Overseas orange data rip off £1000.00 bill!

Giddytimes

I think I would have been in the same position as the op in these circumstances, I'm not sure why he's getting such a hard time. If I hadn't received the promised warning message I would have continued to use the internet believing myself to still be under the 10mb limit set.

I'm glad I'm with O2, they set a 40 pound limit on use of data abroad and you physically can't go over it in the same month unless you ring them to lift the block.

Guys_Dad

Giddytimes wrote: »

I think I would have been in the same position as the op in these circumstances, I'm not sure why he's getting such a hard time. If I hadn't received the promised warning message I would have continued to use the internet believing myself to still be under the 10mb limit set.

I'm glad I'm with O2, they set a 40 pound limit on use of data abroad and you physically can't go over it in the same month unless you ring them to lift the block.

Yes, but that limits you to 50mb. OP used more than that, if my calculations are correct. (Data in USA on Orange is £8 per mb, so £840 would be about 113mb with the 10mb plan as Spiro says in post #19.). However, O2 do have a higher bundle of 200mb with a £120 limit.

The real scandal is a dual one, and in this context, Orange are really in the wrong.

Firstly, the maximum bundle that Orange do is 50mb data for £52. So, if Orange had recommended that then the very minimum OP's bill would have been as follows:-

Bundle cost.................................. £52
excess data (63mb @£8 per mb).......£504

Total............................................£556

So, if he had been advised correctly, OP has been overcharged about £284 and that is what he should be pursuing. (Spiro has slightly different figure, but we are on the same lines)

But the second part of the problem is that Orange don't seem to have moved with the times and brought out decent international bundles. I believe they are probably the most expensive network for overseas.

With Vodafone, you get 25mb data per day overseas for £5 per day with an excess of £3 per mb (compared with Orange's £8 per mb !), with no separate up-front bundle cost, so if OP had averaged his 113 mb use over the 5 days, his costs would have been £25 as compared with Orange's best price of £556 !!!!!

International data charges are a complete scandal and why the imbalance between national and international data charges are so high in indefensible and OFCOM etc are on their case.

The real warning here for OP and others is that putting bad advice aside, Orange are not the network to use if you plan to use mobile internet to any extent overseas. The other warning is that, in this day and age, if you intend to use technology, you need to understand it a bit more particularly when it comes to your personal usage and the financial implications.

gjchester

oopsadaisydoddle wrote: »

ball. Yes we send a txt but because of delays in the partner roaming network, we cannot always guarantee when that will turn up.

Giddytimes wrote: »

If I hadn't received the promised warning message I would have continued to use the internet believing myself to still be under the 10mb limit set.

I'm glad I'm with O2, they set a 40 pound limit on use of data abroad and you physically can't go over it in the same month unless you ring them to lift the block.

Text messaging is not and never has been classed as a time critical or dependable service, it was never designed to carry as many messages in the way it does but the fact it's so used is a tribute to the foresight of the GSM protocol writers.

The OP should have got the warning but for some reason didn't, I'm sure all of us have had texts go astray on the past. However phones have data counter and as the OP knoew they limits and didn't check he's not blameless. Again given his experience of the prior high bill he knew the risks and should have checked every so often. I'm, not saying every 5 minutes but a once a day check would have given him an indication of the data use. People do have to be responsible for their actions and cannot simply absole that to to others.

Overseas billing is never in real time, even if O2 say they will cut you off at £40 thats £40 as billed, it may still go over depending on when the billing is sent back to the UK. I don't know who would pay the excess in that case presumably O2.

drbesty

o2 have capped the cost of roaming in the EU at £40 because they were forced to, as was every other mobile provider, this cap doesnt apply outside of the EU

spiro

drbesty wrote: »

o2 have capped the cost of roaming in the EU at £40 because they were forced to, as was every other mobile provider, this cap doesnt apply outside of the EU

Not quite correct. The EU has set a cap which must apply unless the account holder opts out. The network will then send a warning message but if you then say I want more you have no cap.

