Man lost in desert after losing data roaming on phone

By James Connolly

A British vacationer claims he "could have died" when he got lost in a desert - because his data roaming was cut off.

Jamie Oakford, 54, was in search of the perfect view of the stars over Texas when he took a three-hour drive into the desert from Dallas.

However, his adventure turned into a nightmare when his Vodafone roaming service stopped working and he was left lost and unable to call anyone.

Oakford, from Oldham, Gtr Manchester, said he had "never been so scared" in his life.

He said: "I had no GPS, no way of phoning anybody. I didn't know how to get back to the city.

"Can you imagine being stuck out in the wilderness, in the desert with no phone service, no GPS, nothing.

"I was frightened to death because there were rattlesnakes everywhere."

He said he'd called Vodafone ahead of the trip to organize a roaming package that would allow him to make calls and access the internet while travelling.

Having agreed on the terms and the price, Oakford switched on his phone as soon as he arrived at Dallas airport on September 17, which he said worked without any problems.

On the following day, he set off into the desert in a national park outside of Dallas with his rental car, but received a text message a few hours later to say he was approaching the limit on his package.

He said he was cut off shortly after. In order to top it up, he said he would have had to call his provider or contact them online, which he was unable to do in the desert without phone service.

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Oakford knew, however, that he would still be able to call emergency services via 911 without phone service.

But when he rang, he was told that unless a crime was being committed or he needed urgent medical care, his request would not come under 911's free service.

Luckily, the call handlers were able to refer him to the local rangers, who managed to locate him using the rental car's tracker.

They advised him to stay in the car and leave the engine off as the heat could attract rattlesnakes.

Oakford added: "I was stuck out there on my own.

"No communications, no service, no data, for four hours before they actually found my car and the sheriff escorted me into the sheriff's station.

"I was absolutely distraught."

Oakford also had to pay $200 - just under £150 - for the ranger service.

While he said he had a "beautiful view of the stars" waiting for the rangers, the ordeal left him shaken up.

He said: "I'm out of pocket. I had the worst holiday. It's just been absolutely horrible at the worst time of my life."

Once he was back in the UK, he complained to Vodafone and was told that there was a spend cap on his package - which he claims he was not made aware of in the first place.

A Vodafone spokesperson said: "We're sorry for any distress this customer experienced while travelling in the United States."

The company said his plan included a cap and but didn't include roaming in the US.

It said an alert telling him he was at 80 percent of his cap had been reached with a link to increase it.