Bad bad Orange (mobile phone co.)

Alan and Carolyn Mazkouri got a huge shock when their bill for their mobile phone dropped onto the mat.

Although this is an extreme case it is very easy to get a high bill with data charges.
Although this is an extreme case it is very easy to get a high bill with data charges.

A £163,178.86 sized shock for data charges on the mobile – the equivalent of connecting to the Internet every 20 minutes and grabbing data, for about 3 weeks.

His usual bill was around £300 per month, but that covered both his phone and that used by his business.

This was after Mr. Mazkouri had an overheating problem with his phone and it was replaced by the shop from where he had purchased it.

Now if that wasn’t bad enough – it gets worse.

Orange (the mobile phone company), who had let this build and build for weeks, decided that, despite having agreed to cancel this excessive debt, they would continue to bombard him with the usual threats and heavy handed techniques for the next 7 months.

It would seem that there are few safeguards in this market to stop this kind of thing happening though the question must be raised “Who is responsible?” – personally I think that if you want the latest/greatest tech, then you have a responsibility to learn about it and not get yourself into these ridiculous situations…
Describing this incident as an “absolute misery” for him and his family, Orange finally cancelled the debt and gave the family £250 compensation.

Sounds to me like someone should investigate the cause of this, there seems to be some malware installed on to the phone at some point, and that racked up the huge bill.

Sadly though, it is far too easy to get into this situation with the modern insatiable appetite for data, as many parents find out once they get their phones back from the children.

Here’s an example of a child playing a ‘freemium’ game and racking up a bill for £1700: Freemium – and a £1,700 iTunes bill

Far, far too easy…

Written by

Simon Rochester is an IT geek, with a passion for all things tech. Over the years I have worked for companies large and small and have been running Rochester & Associates Ltd for over 15 years. I like various things in life, including cycling, reading and learning about my beloved technology.