Roaming and changing spending cap

[TheCeilingGhost]

I made the mistake of not activating roaming on my PAYG sim before leaving the UK, my spending cap is a £0 so now I can’t text to activate it, and every forum post I’ve found telling me how to change my spending cap hasn’t worked. The settings to change my spending cap seem to not exist on both the website and mobile app, and I can’t call or text EE because my spending cap is £0. How to I fix this to activate roaming?

[bristolian]

A few bits not right here.

1: PAYG phones don't need roaming enabling, it's done automatically on first use in the UK. There is no other way to activate the facility

2: Pay-monthly phones need it enabling by texting ROAMING to 150 before leaving the UK. This unlocks access to foreign networks, and without it - you create a catch-22 situation which can only be resolved by contacting EE CS via another means.

Your spend cap will only be the issue if you have coverage of a foreign network, but are having specific problems using your phone for chargeable activity. If you don't have a connection to a local network, your issue is nothing to do with the spend cap, and everything to do with the roaming facility not being active.

With all this in mind, what exactly are your symptoms? And are you PAYG or pay-monthly?

[TheCeilingGhost]

I’m in a PAY monthly SIM card. I cannot send texts both on or off Wi-Fi in Germany. I also cannot find anything that will let me change the spending cap so that I can use chargeable activity. I want to get the 7 day roam like home addon but as I have no spending cap and seemingly no way to change it I can’t seem to get any messages through.

[XRaySpeX]

@TheCeilingGhost : This is confusing & contradictory.

1. PAYG doesn't have spending caps. Hence you can't find any settings for it.
2. PAYG doesn't need to have roaming activated as long as the SIM was used to make a call or text in the UK at some time.
3. Only PAYG goes in for the 7-day Roam like Home add-on.

So, just what is the problem? Are you really on PAYG?

[bristolian]

Does your phone show a connection to a local network in your host country? That is fundamental to resolving this.

[TheCeilingGhost]

Hi sorry I realised I’m on pay monthly. I’m not from the UK and very new to this system and thought PAYG and pay monthly were the same. 
As soon as I entered Germany I got a message saying I would either need to pay daily/weekly or per minute to use data, but I cannot send text messages to do so. I know I have a spending cap because I set it up for £0, but can’t find where to change that. 

[TheCeilingGhost]

Yea I believe so, currently it’s showing o2-de, and it was different when I was in France and Belgium earlier today.

[bristolian]

You do have a short time after posting to edit posts, avoiding the need for multiple short replies.

If you have coverage of a local network, then roaming is active and your issue could be the spend cap. Full details on amending this are at https://ee.co.uk/help/mobile/manage-use/pay-monthly/set-up-and-manage-spend-cap 

Within the EU, you have the choice of a daily £2.29 charge, or monthly £25 one.

[XRaySpeX]

Still contradictory. Only PAYG has the need to pay daily/weekly; contract doesn't. So if the Welcome msg offered you these you're on PAYG & can't possibly have a spend cap.

Did the Welcome msg mention replying 'ROAMEU1' or ROAMEU7' to pay daily/weekly for EU Roaming?

[TheCeilingGhost]

Yes I do believe spending cap is the problem, however even using the guide on how to find and change the spending cap, I cannot find any of those settings. Just to ensure that a 8.0 GB 30 day pack is a pay monthly SIM card. Someone else keeps responding thinking I might be on PAYG, but I genuinely don’t know anymore. The pay as you go vs monthly sims confuse me a lot.