Family Plan Lands Cell Phone Customer With $1,400 Bill

CLEVELAND -- Cell phone companies are pushing family plans as the best way for busy families to stay connected and save money.

But family plans could end up costing you more than you imagined, reported NewsChannel5's John Matarese.

"It almost gave me a heart attack when I opened it because it was over $1,400 for one month," said cellular customer Christine Mattlin.

Just one month after buying her two teenage daughters new phones, Mattlin received a bill for $1,469.

She thought it was a mistake until she looked closer and discovered that most of it was for Internet access.

When asked, she said her daughters admitted to sharing photos over their phones, but they thought it was included in their family plan.

"They just thought they were texting, multimedia texting their photos," said Mattlin.

But Mattlin later learned that photo sharing was not part of her package so she was billed for every bit of data transmitted.

When getting a family plan, make sure everyone on the plan understands what's allowed and what is not.

If you want Internet, sign up for a package plan that includes the Internet. If you don't want it, ask your provider to turn off Internet access.

Even though the phone company has agreed to forgive half her bill, Mattlin said she still wants the Internet blocked from her phones.

Matarese said the bottom line is when buying a new phone of plan, ask about extra fees for all those services.

Photos, videos, music downloads and web access can all cost you extra if you're not careful.