£1,000 Mobile Phone Bill For Downloading Madagascar Cartoon For Sick Son

£1,000 Mobile Phone Bill For Downloading Madagascar Cartoon For Sick Son

Anyone who has been on holiday with young children knows how hard it can be to comfort them if they become poorly – and many of us turn to our mobile devices for help.

Yes, we know we shouldn't do it – screen time is harmful blah blah blah. But sometimes, your mobile phone is the world's best distraction when your child's in pain.

Which was precisely what was on the mind of mum Stacey Withers – and it cost her more than £1,000.

The 25-year-old was on holiday in Oludeniz, Turkey, with her three-year-old son Joel when he came down with an ear infection.

The pain made him miserable for the entire week until dental nurse Stacey decided to cheer him up with a cartoon.

So she turned to her trusty mobile phone and tried to download Joel's favourite movie Madagascar - a decision that cost her MORE than the entire £1,100 trip to Turkey.

When she got home, Stacey was hit with a bill for £1,118 by mobile phone giant Orange - even though she only got FIVE MINUTES' worth of the movie. And now she is refusing to pay.

She said: "Joel had been crying for nearly six days. He is mad for Madagascar and I knew it might get him to calm down.

"I turned on data roaming for about five minutes and started to download it. I got about 18 per cent, then started to worry it would cost me a few hundred - so I stopped the download."

Stacey, from Tipton, West Midlands - whose partner Danny Langford, 23, went to Turkey with her - saved for two years for the holiday.

She blasted the phone bill as 'extortionate'. She said: "That's more than I earn in a month. I tried to reason with Orange on the phone and I offered them £300.

"They were so rude. I've been a loyal customer for 10 years. Now they've cut me off."

A spokesman for Orange said: "Customers are automatically capped to ensure they are not charged more than £51 for roaming data in a given month. In this instance the customer contacted Orange to opt out of this cap."

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