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Holiday Horror: £42K Phone Bill From TikTok
20 Feb
Summary
- A small business owner faced an uncapped roaming charge bill of £42,000.
- The massive charges were accrued by his daughter using TikTok in Morocco.
- O2 and Currys eventually waived the entire outstanding bill.
A UK small business owner faced a financial near-crisis when his daughter's holiday usage of TikTok in Morocco led to an astronomical £42,000 mobile phone bill. Andrew Alty, who owns a curtains business, was shocked to receive the initial £22,000 bill from O2 while still abroad, initially dismissing it as an error or hacking.
Upon returning home, a further £20,000 bill confirmed the dire reality. The contract, obtained through Currys for his Manchester-based business, inexplicably featured an uncapped data roaming clause for destinations outside Europe. This allowed charges to accumulate rapidly, with TikTok use alone costing over £5,000 per hour.
Alty expressed frustration, highlighting the lack of notification from the provider and the difficulties in resolving the issue with customer service. He contacted the Financial Ombudsman Service, arguing that the uncapped clause was not properly explained by O2. However, the FOS could not assist, deeming the responsibility to lie with Currys for contract explanations.
Ultimately, O2 and Currys agreed to waive all outstanding charges after the matter was escalated and reported. A spokesperson for O2 confirmed the resolution, attributing the sales process dispute to Currys, who subsequently removed the charges given the exceptional circumstances of the case.
