Wi-Fi calling charges

[Rob62]

Why do EE charge a call rate abroad when it uses Wi-Fi when you have also paid for Wi-Fi in your hotel. I pay an extortionate amount of money for my all inclusive minutes and data package and you are using some other companies Wi-Fi for data and not EE. Seems very unfair in this present climate. Is there such a thing as a Wi-Fi only phone handset 

[Schockwave]

@Rob62 , making calls over wifi is not free, you still get charged, not sure why you think that making calls is free over wifi, it is not, whether in the UK or abroad, it is just that in the UK you have inclusive minutes, might have been useful to check the terms and conditions before going abroad. It is the same when calling a number whilst in the UK to a foreign country, you have to pay, wifi has nothing to do with it, it is not unfair, and no there is no such thing as a wifi only handset, sorry.

[bristolian]

WiFi-calling is only officially supported in the UK, and is intended as a coverage-expansion service not a means to avoid call charges - hence the premise that VoWiFi-calls are charged the same as VoLTE-originated or any other call.

Calls dialled using your phone's dialler function abroad are classed as roaming calls and charged accordingly. If you want to avoid all roaming charges, then you can enable flight mode and only use WiFi for internet-based functions.

[Northerner]

Hi @Rob62 

You're getting charged as your call isn't over WiFi. That simple. 

Thanks 

[Beano4]

 

   

Hi Rob Ik it’s **bleep**ing **bleep** I’m fuming it’s happened to me as well I was in Turkey last week as soon as I landed I had no signal throughout the whole holiday so I put aeroplane mode on to stop it from searching for a signal (wasting my battery) I had Wi-Fi in the hotel and thought that FaceTime is free as I did my research and on every website I saw it said it was so I trusted it I’ve been charged 150+ quid I’ve been waiting for EE support to respond it’s been 50 mins and it is now closed for today so I’ve got to wait till tomorrow whilst waiting I did my research on why I could have been charged and it’s face time there is somebody on a question and answer thing like this saying it’s free I’ll put the link at the bottom this link led me to believe it was actually free apparently not I don’t get why this comment is still on EE when apparently it’s not free I don’t understand why it’s not free it’s a Wi-Fi call I had no signal It doesn’t make sense I will update after I’ve had a response from EE themselves but 150 quid charge from FaceTiming?? **bleep** I hope other people manage to find this page before they do what I’ve done I’ll also add photos of other websites saying it’s free to show the fact me and Rob aren’t idiots who made it up  https://community.ee.co.uk/t5/Android-Devices/Free-wifi-abroad/td-p/1157029 

[Beano4]

To me personally EE doesn’t make it obvious I’ve had to do thorough research in finding answers I also did not get the message that I will be charged abroad for messages and calls and of my response above I never got any signal 

[EssexBoyEE]

Using your Phone or Device Abroad is always going to be challenging to avoid those unknown or awkward International Charges.

If you are not prepared to accept your Networks T&Cs on International Roaming on Calls, SMS, WiFi Usage etc, then the only safe bet is before you leave the UK is to set your Voice Calls to Imediate Divert to Voice Mail then physicality remove your UK Sim from the Phone untill you return to the UK, that way you Phone just becomes a simple WiFi Device for you to choose how to manage your WiFi Connections. 

This is how I do my Overseas Phone Comms, simply because I don't want any unexpected Costs on my return.

Unless it's a really short Trip I normally buy a Local Sim Card with some sort of a Bundle and or an International  Calling Card or method to call back to the UK to pick up my Voice Mails and or return Calls. 

[Sipod]

Well that’s a very patronising reply if ever there was.

i work in Holland on a  vessel with unlimited data and calls yet still cannot access WiFi calling when connected to the ships WiFi. There’s not a scribble in the t&cs with reference to this smart Ar5*

[bristolian]

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@Sipod wrote:

Well that’s a very patronising reply if ever there was....There’s not a scribble in the t&cs with reference to this smart Ar5*

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You've picked up a thread from 2023, which contains numerous factually correct answers.

Nowhere to my knowledge, have EE ever advertised "free calls over WiFi", you may have a case if you can find evidence to the contrary.

If your commercial vessel offers free calls, then I'd recommend using that setup rather than EE's roaming services.