BT gave me a wake-up call over data roaming charges

Your recent letter about BT prompted me to write about my own bad experience – in this case, the roaming charges I clocked up while asleep on an overnight ferry.

We had boarded a Brittany Ferries service from Portsmouth to Bilbao late in the evening, and turned in fairly quickly after driving all day. But, unbeknownst to me, my phone was downloading data while I slept – I think because I had left Google Maps running.

At 11.59pm, BT sent a text warning that I was now using maritime data at £12.01 a megabyte. At 1.44am, it sent another text saying I had now spent £35 and my data roaming cap had been reached and I could no longer use any data.

I was lucky that I must have previously agreed to this cap. Had the phone gone on downloading through the night, it would have been very expensive.

I think the ferry companies should have some responsibility to warn customers of these very high charges. They clearly make some profit from the unwary.

BT said it was nothing to do with it, and that it was passing on charges imposed by Brittany Ferries. However, with some pressing, BT agreed to refund half the charge.

That seemed an illogical position as, in effect, it accepted the charges were unreasonable, and that the warnings had come too late, yet it still imposed half the charge. This is a lesson learned, but it may be worth warning others.

MM, by email

It was lucky your data use was capped or you would have woken up to a huge bill to ruin the start of your holiday.

This is an important issue as the school holidays get under way in England and Wales. And for people going on a cruise.

Surfing the net while at sea is an extremely expensive business because your phone connects to the satellite-based maritime network. The easiest way to avoid being stung is to turn off your data, or switch your mobile on to flight mode.

If you really need to use data during the journey, the best option may be to buy a data package for the ferry’s wifi.

We recently reported on the reintroduction of roaming charges for British travellers in mainland Europe. If your mobile is never out of your hand, read the small print of your contract so you know where you stand before you go.

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