French holidaymaker hit with £32,000 phone bill after Morocco trip

A French holidaymaker, Dominique, 63, says he did not touch his phone during a week-long trip to Marrakech, yet he was billed €37,737.11 (£32,756) by his mobile provider after returning home.

Orange, the France-based carrier, says the charges resulted from extreme data usage on a 5GB plan that had been increased before the trip. The company says Dominique received notifications that his data was running out, including an initial SMS at 80% of the plan, followed by a second at 100% plus a block on further use. It says it offered him the option to purchase a data pass or to unblock the service at the metre for €9 per MB, and that the customer subsequently authorised an overrun on May 2 at 6:14 p.m. He then received 16 SMS alerts about the overconsumption.

Dominique contests the carrier's account. He says he did not receive the 6:14 p.m. message and denies authorising anything. He recalls purchasing mobile data for €9 later that night and says he did receive a notice about a €2,500 overdraft but did not pay attention. He says even more messages arrived overnight, but he was abroad and could not respond.

After he returned, Dominique says he called Orange about 20 times and was given conflicting information. The bill arrived in June, tallying €31,000 plus tax, with charges racking up between 3:39 a.m. and 6:34 a.m. on May 2 at €225 per minute. Overall, the debt reached €37,737.11 (£32,756).

Orange says there is no tangible evidence to question the amounts owed and that it took steps to notify Dominique of the data issue, but he has refused further communication. The Daily Mail has requested comment from the company.

This case underscores the growing risk of roaming data charges for travelers and highlights the importance of monitoring data usage and notification settings when abroad.