Mobile Roaming: Cheapest Calls When You're Abroad

Kel_32

Apologies if something similar has been posted before but I think my head is about to explode!!

I'm currently with Orange and have a HTC Desire. I recently went to Greece for 2 weeks; prior to me going I paid for a specific 10MB european travel bolt on so I wouldn't get stung for data charges. I was told by them that should cover me for any updates on the phone and all the emails I wanted - which is what I wanted it for.

I have just received my bill for over £700.....!! £650 of that is purely on data charges from being abroad in the EU! As you can imagine I'm slightly miffed :mad: and currently waiting for Orange to give me some kind of explanation as to how this could have happened. They charge £3 per MB in the EU which by my rubbish maths equates to around 200MB...how is this possible!!!

On the 'more on slashing data roaming costs' page on here it mentions Using the internet on your mobile overseas can cost massively, around £8 per megabyte which could easily be used in one session. Though within the EU you won't be charged more than £49 in one month.

Can someone advise on how where this figure has come from as I've clearly been charged an awful lot more than that for just 2 weeks!!!

Any help on how I can sort this out would be greatly appreciated.

Kel

grumbler

Kel_32 wrote: »

On the 'more on slashing data roaming costs' page on here it mentions Using the internet on your mobile overseas can cost massively, around £8 per megabyte which could easily be used in one session. Though within the EU you won't be charged more than £49 in one month.

I think it's €50 in fact, i.e. about £45 ATM:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10462298
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regulation_on_roaming_charges_in_the_European_Union
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/phones/2010/07/overseas-mobile-phone-costs-cut-for-europe-travellers

zagfles

Kel_32 wrote: »

Apologies if something similar has been posted before but I think my head is about to explode!!

I'm currently with Orange and have a HTC Desire. I recently went to Greece for 2 weeks; prior to me going I paid for a specific 10MB european travel bolt on so I wouldn't get stung for data charges. I was told by them that should cover me for any updates on the phone and all the emails I wanted - which is what I wanted it for.

I have just received my bill for over £700.....!! £650 of that is purely on data charges from being abroad in the EU! As you can imagine I'm slightly miffed :mad: and currently waiting for Orange to give me some kind of explanation as to how this could have happened. They charge £3 per MB in the EU which by my rubbish maths equates to around 200MB...how is this possible!!!

On the 'more on slashing data roaming costs' page on here it mentions Using the internet on your mobile overseas can cost massively, around £8 per megabyte which could easily be used in one session. Though within the EU you won't be charged more than £49 in one month.

Can someone advise on how where this figure has come from as I've clearly been charged an awful lot more than that for just 2 weeks!!!

Any help on how I can sort this out would be greatly appreciated.

Kel

Where abouts in Greece were you? Greece is surrounded by non EU countries so maybe you ended up roaming on a non EU network? If you were somewhere like Kos you could easily have picked up a Turkish (ie non EU) network.

Kel_32

I was in Crete so definitely within EU. You flip onto Cosmote network which is the standard one out there.

Didn't even realise there was a cap of 50euros which is very useful to know. No text was sent to me from provider warning me of usage either so it looks like they don't have a leg to stand on now.

zagfles

Kel_32 wrote: »

I was in Crete so definitely within EU. You flip onto Cosmote network which is the standard one out there.

Didn't even realise there was a cap of 50euros which is very useful to know. No text was sent to me from provider warning me of usage either so it looks like they don't have a leg to stand on now.

Yes think Crete will be too far away from anywhere non-Greek to pick up a foreign network. There's another thread on this board about high data charges from Orange so maybe there's a general problem with their billing??

aaj123

Kel_32 wrote: »

I was in Crete so definitely within EU. You flip onto Cosmote network which is the standard one out there.

Didn't even realise there was a cap of 50euros which is very useful to know. No text was sent to me from provider warning me of usage either so it looks like they don't have a leg to stand on now.

I was in crete last month and did not get charged anything for 100 mb of data use as I had vodafone data traveller which allows 25 mb of roaming data free each day.i used the vodafone greece network during my stay in crete.

Doc_N

Kel_32 wrote: »

I was in Crete so definitely within EU. You flip onto Cosmote network which is the standard one out there.

Didn't even realise there was a cap of 50euros which is very useful to know. No text was sent to me from provider warning me of usage either so it looks like they don't have a leg to stand on now.

