£1,600 bill for two days’ use of mobile net in Jersey

John Harrison with his mobile phone and the bill Picture: MATTHEW HOTTON (00899853)

A BUSINESSMAN is urging Islanders to beware when surfing the internet on mobile phones abroad after he received a £1,600 bill for just two days’ usage.
John Harrison, managing director of the Airport Car Centre, was stunned when an Airtel-Vodafone adviser contacted him during his holiday to warn that he had racked up huge roaming charges for accessing the web.
The 44-year-old is refusing to pay and is urging other Islanders to come forward if they have received similar bills.
Mr Harrison claims he was hit with the charges after using his mobile to receive banking updates via the internet during two days while on holiday in Austria last December. He claims that he was never told of the potentially high roaming charges for downloading internet data in parts of Europe when he took out the contract with Airtel-Vodafone.
But the phone company claims that all new customers are told of the roaming charges they may face when using the internet while abroad. Airtel-Vodafone said that as well as advising new customers about the charges, they also provide clear guidelines on their website. (from JEP)

Sounds like a rip off to me...

Yeah I got hit by roaming while in England - Fortunately I only used it once......