How a call for help to a mobile phone operator cost £6,700 | Mobile phones

A woman who used her phone for less than an hour in New York, while trying to contact her mobile company, has been hit with a bill for almost £6,700.

Hilary O’Donnell, from Nottingham, was settling into her hotel when she found that her phone would not make outgoing calls, so she tried to contact Plan.com to fix the problem. But when she returned home, she was given a bill of £6,648 for her attempts – which, she believes, was grossly excessive and unfair.

Her predicament highlights the enormous roaming charges that can be racked up if you use a mobile abroad without a cap on how much you spend, and also the sky-high fees that some companies charge for small amounts of data.

O’Donnell had just arrived in New York for a five-day trip with friends when she realised her phone was not working, and assumed her service had been blocked. She was also unable to use the hotel wifi or install an e-sim, which she had planned to use during the trip to avoid high call charges. At any event, she concluded that she was not connected to Plan.com data. However, in fact, she was.

Her mistake came when she tried to contact Plan.com – an Isle of Man-based operator which specialises in business accounts – to resolve the connection problem.

Unsuccessful attempts to call the firm using WhatsApp over the course of less than an hour used up some 850 megabytes of data – billed at £7.75 per MB when outside Europe.

“Because it looked as if I couldn’t use the hotel wifi, I presumed it wasn’t using any data,” she says.

She eventually got the e-sim working, and used that for the rest of her holiday. But when she returned home, she found her account had been blocked, and she says the company told her she would not be reconnected until the enormous bill was paid.

Appeals fell on deaf ears, and the money was withdrawn from her bank account, resulting in her going overdrawn.

“I was to blame as I didn’t have a spending cap,” O’Donnell admits, but says she did not understand the process at the start of the contract. “I didn’t realise I was even using the service as I had installed an e-sim to avoid being overcharged.”

Fees for data roaming when travelling in the US, and in other countries, vary widely across mobile operators.

While Plan.com charges £7.75 per MB, Three charges 1p, Asda Mobile and giffgaff, 20p, iD Mobile 30p, and Lebara 9p.

Plan.com is not alone in these high rates: pay-as-you-go customers with O2 are charged £7.20 per MB.

After O’Donnell refused a £400 goodwill gesture, she took her case to the Communications Ombudsman, claiming the charges were unjust. She wanted to pay what she called a “fair price for a small error” and argued the charges were morally wrong.

But the ombudsman, which acts as an independent dispute resolution service between consumers and ­providers, found in the company’s favour.

It said the charges were in line with the advertised pricing and therefore it could not require the company to remove them. Plan.com also sent texts to O’Donnell warning her about her usage, it said.

In a statement to the Observer, Plan.com stood firm, saying its prices were advertised on its website and that it did not use WhatsApp to communicate with customers. “The customer’s account does not have spend caps in place, which means there are no alerts or restrictions while roaming,” it tells us.

“During the contract set-up, a spending limit was offered and can be selected by the customer, but this option was not selected. As this is a business contract, it is common for businesses to choose not to impose a spending cap, allowing them to continue their operations while travelling.

“Plan.com does not accept liability for a customer’s failure to take necessary precautions. Had the customer contacted us prior to travelling, we would have been able to provide guidance on potential charges, apply spend caps or bolt-ons, and share additional information as needed.”

It says incidents similar to what happened to O’Donnell are rare. When asked about whether its fees were excessive, it says: “We maintain transparency in our pricing, and our fees are clearly outlined on our website. While we understand that mistakes can happen, it’s important to clarify that the error, in this case, was not caused by our company.”

Roaming can usually be managed by having caps on accounts, or by buying packages of data, which essentially allow users to have chunks of international connectivity bolted on to their existing bill, usually for a daily charge.

Another popular option is to buy an international e-sim, which can work alongside a UK sim in many phones.

But be aware that providers tend to charge much more once you leave Europe. For example, Three charges £5 to use your UK call, text and data allowances in the US for a day.

Matt Sanders at price comparison site Go.Compare says that the further you travel from the UK, the higher the charges are likely to be.

“To make sure you aren’t caught out by any unexpected charges, the best thing to do is to check your contract before you head off on holiday. Daily charges and data limitations will be specific to your personal contract,” he says.

Simrat Sharma at Uswitch says that consumer protections around roaming have weakened in recent years. “Mobile providers also have something called a ‘fair usage policy’, which means networks can cap your roaming data allowance below what you would get at home to avoid overuse,” he says.

“We would urge travellers to check their mobile provider’s roaming policy, including the fair usage terms, for their destination before using their data abroad.

“Bear in mind that the ‘fair usage’ amount is often lower than a customer may receive at home.”

Ofcom, which regulates Plan.com, says operators must send notifications when consumers start to roam.

“These are there to help them understand how much it will cost to use roaming services, so they can make an informed choice when travelling,” it says. “Consumers can protect themselves further by setting bill limits. We’d encourage everyone to do this ahead of travelling to ensure it’s active while they’re away.”