According to this USATODAY.com article - Ester Strogen, 82, of Canton, Ohio, first leased two black rotary phones in the 1960s. Ester was paying AT&T $29.10 every three months to lease the phones until her grandaughters discovered the charges a couple of months ago.
She could have bought a new Northwestern Bell Classic Trimline Corded Phone every month, for the price she paid to lease the phones from AT&T.
Actually when I look at the various charges on my cell phone bill, I'm not so sure that Ester wasn't getting a pretty good deal from the phone company (relatively speaking of course). I never could have imagined paying a grand or two a year for the privilege of having cell phones for the four people in my family. Of course I never could have imagined buying a bottle of water for a buck or two or a cup of coffee for 3 bucks either.
One other thought - regarding the rotary phones - I don't recall ever having one fail. I've lost count of how many corded or cordless touch-tone phones I've had fail in the last decade or so for use at home.
We think nothing about getting rid of a cell phone when we change plans, or a newer more desirable model comes out, or throwing out a corded phone when it breaks and buying a new one - generally adding more non-recyclable stuff to the waste stream. I'm guessing Ester probably kept the same phones she had in the 60's.
Maybe the ethics team at AT&T can decide if it was right to charge her somewhere around $5,000 for those two phones.
