As if the J1 wasn't expensive enough.
A Laois mother was hit with a massive phone bill of €5,626.86 for 40 minutes of her data roaming usage in the US.
'Denise' took to the airwaves and expressed her surprise and anger on Joe Duffy's Liveline and warned others about using mobile data while visiting the United States.
On Thursday, she explained to the host how her daughter had inadvertently racked up the bill while on a J1 student visa for the summer.
Her small family business used several phones, including her daughter's, all of which are now cut off until the bill is paid.
https://twitter.com/RTERadio1/status/872793759494406144
According to Denise, her daughter had turned on Google Maps and WhatsApp in order to arrange the delivery of a mattress but then switched them off immediately.
She received a text message from the carrier that informed her that her usage appeared to be quite high but the text did not outline the implications of the high bill abroad.
Her daughter's usage for the 40 minutes was 1.5 gigabits and the carrier charged her €10.24 for every megabit that was used, something stated on
their website.
This made the charge valid and non-negotiable.
Denise has asked the Commission for Communications Regulation (ComReg) to try and help her situation but they will only intervene after ten days have passed to allow issues to be sorted out.
She told The Joe Duffy Show that she would be holding out for a response from ComReg before considering whether to pay the bill or not.
However this one works out, it's important to check details of your mobile network's roaming charges before heading away. This
information page on ComReg offers advice on monitoring date usage abroad.
It states: “The EC Roaming Regulation only applies to travel within the EU. The cost of roaming (particularly data roaming) can be significantly higher outside the EU. Therefore, consumers should be careful to check prices with their provider before travelling.”
You can listen to the full interview
here.
