JO CARLILL had enjoyed the perfect holiday in Spain. But it was tarnished when she returned home to a mobile phone bill from her provider, O2, of £160 for the week — four times the cost of her normal monthly bill.

“It was a shock, particularly because I had even phoned my mobile company before I left to ask about the best deal for calling from abroad and making sure I was put on to it.”

Ms Carlill, 35, a photographer, said that she did not feel like she had used her phone excessively. “I had a few conversations with home, but I also received some work calls which I was, of course, charged for, too.”

She believes that people are being unfairly treated by mobile phone companies and that there is no justification for the inflated prices. “It is outrageous to charge the person abroad for receiving a call, too.”

Roger Steare, a consultant, from Sevenoaks, Kent, returned from a business trip to face a huge bill from Orange. “I took my laptop abroad with my 3G card. I have a special bundle in the UK where I pay £45 a month for 400 megabytes.

“When I went to France and Germany, I was billed £655.70 for 81.96 megabytes,” he said.

“I trusted any premium would be reasonable, but I don’t think paying nearly 100 times what I am paying in the UK is fair and reasonable.”

Mr Steare took the bill to Cisas, the Communications and Internet Adjudication scheme. But the arbitrator said there was nothing improper and that it was “generally known that overseas usages is more expensive than UK usage”.

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