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Another Brit faced with massive roaming charge

Another Brit faced with massive roaming charge The nightmare scenario of coming home from holiday to be faced with a massive mobile phone bill has happened to another Brit.

A long line of mobile users have ended up with grim faces, clutching a bill on the front cover of their local newspaper, having failed to check the limits of using their data plan while abroad.

In fact, it seems that Iayn Dobsyn was either too ashamed or unphotogenic to be photographed by the Lancashire Telegraph - instead it was Danielle Mestraud of Farleys Solicitors, who slashed his Vodafone bill from £31,000 to £229, who was photographed.

As an IT consultant, perhaps Mr Dobsyn should have been more careful when downloading the series finale of TV show Prison Break by hooking up his laptop to the internet via the mobile phone while holidaying in Portugal.

Recalling the moment he opened the bill on his doormat, Mr Dobsyn, 34, told the Telegraph: “The figures looked like they had come down from the Moon. I just laughed. There had to be some mistake."


However, Yes Telecom - the Manchester-based telecoms company who issued the bill - failed to see the funny side.

Although they drastically slashed the bill, they contacted Mr Dobsyn's solicitor to say: "We accept the bill was very high compared to Mr Dobsyn’s normal usage, but we would have expected Mr Dobsyn to make himself fully aware of the charges associated with using his data card abroad before he went."

Last March another Vodafone customer received a phone bill for £11,000 after his wife had started to download four episodes of Friends on his handset while he was still in the UK. Unfortunately, the downloading continued automatically when they went abroad.

The European Commission is currently looking to reduce the 'roaming' rates which companies can charge their clients for usage whilst abroad in the EU, in some cases by more than 50 per cent.

Until the issue is resolved it would be wise for consumers to read the small print of their mobile contract at the departure gate before holidays. Or just not take their phones abroad with them.

Industry News posted on 08 July 2008

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