Mobile Phone Blog

Some mobile phone forum threads are being hammered with posts by iPhone contract users claiming to have been charged for data usage overseas. And this is even when the data roaming setting on their smartphone has been switched off. That should in theory stop such charges being incurred.

One iPhone user on holiday in the United States came home to a charge of £1,500. That is really the last thing you want to see on your bill when you get back from your travels!

Many people on iPhone mobile phone deals have been complaining to the Money Saving Expert website and network operator forums that they have run up massive bills even though they took measures to stop the charges. Most disgruntled users have been on an O2 contract but it would seem that all networks have been affected by the problem. O2 and Apple are now said to be investigating the matter.

Posting on the Apple forum, one user said: “Recently I was stuck in Barcelona for work. When I returned to the UK, I found that I had been charged by my service provider O2 for ‘mobile internet browsing and downloads’. Given that I had international roaming switched off at all times, I queried the charge.”
One suggestion gaining credibility on the forums is that the users affected have downloaded the latest iPhone iOS4 operating system and that could be where a fault lies. Again on the forums, another user said that after downloading the new operating system for their iPhone, automatic email checks were being run and Facebook notifications were being searched for – and thus charged for. But once more the Data Roaming setting on this iPhone had been switched off to prevent such charges.

To be fair to O2 and other networks, it does appear that they are refunding all affected iPhone users quickly once the incorrectly charged fees have been reported.

If you are in the market for an iPhone then see what offers we have pulled out of the bag on our iPhone 4 deals page. Just make sure you check your bill if you take it abroad!

Tags : iPhone, iPhone4, O2, roaming charges
This entry was posted on Monday, July 26th, 2010 at 9:16 pm and is filed under News, O2, Tariffs.
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