Roam Abroad Pass - confusion over charges!

[Hilary98]

I requested a Roam Abroad Pass in the middle of my billing month (eg 14th) and requested removal of said Pass one month later (eg also 14th).  I assumed cost was £25 for using a Roam Abroad Pass for a month long period (eg 14th to 14th) but it appears that you are charged pro rata from the day you activate Pass to your billing date PLUS the whole of the following billing month, even if you ask for Pass to be removed mid month.  So if my bill date is 28th of each month and I request RA Pass on 14th of a month and ask for removal on 29th of same month, I will, in fact, be charged pro rata of £25 for 14-28th plus a whole month of £25 for 29th onwards, even though I've requested Pass is removed. It appears the RA Pass charges run exactly in  with your billing month and not the amount of time you request the Pass for.

[bristolian]

In the billing cycle when you add a Roaming Pass, it is activated immediately and pro-rata charged from then until your billing date.

In the cycle you request removal, it remains active until the last day and is removed before appearing on the following bill. Charges reflect this.

[XRaySpeX]

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@Hilary98 wrote:

not the amount of time you request the Pass for.

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You don't request the Pass for any particular time period. You just request it start.

The Roam Abroad Pass costs £25 per billing month from the billing month you order it (text ROAMING PASS to 150) until the billing month you cancel it (text STOP ROAMING PASS to 150). For all billing months during which you have the Pass it is charged at the full £25. However if the Pass is carried over from the 1st billing month to the next it will be charged pro-rata for that 1st month alone.

[Snowwhite21]

Yes but they don’t let you know all this, do they?

I was actually told my RA pass would start the day I booked it and it would be for one month only - I was charged  for two months - £50! ( because of billing cycle ) I clawed back £11 refund ( 1 hour on the phone from abroad) plus won’t get that of course till next month’s bill.

So I’ve paid for a pass when I wasn’t even abroad. Also Very poor customer service on this occasion

[bristolian]

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@Snowwhite21 wrote:

I was actually told my RA pass would start the day I booked it and it would be for one month only

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Sounds like you've got grounds for a complaint if you are confident in this.

[Caz127]

Since EE have hiked up the cost of this pass from £15 and put an end to pro rata charging, it is no longer a competitive proposition. Shame because it was simple to do and convenient. There are much cheaper ways of buying data sims for using abroad if you have a look online.

[Batie]

True ! For this reason EE can shove the RA Pass and I’ll just use an eSIM for the month. Myself & wife, EE want £50 plus our 3 week holiday lands mid billing cycle so it’ll actually be £100. I can get a reliable eSIM elsewhere with the same data limit for both of us at only £30. 

[bristolian]

To be fair, there's a few different factors there - some trips can be cheaper with the daily charge instead.

If you purely want mobile data, using a local SIM (electronic or physical) can sometimes be more cost-effective, albeit some UK websites will treat you as a foreign browser.

A local SIM will have a foreign contact number, which will create other issues with UK-originated callers.

[Batie]

3 weeks @ £2.50 per day multiplied by two (me and wife) £5 per day for 19 days equals £105

I only need mobile data, I pretty much only use voice for work plus there’s other options for voice such as messenger or WhatsApp.  

We’ve always used the roaming pass but it’s jumped from 15 to 25 which wasn’t a big deal until I found out you are now billed per billing cycle so I’d actually have to pay for two months which is a complete rip off. 

[Chris_B]

@Batie  it’s always been per billing cycle as you pay monthly for your contract so it’s added to the first bill produced and if it rolls into the following month it’s added at the end of that month also.