Roam free…not quite. Teenager receives a £3,800 bill after using her mobile on holiday

The Daily Mail reported yesterday that 14 year old Casey Snook ran up a £3,800 phone bill using her online data while holidaying in New York. The family have spoken out to criticise Orange but the operator is defending its roaming policies, saying that Casey would have had to deliberately bypass several safety checks in order to run up such a huge bill.

The teenager made extensive use of her Facebook app while on holiday, sharing pictures and communicating with friends, which lead to the high charges.

What Mobile spoke to Orange about their roaming charge policies and a spokesperson explained that the operator uses a number of safeguards to prevent customers from overspending. They told us that Casey would have received a text when she entered the USA outlining the charges for making calls, sending texts and using data while abroad.

Additionally, from October of last year Orange automatically opted all of its customers into a £50 data roaming cap. Once any customer, including Casey, spends more than £50 worth of data they will receive a text message to let them know and they are required to send a message back to Orange confirming that they want to continue using roaming data.

We have asked Orange to provide us with the exact wording of the message Casey would have received and are waiting for their response.

The Snook family questioned what would have happened had the phone been stolen and the bill racked up but Orange told us that, had this been the case, the family would not have been charged.

Orange make the rates for using their services abroad available on their website.

Recent EU legislation has capped the amount operators can charge for using their services in Europe but rates outside the continent are often extremely high.

Be sure to check out our print edition this month for a special feature on roaming charges and other advice on using your mobile abroad this summer.