During a layover in Turkey, a teenager unexpectedly incurred S$9,000 worth of phone bills, which included more than S$8,900 in data roaming charges — all for simply sending text messages.
The teen’s telecommunications company (telco), M1, found that he achieved the hefty sum after activating the data roaming feature before he arrived in Turkey. As a result, his phone connected to a Turkish telco company during the layover.
After negotiations, the telco compromised to offer a one-time waiver and settle the bill at S$500.
Speaking to Shin Min Daily News, 41-year-old manager Mrs Lin (name transliterated from Mandarin) shared that her son was travelling from Singapore to Hungary on 9 Nov 2023. On the way there, he made a two-hour layover in Istanbul, Turkey.
During the brief layover, her son sent text messages to their family, assuring them of his safety.
Little did she know that the mere act of sending messages would result in such exorbitant charges. On 15 Nov, Mrs Lin received a text message from M1, outlining the charges incurred.
The detailed breakdown of the bill included:
The charges totalled S$9,029.72.
Source: Shin Min Daily News
Seeking assistance, Mrs Lin reached out to M1’s customer service hotline. She also physically made a trip down to the store in Jurong East.
Unfortunately, she was met with a lack of information regarding the data usage incurred by her son during his layover.
Taking precautionary measures to avoid additional charges, Mrs Lin promptly unlinked her bank cards from the account.
She told Shin Min Daily News that she continued to negotiate with M1 until 26 Nov. Ultimately, the discussions culminated in an agreement for Mrs Lin to pay S$500.
This agreement was extended as a one-time waiver, out of goodwill by the telco. Although she was still unaware of the actual data usage that was racked up, Mrs Lin felt that S$500 was a reasonable amount.
In response to Shin Min Daily News’ queries, an M1 spokesperson urged travellers to purchase their roaming packages, to avoid such incidents from occurring.
These packages include Roaming Passports, which give customers the freedom to use local data services overseas.
According to the data passport FAQs on M1’s website, users can track their data usage using the My M1+ app when they purchase the packages.
Also read: 5-Year-Old Spends Over $1,000 On iPad Game, Mum Finds Out Via StarHub Phone Bill
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Featured image adapted from Shin Min Daily News.
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