Forgetting to connect to Wi-Fi can be expensive! A minister had to justify an invoice of 12,500 euros due to overspending on Internet consumption. A little extra during the holidays that is hard to pass…
Imagine: you had a wonderful stay in the country of your dreams, but when you arrive home, you discover an astronomical mobile bill. Yes, you forgot to deactivate your mobile data abroad! This happens much more often than you might think, and travelers sometimes have to pay hundreds or even thousands of euros for their mistake. This is also what happened to Michael Matheson, Scottish Secretary of State for Health, who had to justify to Parliament a bill of 11,000 pounds sterling – or 12,500 euros – for roaming costs for data on his professional iPad. An astronomical amount which has caused a real crisis within the institution, with some parliamentarians going so far as to ask for his resignation outright, as reported by the BBC.
Indeed, initially, Michael Matheson presented this extra package as a “legitimate parliamentary expenditure”, related to their workload. The problem is that the bill corresponds to an excess package during a family trip to Morocco, for the end-of-year holidays in 2022. Period when Parliament was on vacation. In total, 6 GB were consumed between December 28, 2022 and January 3, 2023, with two notable peaks (1.3 GB on December 28 and 3.2 GB on January 2). And faced with pressure from parliamentarians, and detailed examination of his operator’s invoice, the Secretary of State had to admit the truth, which was not very pleasant. He admitted that his iPad had been used to share his mobile Internet connection with other devices in his family. And in particular those of his sons, who took the opportunity to watch several Scottish club football matches in streaming.
The Secretary of State has since repaid the sum, apologizing, before indicating that he would not resign from his post, despite the demands of some parliamentarians who accuse him of having lied in the first place about the cause of such excess. According to him, he had long been unaware that other members of his family had used the iPad and subsequently did not mention this “detail” in order to protect his children.
Michael Matheson is far from the only one to discover this kind of unpleasant surprise when returning from vacation abroad. Indeed, stories like this are regularly relayed by the press. This is the case of this couple living in Oise who, returning from a trip to Turkey in October 2022, received an invoice from Bouygues Telecom for some 12,500 euros – definitely! – for their two lines, due to an excess on their Internet consumption. A few months earlier, a father received a bill for 5,400 euros for letting his children watch cartoons during a stay in Andorra. Likewise, a former retired business manager returned from vacation in Senegal with a bill of 16,000 euros!
No wonder many travelers fear accidentally overspending their package when they go on a trip! Also, outside the countries of the European Union or included in your mobile offer, to communicate without overcharging, it is better to take out a special subscription, or deactivate cellular data with roaming on your smartphone. To go on the Internet, remember to connect to Wi-Fi and make your calls via WhatsApp. Finally, be vigilant about SMS messages sent by your operator, and do not hesitate to contact them if necessary to find out about rates abroad, before your trip.