Massive orange phone bill

gjchester

isthatreduced wrote: »

Yes :rotfl:

I do often wonder if these bills are a result of too much booze and then using the phone as if they are at home. Maybe some people do treat the phone carefully during the day then after a few cocktails/beers throw caution to the wind and use the phone as they do at home, forgetting about it until the bill arrives.

MorrisonsEmployee

Search through the threads on here - there are lots of cases of people coming home to high charges, some of the other threads will give you some advice on the best way to try and get as much discount from Orange as possible - Good luck!

simax

withabix wrote: »

There are NO data bundles available for roaming in countries outside the EU for most networks (plus Australia and New Zealand on Vodafone).

Orange now do data bundles specifically for the US and Canada, as well as other areas of the world, but you need to ask

isthatreduced

There are alot of people with smart phones who really don't understand about roaming and the networks take full advantage of that fact.

I think the networks should do more to inform customers about roaming charges in plain english for those who are not tech savvy.

These phones are being sold to everyone,I work with adults with learning disabilities and some of them have these phones, so I do believe the networks should do more.

That does not absolve customers of taking responsability for finding out how to use their phone but many people really don't understand roaming ect.

robt_2

isthatreduced wrote: »

There are alot of people with smart phones who really don't understand about roaming and the networks take full advantage of that fact.

There are also a lot of people who can't be bothered to read the manual, and ignore the warnings on iPhones that turning on data roaming will incur large costs.

You can only do so much to protect people.

Jude111

withabix wrote: »

It isn't the networks' responsibility to tell you how much you will be charged for roaming unless YOU ask them and tell them where you are going.

Anyone who has a phone contract is an adult and is responsible for their own actions.

Get a phone which defaults to 'Data Off' when roaming - like nearly all of the Android ones.

There are NO data bundles available for roaming in countries outside the EU for most networks (plus Australia and New Zealand on Vodafone).

Again, it is YOUR responsibility to check - NOT the network operator's responsibility to molly coddle you.

I acknowledge your opinion and that I am sure, of phone company employees too who are onto a lucrative thing here! The fact that the EU has seen it necessary to bring out some kind of safe-guard would suggest I am probably in good company. I therefore hold with my opinion that the phone companies could be far more transparent in their charges - much like the requirement for many other sectors of society.

ekkygirl

My hubby went on a fishing trip in Gran Canaria. Had photo taken with catch of the day and later went on fishing company website to look at photo £200 ching ching, to look at a photo of the bloody fish he caught! How we laughed! NOT cost more that the actual holiday. He won't be doing that again.

Jude111

MorrisonsEmployee wrote: »

Search through the threads on here - there are lots of cases of people coming home to high charges, some of the other threads will give you some advice on the best way to try and get as much discount from Orange as possible - Good luck!

Thankyou- and for those less unsympathetic - I have learned my lesson- the hard way! Think I'm gonna set up a phone company!

Guys_Dad

robt wrote: »

There are also a lot of people who can't be bothered to read the manual, and ignore the warnings on iPhones that turning on data roaming will incur large costs.

You can only do so much to protect people.

Agreed.

I got slated on another thread for suggesting that people should have to take a sort of Driving test before they were allowed to buy smartphones. OK - it was a bit tongue in cheek, but regular readers of this column will see with regularity the same sort of horror tales from people coming back from holiday facing large bills for data roaming.

There is only so much that networks can do to warn and educate people - and, of course, this is a good source of revenue for them too.

Orange are particularly bad with their bundles and charges and I would never take my Orange smartphone on holiday - I would take the Vodafone sim in a basic handset with no roaming!

People do need to learn about the pros and cons of modern technology to avoid such hard luck tales.

Topper1900

Jude111 wrote: »

I acknowledge your opinion and that I am sure, of phone company employees too who are onto a lucrative thing here! The fact that the EU has seen it necessary to bring out some kind of safe-guard would suggest I am probably in good company. I therefore hold with my opinion that the phone companies could be far more transparent in their charges - much like the requirement for many other sectors of society.

I have to agree with this as I caught my wife checking her emails on holiday as she didn't have a clue about the cost of data download even though she knew to just use the phone to text rather than call home.

I feel phone operators should impose say a £5 per day data cap, or even £0 cap, for roaming outise of the UK unless the cap is asked to be lifted. It seems odd you have to get pernmission to use the phone outside of the UK but get no real warning about rip-off data charges.