The mobile phone company, Vodafone, which did not charge Ready to Go customers for certain services for several days owing to technical problems, has decided to write off the charges.
The company had run into criticism for imposing the charges retrospectively - with some customers wondering why their credit was disapearing suddenly.
Up to 10,000 prepaid customers were not charged for services, including text messages sent while abroad, during a period of more than a week recently. Charges are normally applied instantly by reducing the customer's prepaid credit amount.
When Vodafone discovered the problem this week, it began deducting the cost of the services from the customers without informing them what was going on. Customers who found that their credit was being reduced without apparent explanation contacted the Vodafone helpdesk with queries and complaints. They said that when they asked how much money they still owed, they were told these details were not available.
After the issue was highlighted in The Irish Times yesterday, Vodafone apologised to the affected customers. The company said that because of the time lapse, any customer from whom charges had been taken late would now be refunded. In addition, customers who had not yet been billed would not have to pay at all.
The company's director of communications, Ms Tara Delaney, said the average charge per customer was €7, bringing the total revenue to the company to at least €70,000. She would not confirm the exact cost of the services to Vodafone.
A statement issued by the company said: "Vodafone would like to apologise to those prepaid customers who experienced a delay in charging for ring-tones, logos and text messages in early July".
Ms Delaney stressed there was no breakdown, however, in the charging of international calls while customers were "roaming" outside the State.
Ready to Go does not involve billing. Instead customers pay for their calls in advance by purchasing Go cards or topping up their credit at ATMs.