Orange slashed French bar owner Dominique Lefèvre’s roaming invoice from €37,737.11 to €500, a gesture the operator said it made “because of the customer’s credibility” and his 40 years of loyalty, reported Bild.
“Neither a hacker attack nor a technical disruption occurred,” Orange added after granting the discount, noting it had sent 16 SMS alerts as fees rose, according to Bild.
The dispute started when Lefèvre, who runs a café-bar in Maule, returned from a spring holiday in Morocco and received the bill. “It’s not possible. I didn’t touch my phone. My previous trips never cost more than €140,” said the 63-year-old, according to Bild.
He told Le Parisien that he left the device in his hotel room for most of the stay and dismissed the texts as advertising. “Either I was a victim of a hacker attack or a technical error,” he said, cited by Bild.
Orange countered that Lefèvre’s plan included only 5 GB of Moroccan data and that he “exceeded the available roaming data package” before accepting extra charges, stated Bild. Itemised records showed one uninterrupted session on 2 May 2025 between 03:39 and 06:34 billed at about €250 per minute, a connection Lefèvre denied making, reported Fakt.
“We did everything to inform the customer,” said an Orange spokesperson, according to Fakt.
Lefèvre, a customer for 38 years, said the charge endangered his business once Orange blocked the number tied to the café’s cash register. “I don’t know what awaits me. It’s a very difficult financial situation for me,” he told journalists, reported Bild. He quickly switched providers and hired a lawyer.
Focus Online observed that several alerts reached Lefèvre only after he woke up, and experts quoted by Fakt advised travelers outside the European Union to turn off data roaming or rely on Wi-Fi because “taking such actions can save more than just nerves; it can protect one’s entire assets.”
The case echoed earlier shocks, such as the $143,000 invoice American tourists Rene Remund and his wife received after a Swiss vacation, reported Focus Online.
Orange maintained that its logs confirmed heavy consumption, while Lefèvre remained skeptical. “I would have to work several years to earn as much as Orange wants from me in one week,” he said, according to Bild.
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