30 Minutes of Internet Access Costs Vacationing Family $13,470
A San Jose, California family learned the hard way that airplane mode does not shut off the internet to a cellphone. As their flight crossed over Vietnam, the family's son Nicholas Chung was playing chess offline with airplane mode enabled. Little did he know that apps are still allowed internet access in airplane mode and he inadvertently racked up a $13,470 bill in 30 minutes. T-Mobile offered the family a steal of a deal when they lowered the bill to only $3,800 but the Chung family wasn't buying it. They contacted their local news station and 7 On Your Side convinced T-Mobile to shred the bill.
However, when ABC7 looked into the matter, we found that many mobile apps that don't require an internet connection still use data. Users may not even realize it, but the apps operate in the background, silently gobbling data for purposes such as updating software, refreshing social media, and sending ads . Nicholas realized his chess game is one of those apps that run data in the background, which likely explains the huge bill.
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