19-Year Old Girl Who Went On A Family Holiday To Turkey Returns Home & Gets £21,819 Phone BILL

A hospital health care assistant returned home from a family holiday to a staggering £21,819 mobile phone bill. Shannon Mills was given the massive shock after coming back from Turkey to the mammoth demand from network provider, O2. 

The 19-year-old said she contacted her supplier prior to the trip to see what deals they had and opted to pay £120 for 30 megabytes of data.

However, a few days into the holiday - which began on July 9 - Shannon, who works at Ninewells Hospital in Dundee, received a text saying she had already spent £2,808 on data.

And that was just the tip of the iceberg, as in the days that followed the teen's already seismic phone bill continued to spiral unimaginably out of control.

'I was totally freaking out. It was a massive shock,' said the NHS worker.

'I wanted to use Facetime, Facebook and things like that. I thought I would come home with a £300 bill and I normally only pay £25 per month.

'I thought the text was a joke. I thought somehow my dad was winding me up.

'I immediately switched off data roaming and thought that would be the end of it. But I started getting texts every day saying I'd used another £1300 worth, another £300 worth.

'When it got to £4,000 I phoned them again but I wasn't getting anywhere so my dad spoke to them and O2 said they had blocked any data use from their end.

'I thought that was it. I had a big phone bill but I'd deal with it when I got home.

'It wasn't until we were relaxing at the pool waiting to leave that my dad said I should check again just to make sure. I did and I couldn't believe what I was seeing.

'My dad was hysterical. He couldn't stop laughing but eventually he didn't see the funny side.

'It was a really bad feeling but if I didn't start laughing I would have cried.'

Shannon, who only returned from holiday on Thursday, said her whopping phone bill has changed her views on using phones on holiday.

She added: 'Next time I go away I'll not be using my phone.

'I don't understand why if they say they have blocked the data I was still being charged.

'I couldn't use any data after they'd said they blocked it so I don't know where the bills were coming from.'

Shannon and her father Kevin have contacted the phone company to try and get to the bottom of the problem.

Asked if she has a spare £21,000, Shannon said: 'I wish!'

A spokeswoman for O2 said they are currently looking into the case.

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