In the annals of “that’s gonna hurt” stories, comes this life lesson….
Last week, I was sitting on my couch checking email, when I noticed that my Verizon wireless bill was available for payment. I decided to pay the bill and be done with it, so I opened the email and grabbed my wallet. As I opened the bill, I freaked when I saw that it was $464.10! Normally, these monthly bills are $60, so that’s quite a jump. I went into full-blown cardiac arrest, however, when I looked closer and saw that the bill was actually $4,641.00.
No, that’s not a typo…$4,641 for Internet service!
I immediately shut down the computer thinking, “It’s a mistake, it’s got to be a mistake.”
And then I began a little self reflection….
Earlier in August, I discovered that Netflix offers Internet streaming to allow members to watch old TV episodes and movies. Without going into the details, it will suffice to say that I took full advantage of my Netflix membership. My Internet usage was in fact not incorrect; rather than use my allotted 5120 MG of Internet, I used more than 23,000 MG.
After spending more than an hour begging and pleading with a Verizon agent, they knocked down my bill by $1,100, which was nice, but still left me with a $3,500 bill….for Internet!!!!
It’s now been a week since my little billing discovery and I’m finally breathing normally again. Fortunately, I have the money saved in my emergency account….I just didn’t think this would be the kind of emergency for which I’d be spending the money! It’s extraordinarily aggravating that I did this to myself, but I did in fact do this to myself, so I’ve just written the check and am not looking back.
But, this is one costly mistake I’ll remember for a long, long time.