Vodafone Customer Faces Massive Bill for Data Downloads

According to a report in an Italian newspaper, a resident of Bergamo misunderstood how his tariff would bill him for data downloads, and found himself facing a charge for US$66,000 for the downloading of three movies. The Deutsche Press Agency reported that the 30-year-old, who has not been named, thought his Vodafone "Connect 600" subscription allowed unlimited downloading.

"I would leave my PC on all night, believing that all traffic was included," the man was quoted as saying.

In actual fact, the tariff allows customers to download 600 megabytes (MB) every two months, with excess traffic billed at two cents per kilobyte.

Movies tend to be in the region of 600MB each, so the man managed to used up six months worth of permitted bandwidth within just a few days.

The man has asked for help from Italy's consumer groups, who are advising customers to read contracts properly before subscribing."

Posted to the site on 2nd January 2007