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