British tourist handed £19k bill after phone stolen in Ibiza

A British holidaymaker who did not report his phone missing for five days returned home from Ibiza - to a mobile bill of £19,000.

Corey Pye, 21, said he did not report the phone missing straight away during his holiday in September because it was password protected and he believed nobody else would be able to use it.

But once he got back to Basingstoke, he informed Vodafone his handset had been stolen, and was handed a bill of £6,439.76.

He said Vodafone offered no help in trying to sort it out, so he took out a personal loan to pay it off.

He was then horrified to find his next monthly bill came in at £12,450.35, and said Vodafone should have capped the usage.

According to SWNS, at the time he said: "It's ruined my Christmas. I don't know what to do. I was so shocked when I got the bill.

"I'm a young lad and this will be hanging over me for the rest of my life. I'm still paying that six grand off."

But, thankfully, he can have a Happy Christmas after all as, according to the Mirror, Vodafone has now agreed he only needs to pay £500,

However, this story isn't as unusual as you might think. Back in October, a British tourist whose phone was stolen while on holiday in Barcelona was told he has to pay a £15,000 bill run up by the thief.

Primary school teacher Osian Rhys Edwards called Vodafone soon after his phone was stolen on a night out in the Spanish city but the mobile provider says it has no record of his call.

The Guardian reports that Vodafone is now holding him accountable for the calls made.

It agreed to reduce the bill by 30 per cent, but this means the 29-year-old will still have to pay more than £10,000 for calls he did not make.