May 26th, 2010 @ BAFTA, London
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Holidaymaker gives 'bill shock' a new meaning by downloading TV show using mobile phone
A Yes Telecom customer has been sent a £31,000 mobile phone bill after using his handset as a laptop modem to download an episode of Prison Break while on holiday in Portugal.
Iayn Dobsyn, an IT contractor from the UK, realised that using data while roaming carried a cost but expected the bill to be more like £150.
He said: "I knew i used a lot of data while abroad but not to the tune of £31,000. The figures didn't make sense."
Yes Telecom has agreed to reduce the charge to a more manageable £229 and has advised customers to check the small print on their contracts before traelling abroad.
It's certainly not the first time something like this has happened - in December a Canadian was charged £41,000 ater using his mobile as a PC modem, while in March a UK couple were hit with an £11,000 bill for downloading an episode of Friends.
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What an idiot. The guy works in IT and should know better. Downloading TV shows is the sort of thing you do from your broadband connection at home - never over any sort of mobile connection.
Fools and their money are soon parted.
Funny as stories like this are they unfortunately are seriously impeding the uptake of mobile data services.
The basic problem is predictability. Users are often surprised by the charges they incur and are thus afraid of incurring charges.
Users who are afraid are unlikely to try new things. This is a problem which needs to be fixed -not easy though.
Geoff.
£31,000 mobile phone bill?! That's crazy.
He is lucky coz the telco company agreed to reduced it to £229...very very lucky guy.
A reminder for jet setters to check the roaming rates before using their mobile phones.
