International calls from mobiles: Grab them for free article discussion

indiannri

hi dearies, i sent a mail this afternoon but can't cant find it now so i am going to repeat my story once again hoping for a better luck this time...so here we go----> got registered with REBTEL....paid £5.00 credit.....followed the instructions....recieved SMS from REBTEL (0207....number)......called this no. from my mobile .....heard some options and followed them.......manage to dial country code+landline/mobile number of my parents in india....very promp connection and exellent voice quality.......after this trial i registered my parents landline and mobile nos.(inida's) in my account.....got 2 more SMSs(obviously 1 for landline and another one for mobile....both 0207....nos.).....i dialed these nos and got connected directly (without any menu or countrycodes+landline or mobile nos.)......so all the connections etcs were OK....now my concerns are as follows:

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1. when i called my parents landline/mobile no using 0207.....no from REBTEL then choosing options from menu + countrycode+ landline/mobile no.......i know my free minutes (provided by vodafone contract for UK calls) are used + i am suppose to pay 0.028/0.030 to REBTEL..........but do my parents in india have to pay anything to recieve these call from me (UK).

2. the 2 different nos i got after registering (landline and mobile) in my account if i make calls then do i/my parents in india have to pay anything for those calls as well (apart from my free minutes+REBTEL fess which i will pay).
My parents are not registered with REBTEL. all the help is much appreciated. thanks nisha.

MSE_Archna wrote: »

Hi Snakebite,

You do get free calls but you have to make sure you use the call back system as described in the article. I've amended the text slightly to make this clearer in the article.

redux

neilvm wrote: »

When you talk about making international mobile to mobile calls, I take it this means a British SIM carded mobile over here (obviously), but can a normal British SIM carded mobile be used overseas, as happens normally in the rip off system, or does it have to have its British SIM replaced with a local, (ie a Canadian or what ever country you are visiting) SIM in the British mobile when using firms such as Rebtel ?

You could use whichever phone you register in your account, but using your British mobile abroad would still incur roaming charges from your network.

As that is expensive in Canada it would be better to have a local SIM instead. US and Canada networks also charge incoming as well as outgoing calls, so using either callback or callthrough access is likely to work out fairly similar cost

chan25_2

A month ago we bought a sim4travel sim as my partner was going abroad for a couple of months. sounded like a great idea as he could recieve calls for free and the cost for me was said to be included in my free minutes. i checked with vodafone that that would be the case and they said yes however i have just been stung with a £200 plus bill for 2 weeks worth of calls to this number! the reason being is that Sim4travel give you a sim registered in jersey and vodafone consider this to be international hence the 94p per min charge even though i checked it prior. They said they will refund my calls to date however what shall i do going forward? please be careful!! Does anyone have any suggestions?

redux

chan25 wrote: »

They said they will refund my calls to date however what shall i do going forward? please be careful!! Does anyone have any suggestions?

Cheap calls providers count Channel Island and Isle of Man mobiles the same as UK mobiles, so take a look at the MSE Callchecker.

From the mobile, you need a callthrough account with an ordinary area code e.g. London access number, rather than those on 0871 numbers, then you'd use your inclusive minutes to this access and pay the call to the Jersey number in the other account.

I'd suggest a 18185 account, which is 6 p/min dropping to 3.5 pence a minute at weekends, and which you could also use from your landline, or in the short term the new Betamax VoIP brand Intervoip is about 4 p/min (but they tend to creep up a few weeks after launch)

thesaffa

To whom it may concern..
I'm not sure if this is the right person to be emailing my problem too but couldn't find anyother link.. My problem is this, i'm wanting to join rebtel however when i try entering my pin my phone doesn't allow me to enter numbers, only letters.. My phone is a nokia n95 8gb. Please can someone help me?
Kind regards
> Darryn

jax4

I have just spent a few days in Israel and registered with Rebtel before leaving so that I could speak to my family in UK on my mobile. I have returned to find a bill for £59.30 from O2 for these calls. Despite using the call back I was charged £1.70 for each call I made to the Rebtel no. There was one evening when I could not get through, but I was charged each time - that was 15 x £1.70!
I feel like a complete idiot after trying to save the pennies and ending up completely out of pocket. Something isn't right with the arrangement that Rebtel sell you - I didn't get any of these calls off my usual allowance.
I wait to see what my husbands bill looks like.

alan_cresswell

I am off to Egypt in a few weeks. I run my own business and will need to get in touch with customers and they need to get in touch with me. Skybe doesn't cover Egypt so I am wondering what my cheapest and most reliable option is? Help please

boma23

I'd just like to add my experience of Rebtel.

I went travelling in Australia and Thailand earlier this year, and after searching this site decided to sign up for the Rebtel service on its recommendation, and going through all the info carefully.

Understanding that the service was only available in Australia, and not Thailand, I followed all the correct procedures on the site, entering my own (UK) mobile number, location, and those of the people I was wishing to speak to back home in the UK.

After using the 'call back' method to connect successfuly, i used the service quite a lot whilst in Australia, beleiving I was getting cheap calls (or that they were coming from my free minutes).

Since being back, Orange have landed me with a >£300 bill, saying that Rebtel type services are banned on the Orange network, and have charged me full international rates for the calls made.

I will not (and currently cannot) pay this, and as a result have had my phone account barred, along with the loss of a preffered mobile number, despite offering to continue to pay my normal monthly bill amount until the issue is resolved. My being an Orange customer of over 10 yrs has counted for nothing.

I feel as if I have no leg to stand on with this, and am not sure how either Rebtel or this site can recomend their services when this is the result.

If anyone here works for Orange any clarification would be much appreciated. Likewise, I would suggest this site stops recomending the service until it is clear what is free whilst abroad and what is chargeable with which network.


I would warn anyone about using this service abroad, as nowhere was there any indication I might end up with this sort of bill.

I've instantly lost way over and above any savings made using this site over the last few years

Postdunous

A few months ago I got a Vodafone rolling monthly contract SIM only deal (£15 per month for 250 free mins and 500 texts I think). However, my girlfriend has family and friends in poland and australia and texts to mobiles in these countries have sent the bill up to a staggering £130 a month even though she is not actually using all of her inclusiv mins and texts... Does anyone know of a deal / package / cheat where you can not pay for texts to international mobile numbers?

Cheers

marko4ever25

Postdunous wrote: »

A few months ago I got a Vodafone rolling monthly contract SIM only deal (£15 per month for 250 free mins and 500 texts I think). However, my girlfriend has family and friends in poland and australia and texts to mobiles in these countries have sent the bill up to a staggering £130 a month even though she is not actually using all of her inclusiv mins and texts... Does anyone know of a deal / package / cheat where you can not pay for texts to international mobile numbers?

Cheers

02 does a bolt on where u pay just 10p a text anywhere in world but use
www.18185.co.uk
and send texts for just 1p a minute