By: MarkJ - 16 March, 2009 (8:35 AM) - Score: 1849 - Mobile Broadband
Remember Ian Simpson, a 29 year old factory worker from Darlington (Yorkshire), who ran up a bill of £27,322 for using his Vodafone UK Mobile Broadband connection abroad (here)? How about the pair who were charged £11,000 for doing something similar (here)? We're loathed to report that yet another Vodafone user has now been hit with a Mobile Broadband "bill shock" of no less than £21,716!
The Daily Mail reports on the plight of 42-year-old Will Pierce, whom decided to download some TV shows over his Mobile Broadband link while on a five-day break in Meribel. The idea was to help keep his son occupied with something to watch, although being hit with a roaming data bill of £22k probably wasn't in his plans:
Typically anybody familiar with Mobile Broadband and data services in the UK will know that the low pricing only applies to operators in this country. Meanwhile roaming (non-UK) data charges are still comparably excessive.
Some operators, such as Three (3), get around this problem by making sure that Mobile Broadband links cannot be used outside of the UK. However others still fail to keep their users clearly informed about the limits of such packages.
Ofcom has also confirmed that there are currently no rules forcing operators to alert their customers to the size of any bills being incurred. To make matters worse the European Union's (EU) new mobile data rules won't come into effect until 2010 (here):
It's understood that Ofcom will be meeting with operators to tackle the issue of "bill shocks", although no specific details were offered about when. In the meantime Vodafone has mercifully decided to waive the user’s bill in full.
The Daily Mail reports on the plight of 42-year-old Will Pierce, whom decided to download some TV shows over his Mobile Broadband link while on a five-day break in Meribel. The idea was to help keep his son occupied with something to watch, although being hit with a roaming data bill of £22k probably wasn't in his plans:
'I nearly fell over when I saw the bill,' said the 42-year-old. 'It was just unbelievable. I never imagined it would cost so much to watch a few TV programmes. I'm amazed that Vodafone could allow an individual to run up such a huge bill without any warning or agreement of a credit limit. It's utterly staggering.'
He said: 'There's no warning when you log on how much it will cost a minute or a counter on the screen telling you what it is costing. If you ran up such a bill on your credit card while overseas you'd get a call checking that it is you who is spending so much.'
He said: 'There's no warning when you log on how much it will cost a minute or a counter on the screen telling you what it is costing. If you ran up such a bill on your credit card while overseas you'd get a call checking that it is you who is spending so much.'
Typically anybody familiar with Mobile Broadband and data services in the UK will know that the low pricing only applies to operators in this country. Meanwhile roaming (non-UK) data charges are still comparably excessive.
Some operators, such as Three (3), get around this problem by making sure that Mobile Broadband links cannot be used outside of the UK. However others still fail to keep their users clearly informed about the limits of such packages.
Ofcom has also confirmed that there are currently no rules forcing operators to alert their customers to the size of any bills being incurred. To make matters worse the European Union's (EU) new mobile data rules won't come into effect until 2010 (here):
Improved transparency: Customers travelling to another Member State should receive an automated message of the charges that apply for data roaming services. On 1st July 2010, operators must provide customers with the opportunity to determine in advance how much they want to spend before the service is "cut-off".
Wholesale caps for data roaming: The Commission also proposed a €1 per megabyte safeguard limit for wholesale data roaming fees, to make them more predictable for operators, stimulate competition and enable even more transparent retail prices.
Wholesale caps for data roaming: The Commission also proposed a €1 per megabyte safeguard limit for wholesale data roaming fees, to make them more predictable for operators, stimulate competition and enable even more transparent retail prices.
It's understood that Ofcom will be meeting with operators to tackle the issue of "bill shocks", although no specific details were offered about when. In the meantime Vodafone has mercifully decided to waive the user’s bill in full.
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