Woman Gets £2600 Phone Bill Downloading Neil Diamond

We've heard of deluxe editions, but even ardent Neil Diamond fans would probably baulk at paying £2609 for a Neil Diamond album.

But Katie Bryan, from Lighthorne in Warwickshire, inadvertently racked up the huge bill after downloading The Best of Neil Diamond while on holiday in South Africa.

Miss Bryan told The Telegraph that, "It was a lunchtime get-together with my boyfriend's family at a house where we were staying near the Kruger National Park. I'd had a bit of wine but not too much. People were playing music through their iPads or on phones through an iPod dock. Someone had put on the Traveling Wilburys but I just fancied hearing some Neil Diamond. I don't know why. He's more my boyfriend's musical taste and I'm more of a James Blunt fan."

When she returned to the UK, she found that she'd paid a direct debit bill to phone company Orange for the sum of £2609.31, as a result of using 326MB of data, charged at £8 per megabyte (excluding the first 10MB which, generously, was free).

She attempted to arrange a lower-cost solution with Orange but nothing has been forthcoming, so it looks like the bill will have to stand.

Miss Bryan admits that she made a mistake, but added that, "I also feel it is morally wrong to be expected to pay this sort of money for a Neil Diamond album."

I'm a Believer is probably worth a grand though, surely?

[via Telegraph]

(Images: AllStar/Shutterstock)