Telcos are smashing Australians with $1.4BILLION in roaming charges costing us an average of $290 a year each - but one company is bucking the trend
- Australian are being charged excessive roaming and data fees whilst abroad
- A survey has found the average Australian customer is charged $290 a year
- Vodafone chief commercial officer says it's an 'international roaming rip-off'
- Customers are urged to check their roaming options before travelling
Australians are being charged over $1.4 billion a year in excessive charges from telcos for using their mobile phones overseas.
A new survey from YouGov Galaxy has found Australian travelers are being stung with hefty phone bills after not reading the conditions of using their phones whilst abroad, and copping huge roaming fees that Vodafone Australia chief commercial officer Ben McIntosh says are an 'international roaming rip-off.'
The study found five million Australians have been charged with excessive fees while travelling, with the average person paying $290, and more than 250,000 being hit with fees and international roaming costs in excess of $1,000.
Mr McIntosh said there was no need for these high prices and even as a CEO he could not find a way to justify them.
Australian travelers are being smashed with huge roaming fees while overseas (stock image)
'We’re a commercial operation, we’re not a charity, we have shareholders and investors, and if we’re able to do that I can’t explain why our competitors aren’t,' Mr McIntosh told news.com.au.
Vodafone charge a flat $5-a-day roaming deal, with the exact same charges for going over your data cap as if you were in Australia.
Competitors in Optus and Telstra charge twice that amount, and despite advertising claiming their deals are competitive, the fine print is hiding significant charges that are hurting Australian customers.
'They try to get price points similar, but the terms and conditions just make it no better than it was before.'
Customers are on average being charged $290 each per year for roaming fees (stock image)
'Hidden beneath some nice marketing blitzes and ‘we’ve changed, we’re flexible’ and so on are myriad excessive terms and conditions.'
This 'bill shock' is causing many Australian holiday makers to take extra precautions with their phones before traveling, with 1.5 million travelers leaving their phone at home to avoid data bills, and 41% of people restricting their phone use to only Wifi while overseas.
While warning messages are sent to all users once they head outside of the country, many customers are still being hit with data bills without making calls or sending messages through automatically updating apps.
Optus have recently launched prepaid add-ons, with $5 international talk and $20 data roaming features being available on certain plans.
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'We’ve heard from our customers who have informed us that they just want to relax when travelling overseas and use their phone worry free, just like when they’re at home,' Optus head of strategic projects Vidur Rattan said in a media release.
'These new add-ons are great value and the data is very easy for our customers to manage.'
The add-ons are not available to customers whose plans already include international roaming data, and those people are subject to the regular cost of texts, calls and data.
Customers are urged to check the roaming options available before landing in your destination to avoid excess fees.
Daily Mail Australia have contacted Telstra for comment.
Customers are urged to check their roaming options or simply restrict your phone use to Wifi only whilst abroad (stock image)
