Sky - Roaming charges

dredski

I've just returned from 4 weeks overseas and was shocked to have incurred a variety of roaming charges from Sky.

I turned on a phone with roaming on, sent one WhatsApp and got charged £20 - I will reluctantly take that on the chin.

Roaming off - I then discovered we (2 phones) have incurred just over £30 for incoming calls from a variety of numbers (very few from the country we were in) which we didn't receive. They range from 3 seconds (£1.80) to 1 minute and 20 seconds (£3.60). No voicemails and no record of these calls on our respective call logs. Were some of these spam calls, perhaps? I have an itemised bill.

Should I challenge Sky?

la531983

Maybe tell us what countries you visited. Also did you travel on ships between countries and leave roaming on.

dredski

Hi, it was only Barbados so max charges and no ships were involved.

ballyblack

I turned on a phone with roaming on, sent one WhatsApp and got charged £20 - I will reluctantly take that on the chin.

When you turned on international roaming the phone did an update and synced ur account............... and this will use up pricey data

dredski

To be clear, one phone was turned on with roaming on, hence £20 charge which I may have to take. Then roaming turned off immediately.  So no further expense expected.

2nd phone roaming was switched off and was never switched on the entire time. So how can there be any charges.

We think we have been charged for incoming calls, never received or answered.

ballyblack

Had you Voicemail definitely turned off?

dredski

I didn't (know you could do that) but no messages were left.

PHK

dredski said:

I didn't (know you could do that) but no messages were left.

It doesn't matter. The call is transferred to the roaming network; if you don't answer or are out of range then the roaming network routes the call back to your voicemail in the UK. You pay for that call. 

This is why every network advises you to either buy a roaming bolt on or turn off voicemail when going abroad. 

ballyblack

You are not alone!

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6503401/paying-for-receiving-mobile-calls-when-you-dont-answer/p1

dredski

Just to clarify; roaming is turned off, someone tries to call you and it doesn't connect because roaming is off, they then leave a voicemail which you never receive because roaming is off? Sounds so shady!

Advice is; turn off voicemail (once you find out how).

dredski

For Sky I found this on their community forum:

"Voicemail can’t be switched off completely. But, to stop people leaving you voicemail messages, turn message recording mode off.

On your phone:

1. Dial 759.
2. Press 3.
3. Press 5.
4. Press 1