Airline Passenger Stuck With $1,171 Wi-Fi Bill
Before you pay for Wi-Fi in the sky, the tale of Jeremy Gutsche should remind you to read the fine print.
Gutsche is a Canadian who willingly paid for Wi-Fi on a recent Singapore Airlines flight from London to Singapore. According to a Wall Street Journal report, Gutsche signed up for a 30-megabyte plan for $28.99 and was aware he’d have to pay overage fees. What he didn’t know was his overage fees would total $1,142 by the time the plane landed — for a grand total of $1,171.46.
“Gouged!’’ is how Gutsche described the bill on Twitter.
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Gutsche, an executive at Trend Hunter, took to his blog to vent in a post called “Try the internet! It’s only $1,200!’’ In it, he posts his bill.
“I had an otherwise enjoyable flight, but the sticker shock of being gouged $1,200 made me feel like I was deplaning from Total Bastard Airlines, that old skit from SNL where they kick you off the plane with a ‘Buy BYE!’’’
But was the airline in the wrong? Or was Gutsche just underestimating how much he used the Wi-Fi?
Gutsche said he was mostly checking email and uploading a PowerPoint document and the airlines’ Wi-Fi was “painfully slow.’’ Singapore Airlines uses the Switzerland-based OnAir for its Wi-Fi service. The company told the Wall Street Journal its billing policy is “entirely transparent,’’ writing in a statement: “To consume several hundred megabytes during one flight takes much more than basic email viewing, for example downloading heavy attachments, cloud access and using Skype.’’
Folks commenting on Gutsche’s blog disagreed about whether Gutsche was gouged. Some said his is a simple case of buyer beware since Gutsche agreed to the terms before buying the Wi-Fi package. Others called the high fee unethical.
What do you think?
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