$600.00 Verizon bill for using SKYPE in China

[ellen22]

Ok guys I'm pissed...just got a $600.00 bill from verizon for using my Skype phone number in China. In the past, when I was out of the country, I gave everyone my Skype phone number, and if I was not on my computer,it would bounce to my cell phone. No use of verizon service or equipment(I own the phone) no charge from verizon. THIS trip verizon is charging me over $580.00 because I answered my Skype calls that used my Skype phone number which bounced to my cell...what the heck??!! I called customer service and they agreed to reduce the bill by $68.00??, but refused to rescind the charge. What should I do? How can they charge me when I did not use any of their equipment? Oh, I also specifically clicked my phone on "do not accept calls/data/text"   when I got to China, so nobody would accidentally call my cell #. Any ideas? (aside from dropping verizon service after 15 years on a 5 phone plan) which I am doing??'

[B33]

Yikes do you have a My Verizon account or get a detailed billing statement to were you can look over your bill and see were the charges stemmed from like time of day, how many minutes,  that sort of thing.. If you can see that and can prove you wasn't using your phone you may have a Case.. to drop the bill even more..  Good Luck b

[ellen22]

Thanks for your quick response... my family/friends were calling my Skype phone number for which I pay Skype for both the # and the computer phone service. The calls bounce from my computer to my cell when I am not at my computer...but these calls are all done through Skype using prepaid Skype service and equipment, not verizon service or equipment...so how can verison charge me $600.00 especially since I took the roaming option off my phone as soon as I landed in China and were not using their service?

[Ilikemath]

in order to get that call to your phone from skype you must have been using some sort of data connection.  My guess is you got data roaming charges.  I dont see how they could charge u from a skyp call unless it was a data charge. 

[B33]

Well ellen22  i have Skype in my phones but I'v never utilized the service and or how it Works so on that I'm not too much help.. but i did find this and hopefully it helps some..  b 

https://support.skype.com/en/faq/FA10655/making-a-skype-call-with-skype-3-2-for-android-phones 

[vzw_customer_support]

Holy cow! That's not small pcket change, ellen22. I can definitely understand your shock getting the high bill. Were you using the Skype application on your phone to place & receive calls while you were in China? If you were, this application does require a data connection and may be the reason you ended up with such a high bill. Without the 100 MB Global Data Plan for $25, each MB used in China at a pay-as-you-go rate is $20.48. That can really add up if you aren't connected to WiFi!

If you were not using your Skype application, then you may have Skype set up to forward calls to your mobile number when you're not available at home. The caller would call your Skype number and Skype would call your mobile number when you're not around the computer, essentially creating a call to your mobile number. With the per minute rate in China being $1.99, those charges can really add up too in you're answering those forwarded calls.

We certainly don't want to lose you after all the fantastic years together. Please fill us in on more details how you were actually using your phone and Skype while traveling in China.

Thank you
JenniferH_VZW

Please follow us on Twitter @vzwsupport

[vzw_customer_support]

We appreciate you reaching out to us regarding the the charges that incurred when you were in China. I can understand you paid Skype for service and when you weren't at the computer the calls would then go from the cell towers in China and then to your Verizon phone. Since the China towers processed the calls they inform your cellular provider (us) in order them to be paid to process those calls. I hope this information provides some clarity regarding the charges.

TamaraH_VZW
Follow us on Twitter @VZWSupport