US man returns from Europe to $143,000 T-Mobile bill for using phone overseas

[dognose]

Gigantic bill apparently reflected using 9.5 gigabytes of data on a phone that had not been set up for international roaming

A Florida man was stunned to come back from a European trip and – upon checking his phone bill – realize that he had been charged a staggering $143,000 by his phone company for using his device while overseas.

ABC Action News reported that Rene Remund and his wife had toured Switzerland last September and had even gone to a T-Mobile store to share his travel plan with his phone provider before leaving.


But the gigantic bill apparently reflected using some 9.5 gigabytes of data while overseas on a phone that had not been set up for international roaming.

Remund told ABC that he called T-Mobile and waited on hold while the charges were examined and the person he spoke with informed him that the bill was not a mistake and that he was liable for it.

Remund replied: “You’re kidding me?”

He then hired a lawyer, who contacted ABC for help. Shortly after T-Mobile were contacted by ABC, the company offered to credit Remund’s account.

T-Mobile told ABC: “We recommend our customers check the travel features of their plan, such as international data roaming, before departing … if a customer is on an older plan that doesn’t include international roaming for data and calling, they’ll need to make sure they’re using airplane mode and wifi when using data to be certain the device doesn’t connect to an international network.”

SOURCE:
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/apr/18/143000-t-mobile-bill

 

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[tamrock]

One time I called a guy in Sudbury, Ont. in the 2000s. I had a quick question to ask him and knew I had to make it brief. I then forgot about rapping thing up, because this guy was the type who could draw you into a long conversation. I got the bill and it was over $350. bucks. 🤐

 

[pepperj]

We had a Bell internet stick (I think that's what it called)
We used it on the boat as it was an affordable way to connect.

We were using it one weekend and lost connection while down at this cottage in the Thousand Islands.
Upon returning to Toronto I looked at the account and noticed it was sitting at $1200

I called Bell and they said as a courtesy they suspend accounts @$750 usually-actually the account balance is now $2200+
Bell stated that I was in the USA, and didn't have a plan on the stick.
I stated I hadn't travelled to the USA

It seemed the stick roamed over the boarder, and they realized that.
They stated that they were willing to forgive it, mostly.
So we agreed to pay them $100 to brake the contract, and sent the stick back to them.

Most telecom companies have a "One Time forgiveness" when things happen