Floridian Rene Remund and his wife embarked on a picturesque tour of Switzerland last September, only to return home to a shocking cell phone bill that soared higher than the Swiss Alps themselves.

As seasoned travelers, the couple always informed their cell phone carrier of their international adventures before leaving the United States. In this instance, Rene visited a T-Mobile store to share their travel plans, relying on his nearly 30-year history as a loyal T-Mobile customer for reassurance.

Assured by the store that he was ‘covered,’ Rene and his wife immersed themselves in what they described as a magical trip, exploring the Swiss countryside and cherishing moments with loved ones. However, the bliss was short-lived as they were blindsided by the staggering bill upon their return to Dunedin.

Initially mistaking the bill for $143, it wasn’t until later that Rene realized he actually owed over $143,000 to T-Mobile for using 9.5 gigabytes of data while abroad. To put this into perspective, the average monthly data usage ranges from five to ten gigabytes, making the charges for roaming data exorbitant, amounting to thousands of dollars per day of their trip.

Upon contacting T-Mobile to address the astronomical charges, Rene was met with disbelief when a representative insisted that the bill was accurate. Frustrated and left with no recourse, Rene sought legal assistance and even reached out to the president of T-Mobile to no avail. It wasn’t until ABC Action News intervened that T-Mobile finally responded, offering to credit the entire amount back to Rene’s account.

In a statement to ABC Action News, T-Mobile recommended that customers check the travel features of their plans to avoid similar unexpected charges in the future.