I think the actual cost really has little relevance to this situation and they simply wanted to stop the usage of these special packages outside Italy. The only reason I can see for them to do it in this rather "unusual" manner is because their billing system can't manage to completely block the usage outside of Italy hence this ridiculous charge.
Whatever the reason I do question it from a legal point of view as we have all taken a subscription to a tariff that was offered by them and clearly published - whether it was a mistake or not is irrelevant as the offer was made and then accepted. I suspect in the terms and conditions somewhere is buried the right on Wind's side to vary the tariff from time to time but as Italy is a European country I'd suspect there are customer rights laws that don't allow unfair increases in price. Also, Wind's right to vary the price should normally depend on them informing the customer's in advance (1 month minimum). From my point of view I would never have known about this increase if it hadn't been for this forum so I'll be watching with interest to see if they actually do inform me before 4/11/06.
Anyway, at the end of it all it seems they have noticed their "mistake" and our free ride is over
As I mentioned before the 30 euro/month for 16MB isn't so bad for basic usage when travelling so providing this is all 100% for certain I'll use up the rest of my credit on this tariff. However, I still don't know how to switch over...I assume I have to send sms's or something to a number but I don't have a clue which so any help would be greatly appreciated.