Erika Anders, of McCandless, called Cingular Wireless early last December to check the expiration date of her calling plan.

Lee Ann, a customer service representative, said it would expire March 28 and that she would have to pay a $175 fee if she terminated it before then.

To save money, Anders asked Lee Ann to reduce her plan to a minimum rate that would cost her about $25 a month.

Because she already had purchased a new plan and phone from Sprint, she told Lee Ann that she wouldn't be using her Cingular plan at all. She said she would call back on March 28 to officially terminate it.

Since Anders, 29, a nursery school teacher, wouldn't be using her old Motorola cell phone, she decided to put it in the recycle bin at the Best Buy store in Northway Mall. She said she wanted to dispose of it "in an environmentally friendly manner."

She said the phone was password-protected and locked when she dropped it in the bin on Jan. 8.

On March 28, she called Cingular and terminated her plan.

On April 9, she received a bill from Cingular for more than $20,000. It was $20,590.67 to be exact.

Most of the calls were to Brazil. Anders acted immediately to challenge a bill that exceeded her annual salary and threatened her perfect credit rating.

She filed a report with the McCandless police. She sent a letter to Cingular's fraud department. When she didn't get a response, she wrote three more letters.

In her conversations with customer service representatives, Anders said she was told that customers have to call a toll-free number and provide proof of identity, including Social Security number, to activate international calling services.

"I never made such a call," she said.

She also drove to the Best Buy store on April 11. She asked a manager how her old phone had come into the possession of someone who had run up such a huge bill. He didn't know. She told him that she had relied on the store "to safely dispose of the phone."

Anders also wrote to Best Buy.

She reminded the company that it encourages consumers on its Web site and in its store to dispose of old cell phones in the recycle bin. The sign above the bin in the Northway Mall store informs people that, by disposing of their cell phones there, they are "supporting environmental programs."

She contacted me because she "was totally frustrated by the lack of responsiveness from both Cingular and Best Buy." With her permission, I forwarded copies of her letters to both companies and the state attorney general's Bureau of Consumer Protection office in Harrisburg.

I drove out to Best Buy yesterday and immediately saw the problem with the recycle bin. It is between two sets of automatic doors and against a wall. Anyone could push open the lid, reach inside and walk out with a cell phone, rechargeable batteries or printer cartridges.

I asked for the manager and was told he was on a lengthy conference call. I left my name, phone number, pager number and a manila folder with copies of Anders' letters to Best Buy. He paged me, declined to identify himself and referred me to corporate headquarters. I told him I was going to recommend that he move the recycle bin to a secure location inside the store.

I called Barbara Petito, a spokeswoman for the consumer protection bureau. She said bureau agents had called Cingular officials and asked that the bill be waived. Cingular officials indicated that they would.

Petito and Cingular spokesman Jim Orso advised consumers not to recycle their cell phones until they terminate their calling plans and do so only in a secured recycle container.

"I can't tell you how relieved I am," Anders said last night. "I've been so stressed for two months thinking that I would have to figure out some way to pay them. Thank you so much."