RWG

alanjones60

Geoff_W said:

I'm currently in Australia and cannot get access to any provider. My phone shows that roaming is on, but it will not connect. The providers here are Telstra, Optus and Vodafone. I have emailed RWG but all they suggested was to restart the phone or change to a different provider, none of which worked. Also, none of the short codes work either (not surprising as I'm not connected).

Is there anything else I can try? 

I know you probably know this, but bundles only work in the eu,you need to have a credit balance to use elsewhere

Geoff_W

alanjones60 said:

Geoff_W said:

I'm currently in Australia and cannot get access to any provider. My phone shows that roaming is on, but it will not connect. The providers here are Telstra, Optus and Vodafone. I have emailed RWG but all they suggested was to restart the phone or change to a different provider, none of which worked. Also, none of the short codes work either (not surprising as I'm not connected).

Is there anything else I can try? 

I know you probably know this, but bundles only work in the eu,you need to have a credit balance to use elsewhere

I am on the £15 Free tariff, so that is my credit balance. Did I need to buy a separate bundle to be able to use my phone in Australia? 

virgo17

Geoff_W said:

alanjones60 said:

Geoff_W said:

I'm currently in Australia and cannot get access to any provider. My phone shows that roaming is on, but it will not connect. The providers here are Telstra, Optus and Vodafone. I have emailed RWG but all they suggested was to restart the phone or change to a different provider, none of which worked. Also, none of the short codes work either (not surprising as I'm not connected).

Is there anything else I can try? 

I know you probably know this, but bundles only work in the eu,you need to have a credit balance to use elsewhere

I am on the £15 Free tariff, so that is my credit balance. Did I need to buy a separate bundle to be able to use my phone in Australia? 

Roaming is not included on the RWG £15 free tariff. I have seen others on here that have bought a monthly bundle which RWG states are for the EU. I'm nor sure the SIM you have is suitable for roaming in Aus in any form.

savergrant

virgo17 said:

Roaming is not included on the RWG £15 free tariff. I have seen others on here that have bought a monthly bundle which RWG states are for the EU. I'm nor sure the SIM you have is suitable for roaming in Aus in any form.

Rwg website lists prices for using in Australia. As I understand it this is not the same as 'roaming included' nor does it require a specific sim to access. My understanding is that all sims should work abroad, but that roaming included means it is considered to be local.

alanjones60

I would have thought the £15 would count as credit to use in australia.
Im on the £15 free tarrif also,but only used the £15 to buy a bundle while in spain

savergrant

It might be a phone issue. How old is it and do all UK phones work in aus?

Geoff_W

It's a Pixel 4a and a couple of years old. As I said previously, the phone tries to automatically connect to Telstra and although it appears to be connected, there is no service. Manually choosing either Optus or Vodafone results in the same 'no service' message. The phone shows that roaming is on, and it also claims to have WiFi calling. I can receive notifications from the UK, such as those from Lidl, Sainsbury's and Boots etc., but cannot make any phone calls or send texts to anyone here or in the UK. Basically my phone can only be used on WiFi to use the Internet.

RWG have stopped making any more suggestions. 

I had been hoping to use the phone to contact my daughter upon arrival in Australia, but that didn't work. Since then I have been able to use her mobile to call the UK as she has a contract which gives her free international calls. 

Geoff_W

Just bumping this old post.

I'm now back from Oz, where I never did get to the bottom of the problem. I even went into a Telstra store and asked them if they had any ideas but the best I got was, "It happened to me in Bali and I have no idea why".

So I have to conclude that either my phone or the RWG sim is incompatible with Australia's mobile networks.

savergrant

Can't really comment as have never used a phone abroad, but may be worth opening the topic beyond rwg, as almost certain to also be relevant to nowmobile and probably ee customers and also anyone with same model pixel as you 
Just out of interest did the phone shop you went into recognise the model and ee network? Any aussies on here roaming on ee?

ButtersUK

Just to add a further view of RWG Mobile, an MVNO based in Wales using the EE network.

1. I would have been able to select one of their plans as there's enough choice to find one that suits. The pricing was competetive and I particularly wanted to use the EE network as it operates efficiently in my area. Furthermore I liked the idea that they are in the UK and have a phone line which they say is available 9am to 5pm for customer service.

2. I usually try to make contact with a company before signing up to see how easy it is to make contact. I tried ringing on their advertised phone number during their opening hours. I was greeted by a machine inviting me to leave a message. No sign of a real person. I did this four times over two days and left two messages. No-one rang me back despite me saying in the message that I was hoping to join the company.

3. I've left a Trustpilot review. They seem(ed) to promptly reply to both the positive and the negative reviews and in the case of negatives reviews there always seems to be an excuse or some reasoning to explain that whatever the issue it's not their fault and it's a problem with the person complaining. At the time of writing this they haven't replied to my poor review and certainly haven't returned my calls.

4. On reflection I wouldn't now join them having seen reference to them going into voluntary liquidation in 2018 and bouncing back with a different name. Don't just take my word, look on the Companies House information on the internet available for all to see.

5. I've now obtained a PAC from my current provider and applied directly to join EE  with a monthly contract. They answer the phone and offer answers to the queries I've made .... AND .... with a bit of haggling they've given me a decent price for the contract. I'm also reasonably confident that EE will remain in business for the foreseeable future, whereas I'm less confident that ........... (you can guess the rest)