iPhone Internet Use Abroad

GHA

I bought an iPhone on a £35/month contract, with o2, roughly three months ago, having been an o2 pay as you go customer for the past 7 or 8 years.

I've just returned from a holiday in Porto Santo (Portugal, EU), and have received a bill from o2 for approximately £400 (four hundred pounds) due to internet use abroad. I turned the data roaming function off the second day of my week-long trip, and instead connected to the internet through the hotel's free wi-fi connection (having been told the hotel provided free wi-fi internet access at the welcome meeting on day two). I probably accessed the internet for around an hour / 90 minutes per day, for checking work e-mails, flight times, and other general browsing. I did not download any songs or videos.

Is there anything I can do to query and reduce this cost? I am both astonished and gutted at having run up such a bill.

I received inadequate warning of the cost of browsing, and no warning of the charges I was incurring day by day. Obviously if I had known when I reached £20 or even £10 I would have stopped browsing the internet immediately and completely.

My girlfriend received a text message from vodaphone just before midnight one evening saying that if she remained connected to the internet beyond midnight UK time, she would be charged £4.99. I received no texts of the sort.

Are all mobile phone networks the same in terms of allowing users to run up such bills?

I have e-mailed o2 about this, but their response said that I was charged because the wi-fi network that I was using was chargeable, hence the bill of £400 for accessing the internet through wi-fi.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

GHA

Hughesy84

More than likely you will be stuck with the bill - whether using wi-fi or not, unless you can PROVE to them that it was FREE.

Highly unlikely they will accept what you will say - everyone is aware of the massive costs the iphone can run up, aswell as any phone that uses the internet whilst abroad!!

davetrousers

How can O2 charge you for using wifi? If you're at a hotel with free wifi then they will be paying a bill to their ISP.

GHA

Thanks for your responses. Presumably I'll have to get in touch with the hotel about their wireless internet then?

What's particularly gutting is this: o2international.co.uk/usingdataabroad/PayMonthly.aspx. So if I went on holiday two weeks from now a £40 cap would be in place stopping me from running up such unknown bills. The introduction of a cap suggests I'm not the first person this has happened to.

4743hudsonj

I also replied to this on consumer rights, this was my reply

£400? more than 2 hours browsing.

First you need to request an itemised bill specifying your data use that was chargable. You may have missed something out and the phone still connected.

Second, obtain confirmation from the hostel that the wifi was free. Im sure it will be as even if it were chargeable, ive never heard of the charges coming through your mobile provider (what if it were a laptop?) instead it would prompt you to pay before use on a webpage. Still obtain the confirmation and confront O2 with your evidence.

GHA

A couple of hours of browsing per day, possibly less.

Calls - 88p
Messages - £2.30
Internet - £300.07

Total before VAT - £333.04
VAT - £58.28

Total - £391.32

I've requested a full breakdown of charges but I get no more than a list showing days, times and prices, nothing else.

I'll get in contact with the hotel and confirm that wireless access was free.

Should I cancel my direct debit in the mean time?

Thanks,

GHA

wattywattwatt

I recently had a few days in Poland and was so concerned about running up a massive (unintentional) internet bill I took the sim out and used it in another phone, that had no internet settings entered, to make calls and receive texts etc. I used my HTC HD2 with an old sim in it (not connected to any network) to surf the internet using free wifi where available. I did this because before going I had noticed that my phone seemed to connect to the internet when I had switched off the data connection, when I checked it had switched itself back on! I just didn't trust it not to connect so took no chances.

4743hudsonj

wattywattwatt wrote: »

I recently had a few days in Poland and was so concerned about running up a massive (unintentional) internet bill I took the sim out and used it in another phone, that had no internet settings entered, to make calls and receive texts etc. I used my HTC HD2 with an old sim in it (not connected to any network) to surf the internet using free wifi where available. I did this because before going I had noticed that my phone seemed to connect to the internet when I had switched off the data connection, when I checked it had switched itself back on! I just didn't trust it not to connect so took no chances.

Try 3g watchdog looks promising for me.

Yolina

Sorry can't help the OP but for WattyWattWatt, have a look at this: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=643594 I use it on my HD2 and it does kill all data connections properly when you want it to

Yolina

4743hudsonj wrote: »

Try 3g watchdog looks promising for me.

3g watchdog is for Android handsets, the HD2 uses WinMo.

muzzer_mc

Hmm this interests me as I'm planning on using the Hotel Wifi when I hit Vegas in August.

Though my plan is I'll buy a Local Sim out there and put it in my old unlocked N95.
I plan to turn 'Airplane' mode On for my Iphone and turn Wifi so its just the Wifi signal that it is connecting too.. I hope

Last time I was State side I racked up £300 bill via net usage so I feel your pain dude!