A RETIRED Brit was left "horrified" after being stung by a £1,800 when returning from his holiday to Spain.
William Garnett, a former lawyer, was travelling with Brittany Ferries with his wife Sussanah.
The couple were returning from their touring holiday in Santander in Spain, heading back to Portsmouth.
Mr Garnett downloaded a number of TV shows on his tablet for the 29-hour journey, planning to spend most of the trip offline.
But the problem arose after he decided to use the internet for 40 minutes, believing he was just the 90-minute free onboard WiFi.
Despite thinking he had connected to the free WiFi, he was actually using the internet on the ship, connecting to the Skybridge service after not turning off his data roaming.
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This landed him with a whopping £1,862 bill on his return.
Mr Garnett, a seasoned yachtsman who has already sailed around France and the Med, slammed Brittany Ferries for not giving any warning.
He said that neither he nor his wife – who was also hit with a bill of £90 – heard any announcement or given any messages from the ferry operator.
Not only that, but he said they had no problems when sailing from Portsmouth to Bilbao before their trip.
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However, a spokesperson for Brittany Ferries told the Times that a "clear announcement on the public address system" is given at the start of the sailing, with messages across screens on the ship.
While they apologised for his experience, they said they would not be refunding the bill.
Mr Garnett said he was left "horrified and embarrassed," adding: "[My wife] doesn’t normally hold back on criticising me, but she’s actually been pretty sympathetic."
You could still be caught out when travelling by sea, even if your data roaming is turned off.
One woman was charged £11 after someone left two voicemails, despite having her internet off.
Isabel, who was travelling on a cruise, was charged because the voicemail was seen as a call to the location at sea.
And travellers have faced similar problems to Mr Garnett while travelling by plane as well.
A passenger left his phone on in the overhead compartment while travelling to the US and ended up with £235 bill after connecting to the plane's antenna.
His provider, AT&T said that the phone used data "outside an unlimited international roaming plan", resulting in the huge bill.
And one Brit was hit with a £20k bill after his partner's phone was stolen on holiday.
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