If you are actually interested in Prison Break, and download using a mobile internet access to do such then you deserve the high bill.

If you are given a quote for a specific value and they change without notice then yes they should be liable. If you are just to stupid to read your contract then you deserver to be bent over and violated.

It's hardly news that roaming is expensive these days. Data is expensive, so put the two together and you have an idiot who clearly doesn't think enough to wonder what will happen when he goes abroad and behaves like a right saddo!

I like to think of these things as a stupidity tax!

An IT Pro yet he doesn't know about roaming and the higher charges?

He should have been made to pay! He used the service, he should pay the costs.

What next? Heading through customs with 40 million cigarettes in your suitcase then kick up a fuss cause "no one" told you that you would have customs charges or you had a limit of how much your allowed to bring back? Surely the UK Customs have a "duty of care" over the people of UK and would surely need to tell us at point of sale of the ciggaretts what we can bring back etc. No one told me. Stamps feet. Squeel. Shout. Stamps feet more!! "Oh okay Sir, on you go, sorry customs stopped you".

Tsk!

I just got back from holiday in France and I can tell you it costs £5 per Mb on SFR (I'm with Vodafone). Stupid companies seem to think they have a right to gouge other networks customers.

While I can understand that roaming adds SOME cost, not that much.

I pay £7.50 in the UK for up to 500Mb per month.

The sooner the EU stomps on these companies the better.

That will teach him for watching a crap tv program.

I mean seriously - how stupid can people actually be - clearly very! I understand that roaming charges for data are over priced at best, but I would have thought that this subject has been covered so many times in the press, you would be hard pressed to find anyone who had the ability to setup a mobile data source on their computer and didn't know the implications of data roaming...

Clearly I'm wrong...

So his defence was he wanted to illegaly download some broadcast TV ?

I hope Fox sue him for illegal downloading too.

Why should any operator NOT have a cap on a standard data package? How many people are deliberately going to run up a 30k bill?

Even if no-one's quite stupid enough to download huge video files, the fact is that anyone can run up a bill at £10 a second with a good HSDPA connection. How much control do you have over what your laptop is doing these days; Automatic Windows Update, anybody? Acrobat Updater? They download first, ask questions later.

This pricing was first devised for 9.6kbps GSM CSD connections, and is unchanged for HSDPA running at up to 7.2MBps. Not implementing some kind of cap in these circumstances is grossly irresponsible of the operators. I hope the EU takes them to the cleaners.

The price should be capped at what it would cost to hire a guy from the UK to download the data and take a flight out to you with it on a DVD (gold plated of course, and on a silver platter). Throw in reasonable amounts of luxury accommodation and generous expenses for him, together with ample booze, girls, lethal skunk supplies, etc. and you'd still be quids in compared with using Vodafone. I dare say you could even afford to have him bring a nice curry and crate of beer along to help you enjoy the movie. Perhaps even a few of your mates from home could make the trip as well - in a chauffeur-driven Rolls-Royce, naturally.

Fair or unfair, it's largely irrelevant. EVERYone knows it's more expensive to use your mobile abroad and to figure out what your charges are.

I'm willing to put money on the fact that he used a torrent to get it and probably left it uploading as well.

is how the company concerned can afford to write off the bill of over £31K and only charge £229? Surely they have to pay a roaming company for using all that data? Either someone is making a HUGE amount of money or I'm missing something

Why didn't that idiot look for a hot spot, or simply go to some kind of internet caffee...

What is Ofcom up to?

Is Ofcom earning its public sheckles?

What telcos are losing lots and lots of money?

these are ridiculous costs and yes the person was a bit of an idiot for not knowing there would some large costs associated with it.

Perhaps they should ask how he paid for a copy of prison break too!!

So you're on holiday, taking a break from the rat race and absorbing some of the local culture[1] and you decide, in all the wealth of things to do... to watch TV. And are willing to pay £229 to do so. "A fool and his money.." and so on. Who goes on holiday to watch the goggle box? Flames icon, 'cos no doubt somebody does.

[1] Just the one *hic*

Its not always easy to find out how much the data tariff is before going. Last time I took the laptop over to Europe I checked on the website and it mentioned "up to £12.50 per MB" so I phoned the enquires number to ask what they exact rate for France was, they couldn't tell me, I'd have to get in touch which ever network I was connected to. They couldn't even say for their recommended choice of SFR, bloody useless. At least they've now put up the exact cost of £5/MB on the website.

Vodafones Blackberry tariff has a data charge of £10 per mb whilst out of the UK so those spam emails really start to get expensive........

For all those complaining about insane pricing, remember that 3 have to cover the cost of this with the foreign operator; it's likely that they will lose thousands whle this wanker gets off with a token £229 charge.

My network (T-mobile, sad I know but it works for me) has a monthly credit limit on its pay monthly accounts, but afaik they don't tell you unless you ask. I only found out when I put extra phones on the account. Mind you when they told me what my limit was I had to get them to lower it, something like 6 x my usual monthly bill.

Exactly what I was thinking!!!

"Oh boo hoo, I did something wrong, wasted a lot of money and now I want someone else to take the responsibility for it."

Three things I believe in, above all else:

1. If it looks too good to be true, it is! ( No, not probably is, IT IS! )

2. Life's guarantees two things: Taxes and Death!

3. Never underestimate the ingenuity of a fool.

I think these actually cover this story quite well!

The bottom line is, if you take out a contract with any! company you make sure you understand the pricing regardless! of whether its extorsionate or not, this guy clearly did't which is NOT the networks fault people have to take resposiblity for there own stupity, I would.

Why are you all assuming he stole it? If you pay for a subscription to a service such as SKY, you have the ability to download TV programmes at a later date. The same applies to Virgin......

Just a thought...

Maybe the daft bugger was connecting to a slingbox for TV and using iTunes for his music. The article doesn't say whether he used legal or illegal download sources. What it does say is that Vodafone can write off over 30k of charges when they make the headlines. Makes you wonder how much they are overcharging people who don't run up newsworthy bills.

Is everyone aware that it can take up to 6 months for any international calls and data usage to appear on your bill?

All the talk of having a set lever say £100 for the bill and restrict the service or contact the customer may not work.

Worst case would be he tans the arse off his data usage overseas, comes back to the UK, then the network get the details of what he's been doing.

I suspect he's probably downloaded a few albums and a few prison breaks. So thats at least say 5gigs of data? Roughly 5120MB @ £7.50 per MB = £38,400 so it would be correct charges and really he should have paid it!

If this sort of thing keeps happening ultimately the charges would then be passed on to us!

No this has not changed, it also applys to any bundled minutes/texts as well (and voicemail is also free in the locations they have "sister" networks).

Relevent information is found here:

http://www.three.co.uk/personal/help_support_/abroad_/3_like_home_pay_monthly.omp

Least one network does it correctly (the main reason I use them as i have to travel to 4 of the 7 locations on a semi regular basis)