iPhone bill unboxed by i-Justine

For those new iPhone owners who have been wearing that touchscreen keyboard out by sending as many texts as your thumbs can muster, you've probably been greeted by an unexpectedly large box from your neighborhood carrier. For Justine, that meant receiving "over 300 pages" of detailed billing from AT&T that spelled out every single SMS (and call, we presume) sent and received. If we actually needed another reason to choose eBilling over the obvious alternative, this would definitely be it. Check out the video after the break.

[Thanks, Alex]

[Rob @ Aug 13th 2007 10:11PM]

is this for real

[Demaar @ Aug 14th 2007 7:57AM]

Apple sure is a green company. Yup.

[Chris F @ Aug 14th 2007 8:13AM]

apple isnt the one who sends the bill you moron!

[Adam @ Aug 14th 2007 3:40PM]

To be fair Apple actually isn't very green, but for different reasons.

[Reid Sorenson @ Aug 14th 2007 1:37PM]

I totally buy that this is real. My latest AT&T bill is several pages long, and it only includes a few days with the iPhone data plan. I just switched to paperless billing--as easy as a single mouse-click--to avoid an unboxing photo gallery of my own next month!

[Franco @ Aug 14th 2007 2:41PM]

Everyone who reply takes things too literal. Demaar is making a sarcastic statement.

[Michael I @ Aug 15th 2007 9:59PM]

yes its for real, the iphone data plan (the one with 900 min) cost $120 a month and if you want' to text, give it up!

[carter @ Aug 13th 2007 10:13PM]

that's what you get for choosing detailed billing

[Will @ Aug 13th 2007 10:57PM]

it's not that she chose it, it's an automatic thing...you have to specify that you don't want it

[Common Core 2 Duo!! @ Aug 13th 2007 10:14PM]

how much was it? her bill i mean? is everyone's bill going to be like that? i just dont understand why they sent her a 300 page bill

[Will @ Aug 13th 2007 10:58PM]

it showed every single call and text she made or received...it's a lot more common that people would think

[James @ Feb 5th 2008 9:56PM]

Not just every single call and text, the main part is when you access the EDGE (data) network, for mail or internet, etc. It shows up on your bill. 20kb here, 4kb there, but every time you access the network.

Funny thing is, the data plans are unlimited, and for each listing on the bill the charge is, of course, $0.00

[LiQuiD_FuSioN @ Aug 13th 2007 10:20PM]

Nowadays, you have a choice between electronic billing and mailed billing. So, if you're ending up with a crap load of paper like the girl in the video, then you can easily solve this problem.

However, if you're a compulsive texter and a non-stop blabber mouth, then maybe the answer lies beyond electronic billing and involves talking to social workers to receive quick mental help.

[Christian @ Aug 13th 2007 10:27PM]

I somehow just caguely remember another competitor's AD about their bill being so huge and heavy it broke their dining table... I wanna say T-mobile but I could be wrong til I find a proof of that old commercial...

[alf @ Aug 13th 2007 10:28PM]

Think of all of the people who work at AT&T. Not one of them said, "Wait! This is colossally stupid!" Right down to the guy who had to order thousands of tiny boxes for the bills, no one stepped up.

[NewJohnny @ Aug 14th 2007 6:44AM]

It's because the country runs on apathy.

[jbcaro @ Aug 13th 2007 10:30PM]

I say FAKE!!! Just an ad for eBilling.

[Will @ Aug 13th 2007 11:00PM]

i have customers that have bills like this all the time...they're actually usually shipped by fedex

[v_dogg @ Aug 14th 2007 1:07PM]

i get bills that are extremely thick from at&t as well.

[Dave Zatz @ Aug 13th 2007 10:30PM]

Well, we know for a fact her video wasn't taken with the iPhone. Probably needed Windows Mobile for that. ;)

[Franco @ Aug 14th 2007 2:40PM]

no, she just need a camcorder since no camera on any phone sold in us is capable of that type of frame rate and resolution. not even a window mobile

[Hung @ Aug 14th 2007 4:53PM]

Oh. Have you ever had a phone that costs more than $250? Pretty much all of them shoot video like that. All N-series phones with 3 megapixel cameras or better shoot video like that, as well as some 6-series phones I.E. 6500 Slider and that one slider that's really popular in Asia (forgot the name). And what does the fact it's in America have to do with it? Plenty of Americans have amazing foreign phones, albeit very few of them would consider committing to the iPhone. Actually, I see your argument; no one committed to their iPhone would own any phone that I previously mentioned. Good call.

[Ellianth @ Aug 13th 2007 10:44PM]

Something tells me that if she can afford the phone, she can pay the bill. But if you wanna save that money from paying her bill, and invest it in a nice wedding ring, I'd be happy to marry you*.


*Ellianth will only marry you if your in your late 80's, close to death, and have a HUGE life insurance pay out waiting. Please note that in order for this marriage to go through Ellianth must be the only name on your will!

[Andrew Moskowitz @ Aug 13th 2007 10:48PM]

Thats nothing. When people were cloning cell phone numbers years ago we got a bill in a box about 3 times the thickness of that one for roughly $10,000...should have saved it.

[Lee @ Aug 13th 2007 10:56PM]

The most annoying part is corporate America won't offer a discount for electronic billing. They cynically couch e-billing it in terms of saving a tree or the environment. The cost of printing a bill that large has to be almost the equivalent of the mailing cost. And, though I shred every bill sent to me, I'm still going to get them until they offer me a tangible reason for e-billing. Why should ATT or any other business get the savings? They certainly won't be passing it on to any of us, will they?

