Forgetful net surfer gets huge phone bill A Qatari got the shock of his life when he received a bill of more than QR162,000 from Qatar Telecom (Qtel). Khalil Mohamed Al Khori said he had used his mobile phone to surf the Internet while on a day-long visit to the UAE. "As the hotel I had stayed in did not have Internet access, I used my mobile phone with the Qtel SIM card to browse the Internet. I recall downloading several files during the few hours I used the service," said Al Khori. When he returned home to Doha, he received an SMS from Qtel urging him to pay an outstanding bill of QR162,230. Al Khori, who had settled his bill a few days before his UAE trip, assumed there was a mistake and decided to verify the amount by calling Qtel's Customer Service. A Customer Service representative confirmed the bill was correct and advised him to pony up immediately. An aghast Al Khori then decided to meet Qtel officials, including the company's legal advisor. The advisor informed him he had no other option than to pay the bill. "Perhaps we can help you out by allowing you to settle the bill on an installment basis," said the advisor. Adel Al Mutawa, Qtel Executive Director (Group Communications), told Al Sharq Qtel rates are obviously not applicable outside Qatar. The billing system of the country where the telecommunications service is used comes into effect. "We will try to help this individual in some way," said Al Mutawa, without giving details of what form of assistance would be provided. Al Mutawa used the occasion to once again caution travellers that the Qtel billing system is not applicable outside this country. Al Sharq

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