A computer glitch sent thousands of Qwest wireless customers monthly bills for tens of thousands of dollars each.

But Qwest says they won't have to pay.

That doesn't come as a surprise to Jeannie Burlowski of Lino Lakes, who knew something wasn't right after she opened her phone bill on Saturday.

Her bill was $17,350.24, which was up considerably from the $60 to $70 a month she normally pays for combined wireless and residential phone service.

Burlowski's huge bill was the result of exceeding the 100 free minutes on her monthly wireless phone plan. In one case, an additional one-minute cost $699.75, Burlowski said.

Other calls in excess of the free minutes were billed for different amounts -- she was billed $386.55 for a five-minute wireless call.

One Minneapolis customer received a bill for $57,346.20, a WCCO-TV report said.

Some 14,000 of Qwest's wireless phone customers in 14 states were vastly overcharged, said spokesman Bryce Hallowell. The errors resulted from a glitch in a new Qwest computerized billing system.

Customers whose calls exceeded the number of free minutes on their wireless calling plans were billed at excessive rates, he said. The glitch has since been corrected, he said.

Customers who got those bills should not pay them, Hallowell said. Qwest said it expects to mail out correct bills in one to two weeks.

The computer glitch affected 1.4 percent of the 1 million Qwest wireless customers in the company's 14-state service region, which includes Minnesota, Hallowell said. Qwest did not disclose how many Minnesota customers were affected by the error.

Burlowski said: "We figured it was an error when we saw the charge of $699 for one minute. But we were dealing with Qwest, and my worry was that they would not acknowledge the error and try to make us pay for it. But that was a fleeting worry."

However, she was frustrated because she was unable to contact Qwest at all, apparently because Qwest customer service telephone lines were jammed over the weekend by people calling about the erroneous bills.

Burlowski said she call the customer service number on her bill and a recording saying that said Qwest was receiving an unusually large number of calls and that she should call back on Thursday or Friday, nearly a week after she got the bill.

Hallowell said customers who want to talk to someone about their bills can call 1-800-244-1111. In the next few days, Qwest plans to notify customers not to pay the bills by sending text messages to their wireless phones. Qwest also plans to send customers postcards urging them to disregard the erroneous bills.

Star Tribune

-- Anonymous, July 24, 2001

Answers

CO - Qwest error sends wireless bills through roof

Statewire Tuesday, July 24, 2001

DENVER (AP) -- Qwest Communications blamed computer problems for a billing error that charged some customers up to $600 a minute to use their wireless phones.

About 14,000 faulty bills went out this month, representing about 1.4 percent of Qwest's wireless customers in its 14-state region.

Linda Brooks of Minneapolis said she opened her mail Saturday and found a bill for $57, 346.20.

"This cell phone bill is more than I make in a year, " said Brooks, a home health care worker and student. "More than I make in two years. I looked at the amount and said, ' This can't be right." '

Qwest spokeswoman Catherine Murphy said the problem happened while the company was trying to upgrade its billing system.

"We are aware of who's affected and we're contacting them by phone or mail to let them know," Murphy said Monday. "We're reissuing a new bill that's correct."

The problem could have been worse. Murphy said Qwest caught the computer coding error early in the billing cycle.

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-- Anonymous, July 25, 2001