I’m abroad data call text not working

[Shirin888]

I need urgent help with my sim card and data plan. Im in Vienna and I cannot even call 150 or text anything to ask for help. The “help” section in the app doesn’t have a live chat. Please help me to reactivate my number to be able to receive calls and use my data please. I tried to call 150 but the call failed. I can’t contact the technical team as calls are not working. I was in a two year contract now am pay £60 something 

[Chris_B]

@Shirin888  Did you activate roaming before you left the UK ?   This is done by texting ROAMING to 150 or by calling customer services.  

[Schockwave]

@Shirin888 , just to add, if you have something like Skype, you can ring customer service for free, see my signature.

[bristolian]

Regardless of any billing add-on, your ability to get coverage abroad (which calls, texts & mobile data rely on) is dependent on roaming being activated - which allows your phone to connect to foreign networks.

On PAYG, this is auto-enabled once your phone is used in the UK first.
On pay-monthly, this needs to be enabled manually - usually by texting ROAMING to 150 before leaving the UK. Did you do this?

If you are on pay-monthly and now find yourself abroad without having enabled roaming, your only recourse will be to contact CS to request it activated. You can either contact +44 7953 966150 from another working phone, or +44 800 9566000 using a web-calling app such as Skype over WiFi.

[Shirin888]

I called them on Skype because texts and calls were failing. They were not able to help because the verification requires a direct debit or account number. But I could not find my account number anywhere and I was not able to receive any text from the customer service. I will be back to uk on October. Does that mean I will be charged for these months even though I cannot use my sim? I used to pay my bill via text, too. Under the manage” there is no “billing”part in my account to  view my bills and account number? How can you help me here please. I really want my data to work as I keep getting lost without google maps.

[Shirin888]

I was abroad in May and I didn’t text abroad to 150 and it was working fine. Is it a new law?

[Schockwave]

@Shirin888, no, has always been like that, either telephone or text ROAMING, when abroad, use something like Skype and ring for free, see my signature.

Are you on contract? You will pay your monthly fee as usual, if pay as you go, no refund either.

[Peter_W]

Hi again @Shirin888 

I'm disappointed to hear that you were unable to get this sorted out when speaking with our team over Skype.

With any account related query we do need to pass security first of all, and this isn't something we're ever able to make exceptions with. 

If you're able to find the details for the questions you were asked you're welcome to call back up and try again. 

If you're unable to pay via text then it's also possible to pay through or app, or via our fast payment link too.

Peter

[bristolian]

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@Shirin888 wrote:

I was abroad in May and I didn’t text abroad to 150 and it was working fine. Is it a new law?

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There's no law involved, but to connect to foreign networks you need to have roaming enabled. Once it's enabled, it remains so unless you explicitly request it cancelled.

The roaming facility is free, but is often confused with a billing add-on that may reduce the cost.

[Shirin888]

I was in a two year contract, now am paying month by month. I think there was a default in my last payment month payment because I couldn’t pay via text and the app doesn’t give the option to pay my bill. It was not a direct debit tho, I was manually paying by card.