Home  ›  Carriers  ›

AT&T

Info & Phones News Forum  

all discussions

show all 10 replies

AT&T charges even when I DON'T use their services

drkenrich

Jan 24, 2008, 11:53 PM
I'm new and maybe in error but I got pissed off at AT&T yesterday. I have a new unlocked 8525 with an AT&T Go phone chip in it. At home I hook it up via USB to my desktop and connect through that connection to my Verizon DSL to the Internet. I got charged by AT&T! 😡

When I called and asked why, they said because I was using their phone. I explained that I paid for the phone, it was unlocked and I owned it, not them. She agreed to that. Then I asked why I was charged. She told me it was because I was using their service. Baloney! I was using my own hardware and Verizon services. There was absolutely no connection to AT&T.

It works out that somehow, anytime I use the phone, no matter how it is connected or even if it's being used as a ...
(continues)
...
crackberry

Jan 24, 2008, 11:58 PM
drkenrich said:
I'm new and maybe in error but I got pissed off at AT&T yesterday. I have a new unlocked 8525 with an AT&T Go phone chip in it. At home I hook it up via USB to my desktop and connect through that connection to my Verizon DSL to the Internet. I got charged by AT&T! 😡

When I called and asked why, they said because I was using their phone. I explained that I paid for the phone, it was unlocked and I owned it, not them. She agreed to that. Then I asked why I was charged. She told me it was because I was using their service. Baloney! I was using my own hardware and Verizon services. There was absolutely no connection to AT&T.

It works out that somehow, anytime I use the phone, no matter how it is connec
...
(continues)
...
drkenrich

Jan 28, 2008, 11:12 PM
I tried to follow your suggestion. I'm not as experienced in this as I'd like. I found a section under Settings that gave me the ability to see the AT&T connection. I deleted it. (hope that doesn't cause me problems).

There are further screens for setting up other connections, but I found when I went to my desktop Network Settings that a new local connections is opened when ever I plugged in the pda to the desktop. Is this what is sufficient to stop AT&T billing? What more should I do and where can I go to find out how to do it?

Thanks for your help.

drkenrich
...
Hombre07

Jan 28, 2008, 11:23 PM
Actually the safest way would be to call customer care and remove any media packages or media net pay per use from your account and the system won't be capable of billing you. You should notice either the E or 3G symbol will disappear which means your cannot transfer any data. Then when you plug it in to your computer your safe.
...
drkenrich

Jan 31, 2008, 12:25 AM
Thanks for the suggestion. I did use it. You can read the full text in my answer to texaswireless.
...
efparri

Jan 25, 2008, 9:44 PM
What is so important on the Internet that you would rather see it on your phone than on a computer a few feet away?
...
chocolateman85006

Jan 29, 2008, 12:09 PM
You probably don't wanna know!
...
texaswireless

Jan 29, 2008, 12:10 AM
I am not sure the phone can tether wi-fi. And frankly, why would you want to tether wi-fi?

And I also do not think you have an unlocked phone. If you put in a different SIM and it says locked then, well, it is still locked. That is, unless you meant the SIM itself was locked.
...
drkenrich

Jan 31, 2008, 12:24 AM
Actually the phone is unlocked. I finally fixed the problem with a combination of suggestions.

I called AT&T and had them stop all Internet access but leave the phone able to make calls. When I travel internationally, all I have to dos is call them to start this again and then call to stop it on my return.

In the meantime, I put my Vonage SIM in, entered the unlock code I found at the bottom of my drawer, and did a Hard Reset. I was testing some other configurations at the same time.

I found I could turn off the AT&T network connection. Then, while synced with the USB cable, I set up the updating to allow throughput from the phone to the Internet. Now, when I use the phone, I can access the Internet, not use AT&T and do it for free ...
(continues)
...
colione112

Jan 30, 2008, 10:27 AM
Just remove the SIM card.

The 8525 will function without a SIM card and won't access the network because it doesn't know who to charge it to.
...
drkenrich

Jan 31, 2008, 12:26 AM
Interesting idea. I hadn't thought of that. I'll try it. 🙂
...

You must log in to reply.

Please log in to report a message to the moderator.


all discussions

Subscribe to Phone Scoop News with RSS Follow @phonescoop on BlueSky Follow @phonescoop on Mastodon Follow @phonescoop on Threads Phone Scoop on Facebook

 

Playwire

All content Copyright 2001-2025 Phone Factor, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Content on this site may not be copied or republished without formal permission.