GeoThermal

Guys_Dad wrote: »

Hold on a minute. Read the first post again. This was the SECOND overseas trip that resulted in massive bills.

If you had been caught once and wanted to ensure you weren't caught again, you would have asked Orange "How much did I use last time?" and then made 100% sure I had at least as much this time, given that OP was not going to be relying on the hotel wi-fi and using the internet for more than emails, as he did in Spain.

As for my parallel with a house - I used that as OP is in property - then, perhaps, I should have used Health Insurance. Now I have never had to claim, but I know from general knowledge that £10,000 is not sufficient and that £5,000,000 is what the insurance companies offer, so I wouldn't have taken the advice of an insurance advisor who recommended a policy with a limit of £10k.

I have no defence for the network for him not receiving the texts he was promised, though.

I think you are being overly harsh. The layman knows little about data limits and would expect the provider of their service to know what they needed when asked directly. The OP was caught out the first time and paid the price. He then asked his provider what to do this time. His provider are the experts and he relied on them to offer the correct product. Based on his previous data bill they should have known immediately that 10mb was woefully inadequate. They got it wrong and that is not his fault. To me he was basically mis-sold a product that wasn't fit for purpose and Orange should waive the bill.

Guys_Dad

GeoThermal wrote: »

I think you are being overly harsh. The layman knows little about data limits and would expect the provider of their service to know what they needed when asked directly. The OP was caught out the first time and paid the price. He then asked his provider what to do this time. His provider are the experts and he relied on them to offer the correct product. Based on his previous data bill they should have known immediately that 10mb was woefully inadequate. They got it wrong and that is not his fault. To me he was basically mis-sold a product that wasn't fit for purpose and Orange should waive the bill.

Please read my post #43 above and you will see that even if Orange had given him the maximum bundle they offer, his bill would still have been £556. So there is no reason for them to waive the bill completely - perhaps bring it down to £556.

I do not support Orange's maximum Internet bundle size - and certainly it is pathetic compared with Vodafone's deals - but using Orange OP would have been hit hard with even the maximum bundle unless he severely reduced his use of the internet when roaming.

In order to reduce his use to the maximum bundle of 50mb, he would have had to know how much he was actually using at home and work out just how much he could economise.

So, am I really being harsh???

GeoThermal

Guys_Dad wrote: »

Please read my post #43 above and you will see that even if Orange had given him the maximum bundle they offer, his bill would still have been £556. So there is no reason for them to waive the bill completely - perhaps bring it down to £556.

Totally irrelevant. He asked for a product that based on his previous large data bill would cover his needs. He was told the 10MB would do so. The fact that Orange got that wrong too is not his fault. Orange mis-sold him a product and as such he should not be out of pocket.

Guys_Dad

GeoThermal wrote: »

Totally irrelevant. He asked for a product that based on his previous large data bill would cover his needs. He was told the 10MB would do so. The fact that Orange got that wrong too is not his fault. Orange mis-sold him a product and as such he should not be out of pocket.

Orange don't have a product that would have met his usage. So let's suppose Orange had said "Hey - we have a crystal ball and we think in 5 days you will use over 100mb data, but the most we can put on a bundle is 50mb".

How would that have helped???

And, of course, as I keep saying, OP had access to his own usage. It was his money that was at risk and, as such, he should have taken reasonable steps to protect that.

As others have said, you can get an app to see how much data you are using. If you can't read up on an Iphone's features, then don't buy one.

And, of course, if I was going to be travelling overseas on any frequent basis, I would have checked out how much the rates for voice and data was before taking out a contract, just as I would have ascertained how many minutes and texts per month I needed at home.

Just how much of a nanny society do you want?

llyamah

GeoThermal wrote: »

Totally irrelevant. He asked for a product that based on his previous large data bill would cover his needs. He was told the 10MB would do so. The fact that Orange got that wrong too is not his fault. Orange mis-sold him a product and as such he should not be out of pocket.

I agree. And then there’s the fact that he did not receive the message telling him he was over the data limit, which would have given him the option to stop using the data in order to avoid such a large bill.