Father Destroys Phone After Teen Racks Up Thousands on Bill

2009-04-10 04:59:06 (GMT) (WiredPRNews.com - News, Technology)

A teen racks up a over four thousand dollars in cell phone charges and gets phone hammered

A dad took a hammer to his daughter’s cell phone after the teen ran up a bill of over four thousand dollars.

Wired PR News – The father of a Colorado teen hammered her cell phone after she ran up an astronomical bill from text messaging. As reported by the Denver Post, Dena Christoffersen sent and received approximately 20,000 text messages in one month. Because texting was not an included service in her family’s cell phone plan, the combined charges led to a hefty $4,756.25 phone bill. However, their cell phone company, Verizon, is reportedly willing to reduce the amount.

Dena’s father, Gregg Christoffersen, is quoted in the report as stating of he and his wife’s surprise by the bill, “It just hit us like a rock, like you’re stepping into a bus.” The 13 year-old’s dad is further quoted as remarking about the cell phone’s impact on his daughter’s performance in school, “She went from A’s and B’s one semester to F’s in two months.”

In addition to losing her cell phone, Dena was grounded as a result of her actions. She is quoted by the Denver Post as stating of the situation, “I felt really bad, and I have learned my lesson.”

As noted in the report, the family has requested that school administrators take action to decrease instances of cell phone use in school.

Photo Credit: Malene Thyssen, http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Malene