Charged for roaming that we didn't use O2

Goldiegirl

Thank you for the suggestions so far, I've answered them as best as I can. If anyone has any further thoughts I'd be very interested

miscy

Goldiegirl wrote: »

Thank you for the suggestions so far, I've answered them as best as I can. If anyone has any further thoughts I'd be very interested

This may be related to your issue but I notice it happened before July this year but worth checking all the same.

Just something else you and all other O2 Travel users should be aware of. It seems since the change in EU charges from July this year O2 upgraded their systems however made a massvie blunder at the same time. Anyone using O2 travel in non EU but inclusive O2 destinations (UAE, South Africa etc) are now being charged for RECEIVING calls as well. As you may know recieving calls in O2 travel destinations is free up to 120 minutes per day, and I used this without many issues for a year until this July when suddenly the 4.99 charge started appearing for each day even though I made no outgoing calls, sent any sms or used any data.

To add to their stupidity (and stress to me) when contacting O2 customer service, they would spend almost 30 mins arguing that the charges are correct, BECAUSE on their screen it actually shows that in those destinations the 4.99 charge will be triggered by "receieving calls" despite the official O2 website clearly showing to the contrary. After call number 6 I managed to get one of these "advisors" to scroll to their own website and see where they were going wrong (and the fact that I had been using it like that way for a year without any issue). They admitted they had the wrong info on their system and that they would raise the issue - no **** sherlock I said. Anyway the escalation never happened and long story short eventually after many more useless calls and online chats where I was not really getting anywhere I discovered Resolver. After only two days of loging my complaint via resolver I finally got a decent response.



I also now have charges credited back and a compensation amount, however the issue is still ongoing and I believe that its related to a system change during the EU charges change - possibly. I have a direct line to a Capita guy who will keep nulling any incorrect charges until O2 resolve the issue.



I believe many more people may have fallen victim to this and are not aware so I hope they can read this and take action if required. The O2 website O2 travel section clearly explains everything but sadly the O2 advisors are unaware, O2 service has really slipped over the last couple of years unfortunately.

pmduk

Goldiegirl wrote: »

We also had data roaming switched off for the whole 7 weeks we were abroad so did not access the internet via the cellular network.

You don't just turn data roaming off, you turn off all mobile data. I suspect one of your apps has been phoning home as it were!

PHK

Indeed, and if an iPhone then trying to send registration text messages .

pmduk

Something has just stirred in the depths of my memory; do you have and did you use any messaging apps such as whatsapp or imessaging? Both of these will default to sending via the native SMS app if they cannot use their normal methods of transmitting messages. They send messages via an overseas number so can generate international text message charges even if the message is intended solely within the UK. You might want to google the numbers the SMS messages were sent to to see whether this is the case.