Calls blocked on pay as you go & can't access the roaming add on

[Des72]

I changed from the bill phone I had for about 25 years to a pay as you go as I was leaving the UK but I still need to use the phone now and again for bank stuff as it's the registered number.  But I can't make any calls from it or send sms to get this roaming add on. I can't believe it's such a faff.  There is more than enough credit on the phone to just ring direct to the bank and do what I need to do and if credit ran out then I'd top-up.  Any tips? I tried calling and get a 'these calls are blocked' when I sms 'roameu1d' to 150 (from outside the UK) that is blocked too, so what am I missing?

[Des72]

It's a bit ridiculous really, how hard can it be to turn on calls and test or why would they even need to be turned on. It's a bog standard PAYG account so it should be possible to make a call, pay £x for 5 min or whatever. I don't get why this roaming add on is such a trauma - 4 hours trying to sort it now and nothing, just passed around call agents.

[bristolian]

It's not calls or texts that need enabling, it's access to foreign networks. Your phone needs either a mobile network connection or (if in the UK) a WiFi-connection, in order to use functions that rely on a mobile network. If you have neither, you cannot make or receive calls, send or receive text messages, or use mobile data. Exactly the same as if you're in an area with no network coverage.

When you travel abroad, you are not using EE's network but the local networks in those countries. Your SIM therefore needs permission to connect to those foreign networks, which is called roaming. Without those permissions, your phone has no coverage - with the consequences on calls, texts & mobile data. In an earlier reply, you mention you are able to use WhatsApp - this uses the internet, are you definitely connected to a mobile network when doing so? Or using WiFi?

EE's process is that PAYG SIMs are auto-enabled with first use in the UK. Billing add-ons merely reduce the cost of the usage.

[XRaySpeX]

It won't until you return to UK as you never used that PAYG SIM in the UK.

[Des72]

My phone is connected to KPN wifi in The Netherlands and I get all the usual rubbish notifications on this or that every other day but today for the first time I need to actually use the phone but can't make calls or sms. I've tried on wifi and roaming data as there is plenty of credit.

I'm astonished such a simple thing - ie the whole point of EE is to make a phone call - turns into this drama. I have the roaming add on and the daily access sms message confirming that but still no actual call can be made.

[bristolian]

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@Des72 wrote:
My phone is connected to KPN wifi in The Netherlands

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Roaming is auto-enabled on PAYG once the SIM is used in the UK first.

No roaming facility means no mobile network coverage abroad. No network coverage abroad has the same impact on your phone's functionality as no mobile coverage anywhere else. You can't make or receive calls without a network.

You can enable roaming data on your phone, but without the SIM having roaming permissions that is futile.

What do you mean by the "daily access SMS message"?

[Des72]

I spent over an hour on the phone to EE customer service and tech and it was a waste of time, if someone at EE told me I had to activate the sim card in the UK I'm sure I would have, but the idea that has to be done in the UK, nowhere else or it won't work, is ridiculous anyway. EE said as I am out of the UK I need a roaming add on, which I got and it lasts 30 days and in that 30 days you need daily access ie if I want to make roaming calls within the next 30 days, I need a daily add on for the days I need to make calls so I got that but it still doesn't work.

I shouldn't need an add on for anything, the sim works so I should just be able to make the call and pay £1 a minute or whatever it is. My Dutch phone tells me I am outside the EU so have a choice of X Y Z on the same terms as my EU data pack for X price for Y days, click which one and done in one tap, so I know for €20 for a month in the US or wherever I can use my phone as if I'm in the EU. Simples.

So, I don't know where this roaming add on nonsense comes from. More likely EE have blocked the calls for some weird reason and no one has checked to unblock them. Such a waste of time on such a simple thing.

[bristolian]

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@Des72 wrote:

I shouldn't need an add on for anything, the sim works

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If the SIM was working, you would have mobile network coverage. The add-on is completely irrelevant for this purpose.

Your phone will show a mobile network connection if roaming is enabled. Calls would naturally follow.