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SMS from UK to EU (and charges to UK numbers)

Hi,

I have a TalkTalk bundle and have just received a TalkTalk bill and there were £6 worth of SMS charges.
£2.40 was for txts to a French No. +33675.... The texts were from my phone in the UK to a French person in the UK.

Aren't these free since June 15th ? If not, it seems pretty sneaky.

Also £3.60 was for texts to an AirBnb guest and they were sent to a +44115... no. which I believe is a Nottingham no. for AirBnb in this country. I queried this with TalkTalk and they are going to refund me. Has anyone else had such charges where I assume AirBnb forward the texts to the guest ?

Cheers - Joe

Comments

  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User] Posts: 5,186 Forumite
    1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    I'm guessing this applies?

    https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5677205

    No idea what AirBnB is or does.
  • d123
    d123 Posts: 8,762 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    Hi,

    I have a TalkTalk bundle and have just received a TalkTalk bill and there were £6 worth of SMS charges.
    £2.40 was for txts to a French No. +33675.... The texts were from my phone in the UK to a French person in the UK.

    Aren't these free since June 15th ? If not, it seems pretty sneaky.

    Also £3.60 was for texts to an AirBnb guest and they were sent to a +44115... no. which I believe is a Nottingham no. for AirBnb in this country. I queried this with TalkTalk and they are going to refund me. Has anyone else had such charges where I assume AirBnb forward the texts to the guest ?

    Cheers - Joe

    The EU Regulations only cover costs while roaming, you were in the UK so not roaming.

    You pay for a call or text by what the destination number is, not where the phone is. A +44 text would always be classed as a UK text (excluding non UK numbers like Jersey/Guernsy/IoM) whether it’s in London or Timbuktu and a text to +33 is always international even if the phone is in your living room.

    With regards to the texts to +44115, you need to check your price guide, does your allowance cover texts to landline numbers? 0115 is not a mobile code but a landline and a lot of allowances don’t say they include texts to landlines.

    Look here, TalkTalk uses the terminology “SMS to UK mobiles”:
    https://m0.ttxm.co.uk/gfx/help/mktg-1419_update_to_price_guide_v2.compressed.pdf
    ====
  • Frozen_up_north
    Frozen_up_north Posts: 3,150 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    There are a lot of crazy charges associated with mobile phones, one of the most bizarre is with Three... on PAYG calls from the UK to Spanish numbers are the same as calling a UK number - 3p/min, on a contract calls to Spain from the UK are 46p/min!
  • crustacean
    crustacean Posts: 12 Forumite
    I think sticking an emoticon into a text mesage makes it into a MultiMedia text and instead of being free as one of my allowance, costs 30p [iD, part of TT]
  • System
    System Posts: 178,433 Community Admin
    10,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    crustacean wrote: »
    I think sticking an emoticon into a text mesage makes it into a MultiMedia text and instead of being free as one of my allowance, costs 30p [iD, part of TT]

    It's your phone making it an MMS not the network - if in doubt just delete your MMS settings and they won't go.

    Also, iD are owned by Carphone Warehouse not Talk Talk.
    This is a system account and does not represent a real person. To contact the Forum Team email forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com
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