Hilary O'Donnell, a British resident, found herself in an unexpected predicament when she was charged a staggering £6,648 for using her mobile phone for less than an hour during a visit to New York. The hefty bill resulted from an attempt to resolve a technical issue with her phone by contacting her mobile service provider, Plan.com. Despite receiving numerous warning texts about her data usage, O'Donnell was unaware of the mounting costs.
O'Donnell's troubles began when her phone malfunctioned, prompting her to reach out to Plan.com to rectify the situation. Mobile providers typically manage roaming charges through account caps or by offering data packages. However, O'Donnell's account lacked such spending restrictions, leading to the exorbitant charges. The company charges £7.75 per megabyte (MB) for data roaming outside Europe, which starkly contrasts with other providers like Three, which charges 1p per MB in the United States.
Plan.com maintains that its pricing is transparent and readily available on its website. The company emphasized that they do not communicate with customers via WhatsApp, a point of contention in O'Donnell's claim.
“We maintain transparency in our pricing, and our fees are clearly outlined on our website,” said Plan.com.
O'Donnell admitted to misunderstanding the terms of her contract and acknowledged her lack of a spending cap.
“I was to blame as I didn’t have a spending cap,” she confessed.
In an attempt to avoid overcharges, O'Donnell had installed an e-sim, only to find herself unwittingly using the service.
“I didn’t realise I was even using the service as I had installed an e-sim to avoid being overcharged,” O'Donnell explained.
The incident underscores the importance of understanding mobile providers' policies, especially regarding international roaming. According to Simrat Sharma at Uswitch, most mobile companies implement a 'fair usage policy' to limit data allowance abroad and prevent excessive charges.
“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,” noted Sharma.
Sharma further advised travelers to familiarize themselves with their provider’s roaming policies before using data abroad.
“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,” Sharma recommended.
With consumer protections around roaming weakening in recent years, users face increased risks of incurring high charges. Providers such as Asda Mobile and giffgaff charge 20p per MB for U.S. data roaming, while iD Mobile charges 30p per MB, and Lebara charges 9p per MB. These rates are significantly lower than those imposed by Plan.com.
Challenging the fairness of the charges, O'Donnell escalated her case to the Communications Ombudsman. However, Plan.com defended its stance, highlighting that the error did not stem from their operations.
“While we understand that mistakes can happen, it’s important to clarify that the error, in this case, was not caused by our company,” stated Plan.com.