Woman shocked by $9,000 phone bill after son sends texts during 2-hour layover in Turkey

Wanting to update his family on their safe arrival in Turkey, a teen contacted them via text using international data roaming on his phone.

To the shock of his mum, he was later billed a whopping $8,944 in roaming charges.

Speaking to Shin Min Daily News, the mother, surnamed Lin, said that she and her 14-year-old son were travelling from Singapore to Hungary and had a two-hour layover in Turkey on Nov 9, 2023.

It was during that short period of time that her son activated data roaming on his phone to text family, said the 48-year-old woman.

One week later, she received a text message from telco company M1, informing her about the roaming charges her son had racked up.

Dumbfounded by the staggering amount, the woman immediately called customer service and visited the telco's store in Jurong East to seek an explanation. She was then reportedly told to contact customer service again after receiving her phone bill.

The phone bill Lin subsequently received on Nov 22 indicated that her son's phone bill came up to over $9,000, including his monthly mobile plan which costs $84.

"At that time, I called customer service again and visited the store to seek help from employees. But it still wasn't resolved and nobody informed me about our data usage in Turkey," she recounted.

Afraid that she would be charged the amount in full without any explanation, Lin decided to cancel her recurring bill payments. The woman clarified that she had made sure to pay her base phone bill last month.

The two parties came to an agreement on Friday (Jan 26) for Lin to pay $500.

"Despite not knowing how much mobile data was used, I think the charge of $500 is acceptable," she told Shin Min.

One-time waiver offered: M1

Responding to Shin Min's queries, an M1 spokesperson said their investigation found that the international data roaming function on the customer's mobile phone had been switched on before travelling to Turkey.

The device then connected to the Turkish telco Vodafone Telsim, resulting in the roaming charges. An M1 spokesperson stated that the company offered a one-time waiver of a large portion of the charges out of goodwill.

"M1 provides roaming plans, such as Daily Passports, which allow customers to use local data services and enjoy peace of mind while overseas. We strongly recommend customers to sign up for roaming packages to avoid bill shocks," added the spokesperson.

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lim.kewei@asiaone.com