He was having a wonderful holiday in Switzerland: his telephone bill is 16,000 euros, the return to reality is brutal

Du jour au lendemain, la facture téléphonique d'un vacancier a grimpé jusqu’à atteindre plus de 16 000 euros (photo d'illustration). olga2626 – ENVATO ELEMENTS

Un touriste autrichien a eu une désagréable surprise au beau milieu de ses vacances dans les montagnes suisses. Il a reçu une facture téléphonique de plus de 16 000 euros.

Overnight, his phone bill soared to over 16,000 euros. An Austrian man was enjoying a quiet holiday in Switzerland when he received some very unpleasant news, reports the Swiss newspaper Blick.

His data flow was not stopped after he exceeded the volume provided for in his subscription. The legal block at 60 euros did not work, despite sending notifications to the holidaymaker's mobile phone.

Desperate

Totally desperate, the man interrupted his holiday to resolve the problem and contact his telephone operator.

He also sought help from consumer advocates at the Chamber of Labour.

Fees roaming

They managed to convince the operator to cancel the transaction within the day, according to Blick. The legal limit for direct debits in this context is usually 120 euros. The Austrian holidaymaker was ultimately charged 60 euros.

Since June 2017, recalls Capital, the roaming charges previously billed to users when travelling in Europe no longer exist. A French person travelling in the European Economic Area benefits from the rates of his French operator.