Beware croatia and the border with bosnia for roaming

Ratclia

Apologies if this is elsewhere on the Forum, but I have searched and haven't found anything.

Has anybody had any problems yet with Croatia now in the EU for Mobile charges?
I have recently returned from holiday in Cavtat, near Dubrovnik and have been hit by a £131.75 charge from O2 for Calls, Texts and Data.

This is because O2 say I was connected to a Bosnian Network for a lot of the time. They say this can happen when you are near the Border.

What I find annoying is that I received a message from O2 saying
"Welcome to Croatia.You are on O2 Travel.
You'll only be charged £1.99 for the days that you use data in Europe.
When you make or receive calls, there’s a connection charge of 50p, then it’s free to talk for up to 60 minutes.


I never received any messages saying I was connected to Bosnia at any time.


I have disputed the charges, but they keep coming back saying I was connected to the Bosnian Network.
I am currently awaiting another reply from their Complaints Review Service and if I have no success then I will need to take it to the Ombudsman next!!


SO ANYONE HEADING TO CROATIA AND NEAR TO THE BORDER, MAKE SURE YOU ARE ON THE CROATIAN NETWORK OR YOU MAY END UP LIKE THIS.

helpthejuggler

How much of this charge is for data roaming?
Is it mostly calls and texts?

Ratclia

Hi - The breakdown is £40 for data, (for about 15/20 mins max checking the Open Golf Scores and a quick look at a couple of other Sites!!!!) the rest for calls and texts.
Cheers

Ratclia

Just had an offer from O2 for £30 on my account as a discretionary payment.
They maintain that as I was connected to the Bosnian Network, then the charges apply.
Wonderful system!!!

john1

Unfortunately radio waves do not respect international borders as it happens in Kent also see

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-kent-21739029

Klf

I'm in Cavtat at the moment and the same thing has happened. I turned off data roaming once they sent the £20 warning. It is incredibly misleading to send a text to say relax and turn on roaming for £2 a day then slug you with massive data charges. I'd be keen to hear what the outcome of your dispute was.

Thanks.

simax

It is a requirement when you roam in an EU country that you get a "landing message" stating you are roaming in xxxxx, charges are xxxxx, call xxxx free for more information etc.

As Bosnia is not in the EU (yet) there is no such requirement for a landing message to be sent (although most other UK networks send these to customers regardless of country - it appears O2 don't)

Legally, I doubt O2 have done anything wrong.

NFH

Ratclia wrote: »

What I find annoying is that I received a message from O2 saying
"Welcome to Croatia.You are on O2 Travel.
You'll only be charged £1.99 for the days that you use data in Europe.
When you make or receive calls, there’s a connection charge of 50p, then it’s free to talk for up to 60 minutes.

You should really push the point that they said "Europe" and not specifically "European Economic Area" or "European Union". Bosnia is definitely in Europe so according to O2's SMS (regardless of whether the intended meaning is otherwise), you should be ultimately charged these European rates even if your phone inadvertently logged on to a Bosnian network. O2's sloppy wording could save you paying this large bill, because their words are contractually binding.