Need to call Spain from Spain when abroad - on PAYG (credit, not monthly)

[Aries51]

My voice- and text-only phone is on an old PAYG contract which has up-front credit which I top up, but no monthly charge.

When last in Spain I couldn't call the Spanish breakdown service because "international calls while roaming" are barred.

I had a text on arrival in Spain from EE telling me the charges (10p/minute) so why didn't it work when I needed it?  EE Customer Services tell me I now need an "EU minutes" add-on, which I have to buy before I leave the UK.  I need to be sure it will work!  Can someone with authority confirm that the EU minutes add-on is the only thing I need?  If not, what DO I need?

Thanks for reading

[Northerner]

Hi @Aries51 

Cost and applicable add-ons can be found here:

https://ee.co.uk/help/mobile/roaming/roaming-costs/countries/spain

Thanks 

[XRaySpeX]

No. You should be able to make EU calls from your credit w/out having a roaming add-on when you have no pack. If you don't have an active pack, you will be paying standard rates for calls & texts & need to buy a PAYG add-on for data. But it's 70p/min to make calls, not 10p you've been told. See https://ee.co.uk/help/mobile/roaming/roaming-costs/countries/spain > PAYG.

[Aries51]

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@XRaySpeX wrote:

No. You should be able to make EU calls from your credit w/out having a roaming add-on when you have no pack.

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The point is that I could NOT make EU calls.  I had about £25 credit and, according to my phone, call barring for" international calls while roaming" is active. The phone says I can't change it without a "call barring password", it doesn't have anywhere to set such a password, Factory Reset doesn't set it (to 0000 or 1234) and EE Customer Services tell me that there is no such thing anyway - the barring  is purely based on the way PAYG works after Brexit.  I don't want to buy (assuming I can) the add-on, go to Spain and then find I still cannot make calls, so I really want an official written assurance that it will work, or someone's actual experience that it does.

[Michael_D]

Hi @Aries51

You should be able to use any credit when abroad on a pay as you go SIM, and just pay the standard roaming rates. There is the option to buy an add-on if you have a pack, so that you can use those allowances when in the EU, but that is not a requirement.

With a pay as you go SIM, roaming and international calling services should be automatically enabled as soon as the SIM is used in the UK, meaning you shouldn't need to do anything else.

When you were away in the past, were any other calls working or did you just try the one?

Michael

[Aries51]

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I agree I should be able to use PAYG without anything else being needed.  I don't make calls when abroad very often - they are usually only in emergencies (as this time when we broke down) and I have never been let down in the past.

This time, I tried two Spanish landline numbers (two different breakdown numbers) and one Spanish mobile number.  In each case the call was dialled by the phone which then said "Call ended" without connecting.  I checked I could call UK and send texts to Spain, all of which I could, and incoming calls and texts were successfully received.  It was just "international" calls while in Spain.

The phone security section has "Call Barring" "International calls when roaming" activated.  I have never set this, the phone requires a call barring password to cancel the barring, but the phone does not a method for setting any such password.  A Factory Reset doesn't change the situation, which leads me to believe that the setting is on the SIM card or by EE itself - both out of my control.  Customer Services (150) said there is no such thing as a call barring password, and that I needed to buy the add-on - which I find highly improbable.

[Michael_D]

@Aries51 That part in the phone settings won't have been something that was set by EE.

Which model of phone is it?

Michael

[Aries51]

LG KG275 - about 15 years old but it does what I need (until now ...?).  LG have no information about it at all.  I worked out the Factory Reset code and did a reset twice, but although it deleted what was on the phone, it made no difference to the call barring settings - hence my suspicion that they are stored elsewhere.

[Michael_D]

As our team have mentioned, the call barring settings aren't something we'd have any control over @Aries51 

With a pay as you go SIM, it is just that roaming is active after the SIM has been used in the UK.

If you could text Spanish numbers and call back to the UK, it isn't something we could block.

It is difficult for our tech teams to look at when you aren't abroad, and if the phone works in the UK, so it would be a case of trying it when abroad again. 

If possible, I'd recommend trying the SIM in another phone if it does happen, and that will show if it is the phone or the SIM.

If it does follow the SIM, it would be a case of getting in touch with our tech guides when you are away so they can look at it further.

Michael

[Aries51]

Thanks for those thoughts.  The only other phone I have access to is a Nokia 105 which takes a mini-SIM.  The LG has an original full-size SIM. Is there any problem with getting a replacement SIM for the existing one so that it can be used in both phones?  As far as I can see from the EE website, a replacement SIM would be usable as full-size, mini or nano SIM.  What I don't want to do is end up with no functioning SIM card at all.  I understand that a mini-SIM can be put in a full-size SIM slot with a suitable adapter.