NATION : Ill. Phone Bill a Few Zeros Off

FLOSSMOOR, Ill. — Cori Ward’s elderly mother has not been calling the troops in Saudi Arabia, but it looked like it when this month’s phone bill rang in at more than $8.7 million.

Illinois Bell spokesman Larry Cose said the elderly woman, who lives in suburban Flossmoor south of Chicago, was supposed to get a bill for $87.98 for three weeks of service with no long-distance calls.

“It was a manual error,” Cose said. “We apologized, of course. Something like this rarely happens.”

As far as anyone can figure, an Illinois Bell employee incorrectly typed a correction into the computer system.

Ward said it took some talking, though, to convince the telephone company of its error.

“They said, ‘Why do you want a new bill?’ ” Ward said. “I said, ‘Well, it’s rather high.’ Then they pulled it up on the computer and said, ‘Yes, I see what you mean.’ ”