Hi, I went to the USA for 2 weeks in march and when I arrived, Vodafone text me and told me the prices of using my phone over there. Texts were 35p and internet usage was free for the first 3mb and then £15 for the next 22mb and then £15 per 25mb thereafter.

I was under the impression that this meant if I downloaded less than 25mb during my two weeks stay, I'd only be charged £15 on top of my bill. However, when I got my bill it's £200!

I just spoke to the Vodafone guy and he said that it was per day, which to me wasnt made clear at all. I think it's highly unfair that I'm being charged so much for such a small amount of data.

Is there anything I can do about this?

edit: I reset my data usage counter on the 12th of March, when I returned on the 29th it read 25mb downloaded 7mb uploaded so I was expecting at most a charge of £30

OUCH ! You need to read the text in full for anything "hidden" and a complete breakdown of the bill for you to even stand a chance.... check for roaming charges.

From what I know from the three days I spent with vodafone they are crooks. I cancelled a contract with them after three days when I got N97 and hated it so returned the phone and went back to 02 (you have 14 days to cancel). They sent me a bill for over £600. Called them they said they had revoked the charge and then some time later I got another bill. Called them again and was again told the charge had been cancelled. Then couple of weeks I got a letter from bailifs.

They are crooks. Threaten to report them to Ofcom or whoever the body is that regulates mobile phone operators.

On a side note why does blackberry always get preferential treatment. If you have a blackberry and are going abroad you can call them and they will give you unlimited internet for a charge (£25 on 02). Why don't mobile phone operators do the same for other phones. Likewise there is no fair usage policy for blackberry. Unlimited is unlimited.

Never a truer word said !! i also suggest you read the Attention all N900 Vodafone users in the UK! thread as that will; tell you just how sneaky they are.

I just never use GPRS (or any kind of mobile data) when I'm roaming, I totally disable it, it's the only way to be safe. Telcos will try everything to bleed you dry when you're roaming. I once made a call while roaming in Puerto Rico that cost me $6US per second

When a local telco first started offering GPRS (I was using a Treo 180 at the time) it was free and unlimited (ah the good ol' days ), then they started metering it without any notification and I got a $200US bill and it could have been a lot worse, I used hardly any data that month compared to my usual usage.

Don't pay. Put also don't ignore them. Call, talk to a manager, say you don't want to pay this, it's too much and overkill. They'll generally reduce what you have been initially charged

Well, my preference is when I visit a foreign country, I will buy a local "prepaid" sim, and use that to make a call and gprs.

I did disable roaming, I never have it set to always on anyway, so I knew exactly how much i was using every time i turned it on. tirtawn i was going to do that but then i found some of the prepay sims in the america were complete rip offs. but probably wouldnt of cost me tihs much :/

i got the same text from voda about data charges wen i was in france for 3 days but theres np way i was gonna use my phone for anything. i swirtched off all connections as i know its not worth the headache. and vodafone uk are crooks! period.

I was charged £1200+ by vodafone like a year and a half ago when I was in hongkong. I really didnt know that there's a big charge on the internet if used overseas. learned my painful lesson.