Mobile Academy charged EE customer for a service he didn’t subscribe to

Jim Thomas deleted a text that asked him to enlist with the group but within seconds he received a message congratulating him on enrolling for the course

Customers of the phone giant EE had mixed fortunes after encountering unexpected problems (AFP/Getty Images)

Last week I warned you to check your mobile phone bill for unexpected charges after one reader was caught out by a dodgy subscription for a games app that he'd never used. This week a similar tale arrived from Independent reader Jim Thomas.

"I bought a mobile from EE in late March 2015, and in early May I received a text asking me to enlist with a group called Mobile Academy," he told me. "As I had just retired, I deleted the message.

"Within seconds, I received a message congratulating me on enrolling for the course!"

When he was charged for what he believes is a scam, he complained to EE – which told him that the details it had received from Mobile Academy showed that both messages had been sent at the same second.

The phone giant told me: "Mr Thomas has been unsubscribed from this service. As 'Mobitrans' is a third-party service, he would need to contact them directly to discuss any refunds."

Mobitrans/Mobile Academy provides online learning services that, presumably, are useful to some. The services are opt-in, which means people must actively follow a two-step sign-up process that notifies them of the charges they will incur.

So was it an accident that Jim Thomas was enrolled? Let's hope so, but in the meantime be wary of any texts you receive and keep checking your bills.

Meanwhile Richard Lander had a completely different mobile phone problem, which happily has been resolved thank to quick action by EE. "In May, ahead of a holiday to Canada, I put money into my pay-as-you-go Orange mobile, giving me £126 credit," he told me.

"As it happened, I only used the phone once in Canada – a short call which should not have cost much. I rarely use my mobile in the UK either, mainly because the Orange signal at home is useless.

So he was astonished to be told by recorded message at the end of September that he had no credit at all.

Customer services at Orange (part of the EE group] told him that the loss of this money was due to packet data and data recovery.

"Being an ignoramus in these matters, I visited an Orange shop. On examination of the phone by an Orange employee, I was told that both packet data and data recovery were turned off," he said.

"I wrote to Orange on 1 October to complain that somehow they had taken £100-plus from my account without my knowledge. I have had no response."

On his behalf we went back to EE.

It investigated the issue and discovered that data roaming had been on while Mr Lander was abroad, and this had accounted for the charge. But happily it decided to refund the cost after accepting there was a miscommunication that meant he did not realise the cause of the charges.

An EE spokesman said: "We have spoken to Mr Lander about how to manage his data usage in future and he is happy with the outcome."

He told me he was. But there's a lesson for everyone here: ensure you do turn off data roaming on your mobile phone when leaving the country.

Meanwhile, there was excellent news from the European Parliament this week: all extra charges for using mobile phones when travelling across the European Union are to be abolished.

It voted on a new law that will make it the same price for calling, texting or going online in any EU country.

But you still need to remain vigilant for another 20 months as the ban on data roaming charges doesn't come in until 15 June 2017 – although an interim cap on charges will take effect from 30 April next year.