Vodafone Ireland to refund EUR2m to overcharged customers

Irish fixed and mobile operator Vodafone Ireland is to refund almost EUR2 million (USD2.6 million) to over 50,000 customers which were overcharged for using its premium-rate phone services. The billing errors apparently emerged following an internal audit and were related primarily to customers using phone calling cards that require the user to dial an international call access code. As a result, Vodafone Ireland said that the people affected paid a higher rate than those advertised. Pay-as-you-go users were charged between EUR0.10 and EUR0.30 per minute for accessing the carrier’s services – although Vodafone said that whilst 70 people were overcharged by more than EUR500, the vast majority – 54,000 customers – were overbilled by less than EUR50.