causing his dad so much financial and emotional distress.
Though she wouldn't go into specifics, Verizon's spokeswoman told KTVU the problem would likely be resolved in the next 24 hours.
When he first got the bill in the mail, Ted Estarija couldn't believe his eyes. How could his cell phone charges for a single month approach the cost of a full year's tuition at UC Berkeley? The number on the bill wasn't a typo, but Estarija's story may serve as a cautionary tale to parents who get cell phones for their children.
Estarija said he thought adding his 13-year-old son to his cell-phone account would cost him an extra $50 a month. Instead, the recently unemployed Hayward father now owes Verizon $21,917.59.
"I was completely caught off guard," said Estarija. "This is outrageous. It seems like it comes to almost $100 a minute."
Estarija said he asked Verizon to restrict his son's usage to phone calls and texts, but the bill shows his son downloaded about a million and a half kilobytes of data with his phone while racking up the massive charges.
"This is not completely his fault," said Estarija. "I put more blame on Verizon than anybody. They shouldn't allow this to happen."
A Verizon spokeswoman told KTVU she couldn't comment specifically about the issue while it is being investigated, but said the company planned to work with Estarija to resolve the problem.
Parents of teenagers who have dealt with surprise cell phone bills before said the only way to prevent them is to keep an eye on usage.
"Sometimes I have to take the phone away from her just to protect my wallet," said Hayward resident Joel Campos.
Sonia Garcia of Hayward shared her method of tracking charges: "I just check their phone use constantly. Text messages. Everything that's coming through."
Verizon's message board is filled with postings on how to avoid megabyte and data charges.
Estarija admitted there may be a lesson to be learned here, but at almost $22,000 it comes at too high a cost.
"There's no way I can pay this, so [I'll do] whatever I can to get this resolved," said Estarija.
He said his biggest concern right now is not paying the bill, but helping his son. The teen has become despondent for causing his dad so much financial and emotional distress.
Though she wouldn't go into specifics, Verizon's spokeswoman told KTVU the problem would likely be resolved in the next 24 hours.
