3 Mobile Phone Costs Abroad - BEWARE

Paulee

I have three contracts with 3 and have been with them for several years, their service is good and I am a fan HOWEVER.......

I recently renewed two contracts and took out the newer Mix&Match tarriffs. These are very good in as much as you can choose to use allowance how you please, spending on either texts or voice calls. The major difference, that is not clearly evident until the first bill arrives, is that calls are now charged by the minute up to the first minute used and thereafter by the second. This may not sound much, but if you make a call and say it goes to voicemail and you cancel, it will log a fews seconds use. Because it has connected this will show as one minute on your bill. Believe me, it doesn't take long to use up your monthly allowance; my daughters phone bill for the first months use totalled 210 minutes/texts (actual use total) but she had overspent by £3.21 due to the rounding up system!

When abroad the story gets MUCH, MUCH worse..... She is now spending her summer working in British Columbia and exactly the same problem has occurred BUT the international rates charged mean that the resulting bill is HUGE. With texts costing 25p each and voice calls at £1.20 - £2.40/minute her latest bill is a whopping £67.05!!!!!!

mad_rich

Mobile phone company in expensive roaming rates shocker!

If she's in one country for a while, surely she can get a local SIM and keep in touch for pennies.

http://www.prepaidgsm.net/en/canada.html

Don't have any experience with Canada, but in the USA, you can get a T-Mobile SIM with $10 on it for $15 give or take.

Paulee

Thanks Rich, I am definately getting old, I never even thought to tell her about that! I guess that she would have to get her Sony Ericsson phone unlocked for this to work but I will pass on your advice.