'Free' surfing tryout costs Texans $3,148
Posted at 10:54 a.m. PDT Wednesday, May 13, 1998
DENTON, Texas (AP) -- A North Texas family that surfed the
Internet for three weeks, thinking it was a free ride, is now trying to
stay afloat after getting a $3,148 telephone bill.
Leo and Cathey Nooyen plunked down $1,600 this spring for a
computer at Sears so their 17-year-old son could explore the World
Wide Web.
The Nooyens signed up for a free trial access program from Prodigy,
an on-line service, and surfed the Internet until discovering what they
consider a billing mistake in April.
''Your teeth drop out on the floor,'' Leo Nooyen told the Denton
Record-Chronicle after getting the bill, more than 130 times as large as
their usual $24 monthly payment. ''And then you say, 'What the heck?'
''
The Nooyens say they set up their new computer to connect with the
Internet via a local, seven-digit number. But the telephone bill shows
that the computer was connecting to a telephone number in Chino,
Calif.
Officials at GTE, the local phone company, and long-distance provider
AT&T said it is possible for a local call to become long-distance by
being forwarded to another area code. But they doubt that happened in
the Nooyens' case because the calls were dialed directly. The
companies say the family or Prodigy must pay.
Dan Levine, manager of marketing communications for Prodigy in
White Plains, N.Y., said the Nooyens picked the wrong hookup number
when they set up their computer and must pay the phone charges.
The Nooyens, who live in a well-maintained, double-wide mobile home,
said they aren't poor but can't afford the bill.
''The phone bill is not something the family can write a check for right
now,'' Mrs. Nooyen said.
I don't know about these Texans! I suppose the ones that are
around Houston are OK.<g>
o~~~ O |
