An American gets a phone bill worth $143,000 after a trip to Europe

A man from Florida went on vacation to Switzerland. Not a cheap trip in itself, but it became much worse when he received the phone bill: it amounted to no less than 143,000 euros, the equivalent of 134,000 euros.

Swiss-born Rene Raymond, from Florida, enjoyed his trip last September. He described the magnificent mountains of the Alps as “enchanting.” The fun at home soon ended when he took a hard look at his T-Mobile phone bill. At first he thought it was $143, which he thought was actually reasonable. The amount turned out to be $143,442.74. This is for 9.5 GB.

The man didn't leave it at that and first called T-Mobile, which stated that the bill was too high because his phone wasn't set up for international roaming. The man did not agree to this, then he sought help from a lawyer. But only after he told his story in local media did T-Mobile withdraw and the company covered the costs.

And rightly so, as the man had previously contacted his telecom provider to inform him that he would be traveling outside the United States. Then he was told that his subscription included everything. It later turned out that this was not the case.

Also, using the phone in Switzerland can be expensive for Europeans themselves. The rate is the same across the EU as it is in your home country, but Switzerland is not a member of the EU and charges much higher amounts.