It's possible to opt out of the EU data limit - you haven't inadvertently done that, have you? Even if you have, though, Orange should have sent an alert at 10MB:


You’ll receive a text message when you start using data in the EU and even if you choose not to have the data limit, we’ll still send you an alert when you’ve used 10MB to help you keep track. This alert will be sent to you regardless of which zone you are in.

piblet

buglawton wrote: »

Nice to see some solid info based in experience - and from a newbie too. Welcome to the forum, piblet!

Always happy to share! And thanks... I h ave been around for a long time but not a busy poster!

BAW9DV

Hi,

I'm a new forum member but have been checking out MoneySavingExpert for some time now. Hello to you all

My wife and I are regular visitors to the US (specifically California, Nevada and Arizona, all where we have friends and family) and for some time now I have put up with the ridiculous costs associated with calling the UK and making calls within the US on an O2 contract mobile phone.

For perhaps the first time in over 15 years, I am now actively looking at better options for my wife and I to make and receive calls and texts and check voicemail while we are away on vacation in the USA. We fly off on 25th July 2011 for 16 days. My wife has a Blackberry Curve 9300 on Vodafone pay monthly and having looked at the costs of using her phone to call back to the UK, within the US and to send and receive texts and check voicemail, the fees are dreadful! She is now a Union Rep and needs to be able to contact back to the UK and receive calls on an infrequent basis while we are away. Sending and receiving texts would also be good too, plus the ability to check voicemail although this could be left if it is too expensive.

I own an Apple IPhone 3G 8GB on the O2 network pay monthly and despite being a long term customer, again the fees are exhorbitant for this type of use and always have been!

We will be taking a laptop with us while we are away and we have free internet access where we are staying so will be able to go online.

To send and receive texts and make calls between my wife and I (when we are separated) whilst we are in the US would also be useful. We do occasionally call or text our US friends whilst actually in the US and we would like to find ways to reduce the costs on this too.

I have had a look at UK2Abroad and have sent them a message seeking clarificaion about their fees and charges because it seems confusing - I await a reply.

************

I was wondering if anyone here might just take the time to suggest what and who would be the best option/provider maybe to purchase a SIM card from and what type to go for? We go to the US perhaps once a year.

I have spent some time reading through this thread but it is circa 2007 and would like some comments more up to date if anyone is kind enough to take the time.

Thank you for any advice you care to offer.

Regards,


Lee James
Senior Airport Security Supervisor (retired)
Heathrow Airport - London UK

1978 - 2006

mrcamp

This has been discussed to death here. Get 2 sims from t-mobile or at&t or one if the mvnos and that's it. Calls to anywhere in the us is the same and quite reasonable. The sims can be easily had on eBay or Walmart, target, etc. You can even walk into a store and get a free sim. As long as you buy topup.

BAW9DV wrote: »

Hi,

I'm a new forum member but have been checking out MoneySavingExpert for some time now. Hello to you all

My wife and I are regular visitors to the US (specifically California, Nevada and Arizona, all where we have friends and family) and for some time now I have put up with the ridiculous costs associated with calling the UK and making calls within the US on an O2 contract mobile phone.

For perhaps the first time in over 15 years, I am now actively looking at better options for my wife and I to make and receive calls and texts and check voicemail while we are away on vacation in the USA. We fly off on 25th July 2011 for 16 days. My wife has a Blackberry Curve 9300 on Vodafone pay monthly and having looked at the costs of using her phone to call back to the UK, within the US and to send and receive texts and check voicemail, the fees are dreadful! She is now a Union Rep and needs to be able to contact back to the UK and receive calls on an infrequent basis while we are away. Sending and receiving texts would also be good too, plus the ability to check voicemail although this could be left if it is too expensive.

I own an Apple IPhone 3G 8GB on the O2 network pay monthly and despite being a long term customer, again the fees are exhorbitant for this type of use and always have been!

We will be taking a laptop with us while we are away and we have free internet access where we are staying so will be able to go online.

To send and receive texts and make calls between my wife and I (when we are separated) whilst we are in the US would also be useful. We do occasionally call or text our US friends whilst actually in the US and we would like to find ways to reduce the costs on this too.

I have had a look at UK2Abroad and have sent them a message seeking clarificaion about their fees and charges because it seems confusing - I await a reply.

************

I was wondering if anyone here might just take the time to suggest what and who would be the best option/provider maybe to purchase a SIM card from and what type to go for? We go to the US perhaps once a year.

I have spent some time reading through this thread but it is circa 2007 and would like some comments more up to date if anyone is kind enough to take the time.

Thank you for any advice you care to offer.

Regards,


Lee James
Senior Airport Security Supervisor (retired)
Heathrow Airport - London UK

1978 - 2006