Roam Further - In small steps please

[Bolt12]

I am travelling for 10 days to the USA next week.  I know that I need to text Roam Further to 150 to start it off.  Then Stop Roam when I return.  I presume the 1 month pass will kick in rather than the daily rate.

I have an I phone and a monthly contract

Do I need to do anything else please?  Turn anything on?

Do I need to keep the roaming option ON on my phone and effectively use it just like I do at home? I dont want any surprises.  Normally when travelling abroad I turn off the roaming and just use Wi Fi where I can.

I do have a £10 cap on the phone but I know sometimes it doesnt work and I hear all sorts of horror stories where people seem to bypass the cap and come home where a large bill is waiting for them!

[Schockwave]

@Bolt12 , can you please make sure that roaming, call abroad and premium calls are enabled? If you cannot do this in settings either via the My EE App or online, then best to ring customer service to make sure that this enabled, so that you do not get any nasty surprises. Not sure about the £10 cap, as it is not something I have. You will have to keep roaming on, as otherwise you will not be able to make calls, receive calls, texts or use data, which is what the roam further is for, and yes just like at home.

[XRaySpeX]

The Roam Abroad Pass is charged pro-rata from the day you order it (text ROAMING PASS to 150) to the day you cancel it (text STOP ROAMING PASS to 150). You do start by paying up to the next bill date. Then in the billing month you cancel it you will get a rebate for the days after you cancel.

Remember to text ROAMING to 150 before you leave UK to ensure roaming is enabled on your account.

[Bolt12]

So now I am really confused.  I thought to enable me to use data and say Google Maps whilst walking around New York I needed to text Roam Further to 150. Now there is a new option (Roaming Pass!) I understood that the Roam Further was a monthly option at approx £11.  It rolls over to the next month unless I text back Stop Roam!

[XRaySpeX]

EE has just changed the keyword used in the start/stop text. ROAM FURTHER might still work. it's £11.40 pm.

[Bolt12]

I have just texted Roam Further to 150.  I have got a text back saying ‘your phone is now set up to be used for roaming in any country’.  The Roam Further pass I thought only covered EU and a handful of other countries.

Can I just confirm there is nothing else I need to do?  I checked my account and there are no extra charges on there.  

Honestly - they don’t make is easy do they.

[XRaySpeX]

Would you check in your add-ons that you have the Roam Further/Abroad Pass?

[Bolt12]

So I have been told by a EE employee a few weeks ago to text Roam Further to activate.  That is NOT correct.

I was then told by the EE shop today to use Roam Abroad (but Roam Further is likely to work too).  I was assured that would be it

I have given up and spoken to The EE Roaming Team and asked them to do it for me!, She has activated the pass for me and ensured that it will be turned off automatically in a months time!  She said you actually have to text Roam xxx (with xxx being the country you are going to).  I now have the charges on my account.  A text is then send back to you asking whether you want to buy a Roam Abroad Pass for £10.  That action then activates the pass.

If I had just texted Roam Further nothing much would have happened and clearly not even the EE store staff know how to do it.

I cannot be the only one who is heartily sick of this sort of thing where not even the experts know what is the right thing to do.  Just don’t get me started on the rules to travel abroad.  Twice now supervisors have had to be called to my check in desk before I flew abroad as I knew I was correct and they were wrong. Madeira for example had different covid rules during the pandemic even though they are part of Portugal.  The check in agent said they didn’t…..

[XRaySpeX]

You have been told a load of mixed-up things about what you need to text.

The add-on is called the Roam Further Pass or the Roam Abroad Pass but in order to get it you need to text ROAMING PASS to 150.

It will not auto stop as you've been told; you will need to cancel it yourself. You'll be charged pro-rata. It's not £10 pm as you've been told but £11.40.

You should check in your add-ons that you really have it.

[Bolt12]

Nope.  It’s £8.33 and expires 26 Sept 22.

I hope this shows just how rubbish all of this is to do and how easily someone could get this wrong and potentially end up being charged £££.