[Eric @ Aug 13th 2007 11:36PM]

That's because they outsource the billing to a third party. The third party gets a deal that makes sure they get paid by the account. It doesn't matter what the customer requests (otherwise AT&T would just coach their people to push e-billing instead of detail billing). Besides, it is a holdover from the bad old days of massive per minute charges and monthly trips to the phone store to have a sales rep explain the charges, and why they never matched what they said the charge would be when you signed up.

Flashback to 1993... Top of the bill says something like "$39.99 free weekend plan," list of several phone numbers called, almost all of them off peak (which should have been free, right?), bottom of bill shows total of $125.99 or so. Sales guy can't explain why a $40/month plan becomes a $125/month plan, but is good at handwaving, and goes over each and every call I made (thanks to the free detailed bill), and I storm out of the place.

[Tech^Cellfish @ Aug 14th 2007 7:55AM]

Well in that case I would have regular mailing and sell the paper to a recycling plant :)

[JJ122 @ Aug 14th 2007 12:00PM]

Hell why not keep up the stuff she is doing and collect all of that paper and recycle it and make some money? It could help pay for the huge initial investment of the Iphone..

[Matt B @ Aug 13th 2007 11:00PM]

Who knew the biggest iPhone hater were trees?

[Mitch @ Aug 13th 2007 11:04PM]

no wonder the plans cost soooo much!

[The Voice of Reason @ Aug 13th 2007 11:11PM]

My bill was upwards of 30 pages and fit in an envelope.

The problem is that it gives you EVERY SINGLE time you access the EDGE network, which is unlimited. That combined with a social butterfly that abuses the unlimited nights and weekends will account for a 300 page bill.

Just another example of someone that wants their 30 seconds of fame on the internet. Who cares that she has a big bill? Not me. After seeing my 30 page bill, I'm signing up for paperless billing. If this woman doesn't want to, that's her prerogative.

[Michael @ Aug 14th 2007 9:05AM]

Wait... "abuses the unlimited nights and weekends"...? WTF???

I thought the whole point of GETTING unlimited nights and weekends is to shift as much use from peak minutes to off peak to minimize one's monthly charges. How does that possibly translate into abuse, especially when traditionally this is a standard plan feature offered by nearly every carrier out there?

[No1 @ Aug 14th 2007 12:34PM]

Abuse is what they call when you actually take them up on the offer and use an unlimited plan for longer than half the time you could have gotten peak minutes for the cost of the plan.

"...WTF??? you actually want to make free calls? you were just supposed to pay us and forget you even had it."

[oki @ Aug 13th 2007 11:12PM]

wow, not bad i have gone over 300 pages before. im not even a girl, but the treo is so nice to text with. iphones are well i love them but i find them a pain to text with, or any typing for that matter

[klew @ Aug 14th 2007 12:17AM]

area code 412? Cue Homer's exasperated AAAAWWWW! I just came back from a boring week in Pittsburgh yesterday.

[mike @ Aug 14th 2007 12:23AM]

Check that 30 page bill carefully...tucked deep inside there is a 2.99 charge for Roadside Assistance AT&T decided we all needed.

[Trace The Hedgehog @ Aug 14th 2007 12:38AM]

If she has Mana as her ringtone, then yeah, thats her.

[Joey @ Aug 14th 2007 12:42AM]

What's the song in the background?

[GQmacguy @ Aug 14th 2007 1:06AM]

The iPhone commercial music? lol

[Alvin @ Aug 14th 2007 12:54AM]

"Perfect Timing" by Orba Squara

[Joe @ Aug 14th 2007 7:33AM]

Does anyone know what the music is on that clip?

[Nate @ Aug 14th 2007 8:40AM]

Wikipedia it...

I think that if it is real, maybe she should have known, so many calls on detailed billing would do that to you. Not that I like AT&T, but that's probably what they do for every customer.

[Flying? @ Aug 14th 2007 8:46AM]

Such a Waste of paper and energy is really obscene ... not to mention totally useless ! The most fascinating being that no one stepped up or pointed that system out before ... America really lives on another planet ...

[williedigital @ Aug 14th 2007 9:18AM]

Um, you know how much junkmail is delivered in American right. If this offends you, contact your congressperson to stop those goons from snailmail spamming.

[lessthanlights @ Aug 14th 2007 9:28AM]

i think i'm going to give her a call. if go though the video frame by frame you can pull out her cell phone number in pieces. i just need to find 2 more digits!

[Jeff @ Aug 14th 2007 11:39AM]

If you've already narrowed it down to just a hundred remaining possibilities, what the heck, call all of them. It can't take much longer than you've already invested. Be sure to let us know how your call goes. "Hey baby, you're hot. I read your phone number off that video of your AT&T bill. You, uh, wanna go out sometime?" Good luck.

[lessthanlights @ Aug 14th 2007 11:41AM]

yea that would be fun- but it only took 2 minutes to find the first 7 digits- i bet i could get the rest if i tried. shes from pittsburgh.

[john @ Aug 14th 2007 9:33AM]

Every detail is listed in that bill. Every bit of data transfered is listed. Its not that the bill is expensive, its just listed out for every data event that took place. Glad I have paperless billing. AT&T I imagine will address this billing. It is def costing them $ to print, ship, manage, etc a bill like that.

[engadget.com @ Aug 14th 2007 9:59AM]

I shred my bills when I am done with them.. I am guessing a bonfire is more economical then buying an industrial sized shredder to deal with that pile of paper...

[Frank Kaestner @ Aug 14th 2007 10:20AM]

This is nothing new. I currently have a Cingular 8525 and my bill is 70 pages long. 2 years ago when I had the 8125 it was also 70 pages long. AT&T.com has on option to disable bills being sent through the mail.