Help International Data Overage Charges over $1000

This is primarily a peer-to-peer forum.  While AT&T does have employees here that do help, they don't always monitor the forums.

If you feel calling and speaking to a rep over the phone hasn't helped, then you could always try filing a complaint with the Better Business Bureau, FCC, and/or FTC.

As far as what we can say about the international charges; if AT&T has already paid the other service provider(s) in Canada, there is a slim-to-none chance that you're going to receive any sort of compensation and thus you would either need to pay the bill or face having your services disconnected.

No such thing as Cruise “unlimited”.   Looking at the plan that was added to his line might have been a good idea as you would have known it’s limits.  Planning ahead to see if he needed a roaming plan before he traveled even better.  

Charges are from Cellular at Sea, satellite phone service. Not ATT or Canadian carriers.  

You can file a complaint.  ATT may respond with its roaming policy charges.  

This message is a response to Sandblaster.  Under Sandblaster's theory, ATT had already incurred international charges from associated international carriers when this particular ATT customer contacted ATT to set up an international calling & data plan.  From there, Sandblaster opines that the ATT customer was fortunate that they didn't have to pay the full rate, since the charges were already incurred.  Sandblaster's reasoning is internally flawed.  If ATT had incurred charges from other international carriers at the 'full rate,' ATT could not then discount its charges after the fact when the customer belatedly added an ATT International Plan.  Obviously, the rate charged to ATT by its international counterparts was NOT the 'full rate' passed through to the customer before the customer added the ATT International Plan.  Accordingly... there is no basis for Sandblaster to proclaim that the reduced international plan invoice of $1,000 is impossible for ATT to negotiate or lower further.  It should be obvious to even the casual reader that Sandblaster has no knowledge of the actual costs of the call, including charges between carriers.  Without knowing the actual underlying costs incurred by ATT, there is no way for Sandblaster to know what amount, if any, ATT can further reduce the charges.     

Forum answers like Sandblaster's have the look and feel of something from the corporate PR office.  They are NOT helpful.  Telling a customer how lucky they are to be working with a carrier that charges them four figures without warning is bad business.  So a message to Sandblaster -- and to everyone else who masquerades as a normal ATT customer 'trying to help' other customers: knock it off.  Real people have real questions and deserve real service.  And a message to ATT: Your PR department isn't helping.  They can misspell as many words as they like, and make claims to being regular Joe's, but the normal consumer can still detect them from a mile away.  

@ActualConsumer I am a customer and my answers are honest. You don’t have to agree with them or like them but do not tell me to “knock it off”. I stand by my post. Your reading comprehension is not very good either. You attribute to me statements I never made. I said nothing about ATT having incurred charges, that was someone else. I only compared what the charges would have been had the OP not had the cruise ship plan.

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@ActualConsumer wrote:

Under @sandblaster's theory, ATT had already incurred international charges from associated international carriers when this particular ATT customer contacted ATT to set up an international calling & data plan.  From there, Sandblaster opines that the ATT customer was fortunate that they didn't have to pay the full rate, since the charges were already incurred.  Sandblaster's reasoning is internally flawed.  

Firstly, it's unfortunate that the original poster of this thread never read what the plan actually includes https://www.att.com/offers/international-plans/cruise-packages.html it would have prevented much of this mess, correct?

It's not their theory, the customer's charges were already incurred with AT&T (see post #1), I'm not under the impression anyone here knows what the other international carriers actually charge AT&T. 

It's not sandblaster who's reasoning is flawed, as that's NOT what sandblaster said; they said nothing about the charges being higher FROM the international partners.

You're also using wording like: passed through, full rate and impossible (not sandblaster) but then you are arguing about them saying those things (nor did they say that AT&T couldn't reduce the charges farther).

More importantly, I don't hear you saying AT&T charged the incorrect amount in this process, AT&T reduced the customer's charges significantly.

Maybe I'm wrong and AT&T pays for plans to the foreign carriers when people get a passport or day pass and they can backdate it (but I doubt that's the way it works). If I'm wrong, please post a link to indicate such a process, I'm always looking to expand my knowledge.

@ActualConsumer

  We aren’t employees.  You can tell as there is no platitudes, no one gets paid to put sugar on it.  

Fact is, everyone is responsible for the charges they run up on their phone. Whether it’s calling long distance or roaming charges.   @sandblaster Laid out the facts as published on the website for anyone to read.  Those who stumble through life without knowing there are consequences to their actions are always going to be hard-done-by when it’s their own fault.  

And if you want ATT to care of your roaming charges, may I suggest you drop off your phone at a company store before you get on a plane, they can baby-sit it till you return.  

@ActualConsumer

Im not the angry one.  🙄.  Look inward.  

ATT does monitor and the mods and employee posts are impossible to miss as they are clearly labeled.  

I resent paying for someone else’s lack of preparation and lack of responsibility, and you know we all do if ATT waves charges they paid from another service provider.