Orange UK told 26-year-old Chris Bovis he had to pay £19,000 / $30,000

Jan 8, 2013 18:41 GMT  ·  By
Not the bloke in the story, but Martin Scorsese holding an iPhone looking dismayed
   Not the bloke in the story, but Martin Scorsese holding an iPhone looking dismayed

Chris Bovis, 26, a builder from Tilbury, Essex, got a £19,000 bill (around €23,000 or $30,000) from Orange after his iPhone reportedly transferred massive amounts of data without his knowledge.

After getting the unfortunate call from Orange UK, Bovis discovered he was the owner of a faulty iPhone, something that Apple’s people were able to confirm. Although the Cupertino giant quickly hooked the man up with a brand new iPhone, Orange insisted that they get paid for the massive data bill.

Mr. Bovis reportedly said his initial reaction was to laugh. And why shouldn’t he? It’s not every day that such bad luck occurs. Plus, it was everyone else’s fault but his that Orange was sitting on a £19,000 phone bill with no scapegoat in sight. Anyway, the operator finally decided to cut the bill.

The problem could well have been a combination of factors that involved both the faulty iPhone, and Orange’s data transfer protocols.