MSE News: Travelling outside Europe? You could incur hefty voicemail charges

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"Many mobile customers are being charged for messages they don't even listen to when travelling outside the EEA ..."
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Travelling outside Europe? You could incur hefty voicemail charges

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Travelling outside Europe? You could incur hefty voicemail charges

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Call ##002# - it cancels all voicemail diverts.
or
Divert all calls to the voicemail number - via the phone's menu system.
Either (or both) will almost always work both at home and when roaming.
They use Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) commands which are standard and don't cost anything to initiate.
If all calls are diverted to voicemail, this happens on the home location register in the UK and there will be no charge.
But the simplest is to turn it off.
For Vodafone customers.
You need to set up your Voice Mailbox PIN for this.
From anywhere in the world, using any phone, you can call
+44 7836 121 121
Type in your mobile phone number and PIN.
And then it works like you called 121 from your mobile phone
Obviously, you should try to call using Skype type calls to minimise the call charges.
I carry a backup handset that has an international SIM when travelling. The UK access number is only given out to essential people, so if anybody calls, it's an important call. I need to make a call or text every six months, to keep it active, so it costs about £1 a year. Pay As You Go, Naturally. It isn't cheap to make calls. In fact, calling from inside Russia costs £12 a minute! Obviously, I would get a Russian SIM, if the hotel doesn't have Wi-Fi.
Just turn on airplane mode or switch off the handset, so mobile companies will have no idea where you are, thus voicemails are free to receive.
Only connect to roaming when you need to make a call or listen to voicemails.
I was stung last time i was away for about £10. Thanks EE.
Orange customers anywhere in the world do not incur costs for calls being diverted to voicemail. Also, calls to customer services on 150 are also free of charge anywhere in the world.
EE and T-Mobile customers do have the two-way charge for voicemail diverts outside of the EEA, however if you call 150 for customer services inside the EEA you will be charged the standard roaming call rate back to the UK - it is not a free call.
Hope that clarifies.
http://www1.orange.co.uk/service_plans/downloads/ovp_services_costs.pdf
EDIT: I have mine sorted now but it cost me about £1.20 to do all the voicemail options.
Incidentally, I avoid the high Orange call charge to retrieve voice messages when roaming outside EEA by calling the full voicemail number (+447973100123) by other means, then entering my Orange number, then PIN.