Teens Runs Up A £3,800 Phone Bill While On Holiday In US
| 11 July, 2013 | Posted by Ally under News |
British teenager, fourteen-year-old Casey Snook’s vacation to New York City ended in tears when she received her phone bill. The phone company Orange charged her £3,800 due to her roaming charges. She wasn’t aware she would be charged for traveling data as she uploaded pictures and status updates to Facebook chronicling her trip.
Her parents only received notice when her father’s bank account was overdrawn. Now the family is fighting back claiming the phone company preyed on a young girl and that the charges are ridiculous.
Orange said she ran up the charges by using Facebook with data roaming – a service which enables internet access abroad.
Her mother, Kate Snook, 43, a catering assistant, accused the company of ‘extortion’.
When I heard about it I felt physically sick. Casey was very upset and embarrassed and I was in tears.
‘I can’t believe that a company would let a bill which is usually £50 get up to that level. Did they not worry the phone had been stolen?
HOW TO AVOID ROAMING CHARGES
- Contact your network operator before you leave: Often they have cheaper bundles or tariffs available if you know you’re going abroad
- Use Wi-Fi wherever possible: This means you won’t use any data allowance
- Turn off auto-updating of apps or email retrieval: Again this means you won’t use any data allowance
- Consider getting a local SIM card: If your phone is unlocked and they offer a Pay As You Go data rate, this could be cheaper
- Use mobile websites instead of full desktop view: This will save data per page
- Turn off data roaming all together: If you don’t want to use the internet when you’re away
Whenever I go on holiday abroad I always know to turn off phone or get a sim card for the country I’m going to. Do you think the Snooks should have to pay the bill? What are your thoughts? Post your comments below.
Source: Daily Mail
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