USA calls not working

[Tobythemartian]

Before coming to USA I added on a world calls bundle and regularly use phone in Europe. Roaming is on, network selection is auto and everything appears setup correctly. I arrived in Boston needing to call a pre arranged car hire collection and phone does not make or receive calls. Power cycled. Checked updated software. Did exactly as asked but no calls in or out for 4 days. IPnoe 13 plus EE monthly contract in UK. Help. 

[Tobythemartian]

Just wanted to report in. No further calls from EE. No contact. Complaint still live. And still no ability to make or receive roaming calls. Nothing. 
I return to the UK next week. I have borrowed a phone and will use it to contact the car rental people. 
EE have totally let me down. They say all the settings I have made are correct, yet they seem unable to get on and try to fix the problem unless I waste hours on the wifi call to 150. 
I needed a phone for this challenging geological field study and I paid for it (am still paying for it). After nearly two weeks I have no solution in sight and I’m sure once I return it won’t be worth anyone’s time investigating further. I am, frankly, appalled at the service I have received. 

[Christopher_G]

I'm sorry that you weren't able to get your phone working fully, @Tobythemartian.

Please keep us updated on what happens with your complaint.

Chris

[bristolian]

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@Tobythemartian wrote:

And still no ability to make or receive roaming calls. Nothing.

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Earlier in this thread, you confirmed "was called by CS after 52 hours to be told it was fixed. Certainly this was a call from a UK number and I was looking at rocks on an island off the coast of Maine"

Based on the info in your posts, this was a roaming call.

[Tobythemartian]

I am trying to be so careful with my wording and yet I feel like I am in a court of law!

There have been three states. 
1) Arrived USA no calls in or out. 
2) A 2 minute incoming call from customer service on beach. Told to turn phone on and off. 
3) After that no calls in or out. Still no calls in or out. 
So my statement ‘And still no ability to make or receive roaming calls.’ Was and remains correct. 

One swallow doth not a summer make. 

So in my last post I said 

[Leanne_T]

Hi @Tobythemartian

Thanks for the extra details. 

Please let us know how you get on with the complaint you have raised. 

Leanne.

[Tobythemartian]

Hi. And thanks for your kind enquiry. 
I had a free morning so instead of catching a train to Boston I rang 150 using wifi calling. Very quickly got put through and immediately passed up the line to a very knowledgeable lady. She took one look at my record and found it was ‘blacklisted’ and had been so since September 2021. She said it was not ‘locked’ and she said she had never seen this before and had no idea how the settings had been changed. She said that the normally they blacklist a phone when it is reported stolen and then they automatically lock it. Mine is not locked. And it has never been lost or stolen. 
she expressed surprise that I had been able to use my phone in France in the last year but I have. 
She turned the blacklisting off and I power cycled my phone. 
It works!!!!!

well almost. People ringing in can’t hear that my phone is ringing (?!) and I can’t ring numbers in the US stored as 00 1 xxx xxx xxxx. I have to key in the x’s only which is a pain but surmountable. 
So my EE journey, like my Field Study trip, is coming to an end. 
The weird blacklist setting thing makes no sense to me and I would love it if someone could explain how this can happen and why my phone has been working for over a year like this. 
Thanks to all who have helped. 

[Leanne_T]

Hi @Tobythemartian

Thanks for coming back and letting me know. 

I am very sorry to hear this was the cause and if you would like this looked into further, please get back in touch with our mobile care team after your trip. 

Leanne.