Of course I expected some kind of excess usage charge, in line with those levied on mobile phone contracts. To my shock and horror my bill for that month included an excess of £750.

If i had know the extent of my exposure to this over usage charge, I would not have loaned the device.

I have tried many times to come to an understanding with o2 customer services, and every time I hear the same phrases – ‘the bill is correct’, and ‘it is the customers responsibility to read the contract before signing’.

I have pored though the fine print of the contract and the only reference to excess charging is an instruction to refer to the o2 website. I had to call customer services again to ask how to navigate this impenetrable labyrinth of pages and links to find the notification of excess charging, and it took myself and steve, the customer service rep about 15 mins of trial and error to get there.

This kind of stealth warning is not acceptable. (for anyone familiar with Dougls Adams’ ‘The hitch hikers guide to the galaxy’ – “beware of the leopard”)

During this frustrating lesson in UK contract law that i did not need, I have been charged an extra £250 as a termination fee bringing my bill to the princely sum of £1007.91.

Is this the mechanism by which Telefonica lines the pockets of its shareholders? I see from other posts that I am not alone in my experience.

If anyone knows of a class action lawsuit directed at this injustice I would be glad to hear about it

Euan euanthet@yahoo.co.uk