Roaming in Australia

[MB_007]

Hi. I have been here in Australia (Sydney) for the past 4 days and have the EXACT same issue.  I notified EE prior to my departure that I will be in AUS, removed my spend cap, authorised my 5 day abroad pass and turned on roaming once we arrived. I also called CS via Skype yesterday to have them confirm that my account is set up with correct settings, which they confirmed.  I have removed the auto network selection and tried all 3 networks available (YES OPTUS, Vodafone AU & Telstra Mobile) but I am still unable to make and receive calls from my phone.  Data works fine to browse internet and I can send/receive texts, but alas I am unable to make or receive calls.  Please advise on a viable remedy.

[bristolian]

If CS agents are unable to resolve an issue having exhausted their account-level checks, and presumably also checked against known network-issues, there is a very obvious next step.

A fault ticket should be raised for investigation by (offline) tech support staff who have deeper network access and can also liaise with other operators as required. "Baffled" is fine for CS staff, but they're not the end of the technical escalation process, more the beginning!

Did the CS agents offer to raise a fault ticket? The reference should begin INC.

[h_shewan]

Hi.
Getting fed up with EE now.
Now coming into my 3rd week in Australia with no phone calls despite paying roaming add on.
To make it worse they have just taken £79 for my bill up to 7th April.
I have tried to access my bill online many times to see what I am getting charged for but every time I get a message saying sorry we cannot show you your bill just now try later but every time I get the same message.
Harold

Sent from my iPhone

[Christopher_G]

Hi @h_shewan 

I'm sorry to hear that you're still having problems with your service in Australia.

Have you managed to speak with our Customer Support team? I've seen other people in the community use VoIP services, such as Skype, to get in contact with us. Once you're able to speak to someone, they'll be able to check to see if everything is set up fully from our end.

Hope you get sorted.

Chris

[MB_007]

I spoke with a Tier 2 Tech Support Specialist at EE yesterday and they were finally able to resolve my issue.  EE does not have an agreement with OPTUS here in AUS for voice, they only partner with Telstra for voice.  Thats why my data plan worked but voice did not.

While calling EE via Skype, the tech was able to change some settings within my account profile so that Telstra voice was approved while I’m here in Australia. While remaining on Wi-Fi and talking to him via Skype, I was able to manually move my network connection from Optus to Telstra (cellular>eSIM>Network Selection>Telstra). At that point I asked him to call my EE number to confirm that the update worked and I remained on the call with him via Skype. Once I saw his call come through on my UK # I knew that the issue was resolved. At that point I ended the Skype call, reset my phone fully and when it rebooted, I made sure that I was only connected to the Telstra network here in Australia. Voice calls are now active local and back to UK.

[Leanne_T]

Morning @MB_007 

Thanks for coming back and letting us know this is has been sorted for you after getting in touch. 

Have an amazing time 🙂

Leanne.

[bristolian]

It's good that a manual network selection has resolved your issue, but there's something about the advice your CS bod has given you that doesn't quite add up.

If EE has no agreement with network-X for specific services, then there are no amount of account settings that will change that. The core network will simply not be setup for those services, and/or there will be flags to prevent those services being used. It's a bit like saying "EE has no agreement with O2 for use of their network but I'll change something on your account to give an exemption"

I would be very interested in knowing what specific config the CS bod changed, I appreciate you won't know. A spend cap or international call bar wouldn't surprise me.