No signal in France

[HarleyPaul]

Hi. I am on a monthly top up package and have recently been to France for the day on my motorcycle. I have now switched away from my Tomtom sat nav and using an App on my Iphone. Extremely disappointed to find i couldn't get a signal to follow the route. I added more money (£10) to my account (that had only topped up the night before) and had 4G and Roaming switched on. I had also Text ROAMING to 150 that morning. Extremely disappointed as it compromised my day ! 

What gives ?  Annoyed of Kent

[XRaySpeX]

@HarleyPaul : Did you receive a msg upon arrival telling you about the charges for roaming in EU on PAYG? Did you buy 1 of the "Roam Like Home" add-ons to be able to use your UK pack allowances there?

Had you used that PAYG SIM for making calls or texts in UK before you left to go abroad? To be used abroad EE PAYG SIMs need 1st activating on EE's home UK network. If it wasn't you can't now use it until you return to UK.

Having roaming activated on your EE a/c, not just on your device, is crucial to using your contract SIM abroad.

Texting ROAMING to 150 is not applicable for PAYG. It's only for contract user to activate roaming on their a/c.

[HarleyPaul]

I texted ROAMING to 150 before i left home. Activated mobile data and enabled roaming. I then arrived in france to find i could not get  a signal and noticed a message about topping up my account. (The monthly top up went on the night before) 

I then purchased a £10 add on when in France.by texting the last 4 digits of my card to 150. It then accepted this, but still no signal. So i've paid £10 for the day i was out there for nothing !  It just seems like a lot of grief for a day to use my mapping app . There must be easier ways to do this ? 

[XRaySpeX]

Texting ROAMING to 150 is not valid on PAYG.

Activating settings on your device does not get you the ability to roam on your a/c.

Please answer my Qs in my previous post.

[HarleyPaul]

Apologies about the delay in answering. I checked my account yesterday and it states i get free roaming in France. I had mobile data on, roaming on and automatic network on. I also text ROAMING to 150 before i left. So why no signal at all ? 

[XRaySpeX]

Something doesn't make sense here. You say you top-up. That means you're on PAYG. PAYG doesn't have free roaming anywhere. Which is it? Are you on contract or PAYG?

[bristolian]

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@HarleyPaul wrote:

I checked my account yesterday and it states i get free roaming in France

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Whether your account includes a billing add-on is irrelevant for whether roaming - the ability to connect to foreign networks - is active.

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@HarleyPaul wrote:

I had mobile data on, roaming on and automatic network on. I also text ROAMING to 150 before i left. So why no signal at all ? 

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1: "Mobile data is on" - this is a phone-setting that just allows the use of mobile data when you have a network connection. If you don't, it's irrelevant.

2; "Roaming on" - this is an account-level function to enable roaming, it's not something you can check on your phone. Are you checking the "data roaming" option instead... this just enables "mobile data whilst roaming" in the same way as point 1. If you can't roam in the first place,  it too is irrelevant.

3: "I also text ROAMING to 150 before I left". And what did you receive by response? Let's see the screenshots.

[HarleyPaul]

Hi. I am on the £10 a month subscription pack (£9 for being with ee ?) Is this a contract or PAYG  ? I believe i can stop iyt at any time. I'm confused now, but need to resolve this so i can get back to riding in France.

[HarleyPaul]

I am on a 30 day pack ?  Is that PAYG or contract ???

[bristolian]

Pay-monthly is a contract based setup where you receive a monthly bill, cannot leave within your minimum term but receive an allowance of calls, texts & data in return for the guaranteed monthly payment.

PAYG is a pre-payment top-up based system where you may choose voluntary add-ons but you can ultimately stop & leave EE at anytime you wish.

If you can stop your packs at anytime, that is PAYG. In which case roaming is auto-enabled when your phone is first used in the UK, and the ROAMING text does not apply.