A WOMAN was left horrifed after being charged £1,100 for making a simple mistake on holiday.
Molly Saxton, 24, had booked a cruise holiday, sailing around the Caribbean.
FonehouseA woman was horrified to be hit with a £1,100 bill after her cruise holiday[/caption]
However, while on holiday, she was messaging her friends and family assuming she had a cap on her phone.
But she was shocked on her return to find she had been charged £1,1186,59.
She told Fonehouse: “Before the holiday, I made sure to pay for a data and text bundle to make keeping in touch with people on the cruise cheaper.
“I had a feeling that I’d exceeded these but didn’t worry too much as I expected my phone provider to place a cap on spending, or at least notify me if I was running the risk of using too much.
“You can imagine my shock when I saw that my usual monthly phone bill of between £30-£35 ended up being £1186.59!”
She added: “I had no idea that your phone could automatically connect to maritime roaming in this way, neither did my friends or family.”
Molly said thankfully her phone company agreed to half the cost, but she was still left hundreds out of pocket.
She has since said she “limits her phone use” on holiday, adding she will “will only really use it when I know I can connect to Wi-Fi in bars, restaurants or hotels“.
Fonehouse has offerd their own tips to avoid this happening to you.
They warned: “Before you go abroad, it’s important to check with your provider how much it could cost for you as roaming charges can vary widely by provider and destination.
“Some providers offer daily charges, which could cost up to £10 a day, meaning those jetting off for two weeks in the sun could pay up to £140 extra.”
“Whilst on board a cruise, if you have drifted away from the nearest land-based cell tower, your phone will have connected to an at-sea or maritime provider which will be considered as roaming by your provider.
“This can be very expensive, especially because it tends to add up quickly. “
Fonehouse’s top tips on how to avoid a big bill after your cruise
Always remember to put your phone in airplane mode once you board your cruise to avoid connecting to an at-sea provider.
Have any films, music or books already downloaded as you can still use offline applications whilst in airplane mode.
You can connect to the cruise ship’s WiFi whilst on board but you will have to purchase an internet pass.
Contact your mobile provider to see if they have any travel plans for customers going on a cruise.
Check with your provider how much it could cost for you as roaming charges in the countries you will port in.
Use Wi-Fi wherever possible in port.
Christine Kesteloo, who lived and and worked on a cruise ship for six months a year, backed this up, saying: “I would never get on a cruise and not put my phone on airplane mode before we start sailing.
“I don’t care what phone plan you’re with, you can rack up some huge charges if you leave your phone not on airplane mode on the ship.”
And TikTok cruise expert Preston even made a video warning tourists to follow these rules.
He explained on his social media: “Keep your phone on airplane mode throughout the entire cruise.
“So many passengers have been billed thousands of dollars on their phone bill due to the fact that they went on the internet, made calls or even sent messages without having airplane mode turned on.”
People in the comments chimed in, with people saying they had fines up to £1,660 for making this mistake.
AlamyMolly said she only had to pay half the bill – but that was still hundreds[/caption]