Roaming setup but not working in Australia

[mjs21]

We setup roaming for Australia via EE CS before leaving UK on my wife’s mobile as she is account holder. Now in Australia and roaming does not  work - it was wrongly setup by CS and after call on my phone to CS yesterday were told it should now work. It still doesn’t and she can’t receive/make calls or texts despite paying for pass and getting confirmation from EE that it is enabled. Seems impossible to talk/contact anyone at EE outside UK 8-8 time to fix technical issues - which is ridiculous for a mobile provider with overseas customers. Any advice on how to get support welcome ! 

[bristolian]

Any billing add-on or roaming pass you have is immaterial for this, its sole purpose is to reduce the cost of roaming. The roaming facility - which enables access to foreign networks - needs manually setting up on each pay-monthly line before leaving the UK, usually by texting ROAMING to 150.

If you have travelled abroad without enabling roaming, then contacting CS is the correct process - it is they who have access to your individual account.

For troubleshooting purposes, focus on whether your phone can connect to local networks - be it manually or via auto-selection. Usage of those networks for calls, texts or mobile data should naturally follow.

[XRaySpeX]

What do you mean by " We setup roaming"? Did you just buy a roaming billing package?

If you are on contract, did you activate roaming on your EE a/c before you left UK by texting ROAMING to 150? Having a roaming billing add-on doesn't of itself activate roaming on your a/c. Having roaming activated on your EE a/c, not just on your device, is crucial to using your contract SIM abroad.

Often just rebooting the phone is the simple remedy. Also try selecting a network manually rather than auto. Otherwise you need to call CS to get your roaming activated. Try calling CS on the Freephone no. in my sig. on Skype over WiFi. It should be free.

[mjs21]

Roaming should have been setup on a/c and device when we spoke to CS before leaving UK - it wasn’t and despite taking to CS when in Australia who said it had been enabled it still doesn’t work. Have rebooted phone and it can see local networks but can’t make/receive calls. Having to wait until Uk working hours to get help in this sort of issue is very frustrating.😡

[bristolian]

When you say "it can see local networks", do you mean on a manual network search? Or do you mean you can connect to them, and your phone shows coverage indicators?

Based on your explanation thus far, I am sceptical you requested the roaming facility was activated, and if so - access to foreign networks will not be allowed. As mentioned, billing packages are independent of the facility to use them. They shouldn't be, but are.

You are doing the correct thing in pursuing this with CS, they have access to your specific account & network config.