Canadian man pays over $1,000 to stream a handful of Netflix movies

Most Netflix members pay $8/month to stream movies and TV shows to PCs and game consoles. That low price is partially what helped the company become a household name. Saskatchewan native John Gibson, however, managed to rack up over $10,000 in costs during a recent vacation.

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Gibson, who told his story to CBC News, let his son and two grandchildren stream a few movies via Netflix to his laptop during a car ride to Arizona. What he failed to understand was that without a dedicated connection across country lines, his go-ahead to watch "Shrek," "Spider-Man" and "Curious George" was subject to data roaming fees.

When Gibson later received his monthly cell phone statement from provider SaskTel, he gasped at a bill for $10,000. But it was no mistake. Gibson's family unwittingly racked it up during no more than five hours of movie time, with each film essentially costing $3,300.

And people balked when Netflix increased the price of its instant streaming and DVD combo package by $6/month.

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Gibson immediately contacted SaskTel, which slashed the bill to $1,000. Still quite a price to pay to watch three movies, but far more preferable than the original figure. He admitted it was "sort of" his fault and agreed to pay. "Lesson learned," Gibson said. That lesson being: do not stream Netflix when you're roaming. (via Hacking Netflix)

Have you ever unknowingly accrued ridiculous fees? Share your story in the comment section.

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