ROAMING - SPEND CAP

[MrsSDB]

Hello there -

I am headed off to Switzerland sometime later this year and have set my spend cap to £30. Spoke to a gentleman at EE who seemed very helpful but having read some posts here I find I am rather confused,so would be grateful for any assistance. I was told that with Spend Cap I would not need to text Roaming to 150 prior to going. Is this correct? Also the last time I went to Switzerland I sent roaming to 150 before going and when I landed nothing happened.... no welcome text, no connection, nothing. I am fairly ancient and non tech literate so, as I said any help with understanding this would be much appreciated. Thank you so much in advance.

[Alex_H · Accepted solution]

Hi @MrsSDB,

Welcome to the EE Community

So the ability to roam and your spend cap are two separate things, though both can affect your phone usage whilst outside the UK.

So the ability to roam is just a setting on your account that says whether you can use your phone outside the UK and this can be checked by texting ROAMING to 150. The guide you spoke to most likely already checked this for you anyway but I would still recommend doing it as only takes 2 minutes.

Once it asks which country you are going to in the text it should say "Okay, you are all set to roaming in Switzerland" in which case roaming is enabled and nothing else you need to do, or it will say you are not ready and advise the steps to enable it. 

Then the spend cap is just a cap on how many charges such as roaming charges that your number can run up before it is capped, so setting it at £30 will be fine.

You should get an automatic text when you land in Switzerland and first connect on a Swiss network, if it didn't happen last time I would check and make sure data roaming is enabled in your phone's mobile data settings before you go. Also I would search how to do a manual network search on your phone as that can help you connect if you don't connect automatically when you land. If you are unsure if you share your phone model we can advise the steps.

You should automatically connect if you are enabled anyway which hopefully will be the case this time, but it doesn't hurt to know the steps in advance in case it is something you need to try when you arrive.

Alex

[MrsSDB]

Hi Alex,

Thank you so much for responding. After getting your response I called EE and was told that I have on my plan an international calling plan, which I had no idea I had, but apparently I do. I was then told that in view of this I did not need to send ROAMING to them pre flight. Can you confirm this as it seems to contradict what you are saying here so I remain somewhat confused. I was also told that if I got a welcome text (which I thought you would only get if you sent ROAMING via text) not to follow any links but instead to connect to a local Swiss network.

Also if I use my Spend Cap in Switzerland does my phone automatically cease to function for calls, texts etc? They would be calls to and from Swiss numbers.

Would you be able to clarify as I seem to be getting rather conflicting information.

[Katie_B]

Hi @MrsSDB 

If your plan includes Roaming this would mean you would not need to purchase a pass, however, you must still have roaming enabled on your account. Texting ROAMING to 150 will ensure this is active for when you land. 

Once you land and connect to a local network you will receive a welcome text. 

If you have a Spend Cap in place but have roaming included in your plan you can continue to use your services, if you attempt any chargeable calls or texts these will not work. 

Katie