Hammer of the Dads!
Posted on 04/09/2009 7:51:57 PM PDT by Gordon Greene
CHEYENNE — In one month, a Cheyenne teenager sent 10,000 text messages and received about the same — all while her family's plan did not include texting.
That means the family's provider — Verizon — charged them for each incoming and outgoing text message.
The girl's parents, Gregg and Jaylene Christoffersen, thought texting had been disabled, so one can imagine their surprise when they got the monthly phone bill and it asked for $4,756.25.
"It just hit us like a rock, like you're stepping into a bus," Gregg Christoffersen said.
The bill was legit.
Dena Christoffersen, 13, had apparently been sending most of these messages at school. That's more than 300 texts within an eight-hour period every
Gregg Christoffersen was shocked to see his daughter's texting bill. (9News)day for the whole month. Needless to say, it drew attention away from what she should have been doing: paying attention in class.
"She went from A's and B's one semester to F's in two months," Dena's dad said.
Hours after the enormous bill arrived, Gregg Christoffersen took a hammer to his daughter's phone.
He and Jaylene also grounded Dena until the end of school.
"I felt really bad, and I have learned my lesson," Dena said, with her head down.
Since she lost her phone, Dena's grades have gone up, and the texting is down to zero.
As for the phone bill, the family says Verizon has been willing to knock it down to a reasonable level.
The Christoffersens are asking school administrators at Johnson Junior High School to crack down on cellphone use during school.
If this were you're child, what would the punishment be?
She’d have to do some type work to payoff at ;east a portion of the bill. Enough to make it hurt.
Kid would have to HOLD the phone in her hand while it was hammered down.
Sounds like they did the right thing.
;east=least
Make her pay the bill. Babysit, collect cans... whatever. May take a few years but it will be a lesson well learned.
This costs Verizon ZERO, nothing, but they will take advantage of this situation.
Cell phone companies are the scum of our planet.
She had her phone taken away from her after they got a phone bill for $500.
I don't blame the Dad for doing what he did.
At the same time, a little bit of research and planning on his part could've gotten the child unlimited texting for about $10.00.
True, that only solves the bill problem, not the grade problem. But after the first $200+ bill on my son's texting the first thing I did was get on the phone to Verizon. I was going to cut it off, but they explained the unlimited plan.
Dad needed to research before giving the kid a phone.
Unlimited texting is the way to go.
Verizon is in business to make money. They offer a service. They tell you what it costs. They're not responsible for raising your children.
We understand, however, that under the New Obama World Order making money is a bad thing.
But that Dad had all the information he needed to limit or prevent this.
Hammer of the Dads!
BUMP to that.
IMHO, if your plan doesn't include texting, the phone should refuse to send text messages. Period.
Agreed. I knew what the text messages cost when we got our son a phone.
My mistake was thinking "he won't use more than that..."
$4,756.25 for $10.00 worth of texting? Yikes! I’m sure glad I’m not impressed with that texting stuff.
This is a response right out of DU. The girl did text the messages and the charge was legit. Should she be bailed out as well as part of this whole sale destruction of personal responsibility ? You would just created a life long moocher and victim. Verizon has invested billions in infrastructure to bring you this wonderful technology, why are they scum ? This corporate bashing belongs at DU.
“Dad needed to research before giving the kid a phone.
Unlimited texting is the way to go.”
You folks have got to be kidding me...
Did you read the story??? The kids grades went from A’s to F’s. Why let her even have a phone? (My wife made me write this).
No, she would have to get a job and pay off “all” of it. Lesson learned. Until then … no phone privileges.
“Verizon is in business to make money. They offer a service. They tell you what it costs. They’re not responsible for raising your children.”
Yeah!!!!!!
Can I have your autograph?
I cannot tell you how many times I told my carrier, Sprint, to block texting on my families service only to find they did not do it.
Every month the bill comes with some crooked fraud on the part of Sprint.
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