The mobile phone industry needs to "banish bad behaviour" by communicating more with their customers about upcoming bills and their current usage, the Citizen's Advice Bureau has said.
Chief executive Gillian Guy wants to see phone providers help their customers by texting them with reminders about costs and limits:
It's time the industry looked at how it could banish bad behaviour and help customers avoid large bills.
Phone providers could help people by sending them text messages with reminders about the costs and any limits they have. There is also an opportunity for firms to be innovative by creating tools for people to keep day-to-day track of their charges, calls and data use.
Consumers can also take steps to steer clear of running up a large bill abroad including checking costs with their network before they travel or getting a local sim card if you visit a place regularly.
Mobile phone companies are not doing enough to prevent the "shockingly high" bills some customers face after making calls abroad, using the internet or having their phone stolen, an advisory service has warned.
Shock bills were not just caused by calls - users browsing the internet also faced huge bills. Credit: PA
The Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) has called on mobile phone companies, like Vodafone and O2, to do more to protect customers from huge bills.
The advisory service said 28,000 issues relating to mobile phones and contracts were reported last year and a further 102,000 people sought help online, with complaints including shock bills, phantom charges and billing errors.
One woman who contacted the CAB has been slapped with a £2,000 bill after using wi-fi in a hotel lobby in the USA.
Other customers were forced to take out loans to pay bills - one complainant had to borrow £408 for his bank after a billing error meant he was overcharged for his mobile phone service.
