Florida retiree wins $31K fight over cell phone bill

SARASOTA, Fla. (AP) _ A 77-year-old retiree has won a two-month battle with a cell phone company over bills for about $31,000 in calls from Nicaragua he says he never made. <br/><br/>Oliver DeSofi's

Saturday, January 27th 2007, 3:32 pm

By: News On 6

SARASOTA, Fla. (AP) _ A 77-year-old retiree has won a two-month battle with a cell phone company over bills for about $31,000 in calls from Nicaragua he says he never made.

Oliver DeSofi's Cingular Wireless bill from November listed more than $21,420 in roaming charges for more than 4,000 calls made from his phone from Nicaragua. When he contacted Cingular about the charges, DeSofi learned there were already $9,554 in similar charges on his next bill.

The former bank executive said his bill was normally about $150 _ he has never been to Nicaragua.

``I told them this is impossible,'' DeSofi said.

DeSofi complained of fraud, but Cingular disagreed and tried to collect the money, the Sarasota Herald-Tribune reported Saturday.

Cingular canceled DeSofi's account, saying its fraud department did not find any problems with the account. The company reversed its decision after a Herald-Tribune inquiry on Thursday.

``We are researching how it was handled from beginning to end,'' Cingular spokeswoman Kelly Starling said.

A company representative told DeSofi that his bill had been credited the full amount and with an additional $120, which he could use if he wanted to resume service.

DeSofi said he did not plan to return to Cingular.