Unfair usage bill abroad 10 October 2021 at 12:24PM in Mobiles 3 replies 114 views

Andy_stocks_and_shares

I was recently planning a trip to Antigua 
I phoned o2 customer services to ask if my travel bolt on covered this location
the gentleman I spoke to said it was covered and I had 120 min and 120 texts and unlimited data for the bolt on of £4.99 per day 
I asked if he was sure and he confirmed it was covered 
to my surprise on arrival in Antigua last week Saturday, I get a text, before leaving the airport saying I had used 50% of my allowance and then before I even got into my transfer shuttle, I got another text saying I had used 100% of my allowance and I was being billed £51.50
i then could not use my phone for the rest of the holiday and needed the internet for the occasional bit of work email and the dreaded passenger locator form prior to returning back to the uk 
what should my course of action be ? 

Seen that I was told by their customer services that I was covered by my bolt on 

Neil_Jones

Well https://www.o2.co.uk/shop/international/using-phone-abroad suggests Antigua isn't covered by that bolt on.  Anguilla is, but Antigua isn't.

http://international.o2.co.uk/internationaltariffs/travelling_abroad "Available rates when in Antigua and Barbuda... As standard, your data usage will be capped to 50MB (£51.50) per month.  Call charges £2 per minute making and receiving, and texts at 50p."

Entirely plausible the customer service representative misheard you, but you didn't need to ring them anyway because all the information is on the website.  You did look at the website?  There is a Data Abroad Add-on, but that only increases the cap to £120 a month.

flaneurs_lobster

Sounds like that £120 wouldn't have lasted until baggage reclaim.

eDicky

The ignorance of network customer service agents can be astounding, in particular don't expect any reliable info on roaming. An EE advisor (UK based) once insisted to me that I would be charged for incoming texts while roaming, at least he accepted a little training from me after checking with his boss.

Edit - I should say some CS agents. I expect in this case, as Neil says,, the agent was unable to distinguish between Anguilla and Antigua, not unexpected perhaps.