Roaming in USA

[chinny89]

Hi all,

A query about the Roam Abroad Pass.

I wanted to check if I had the perk activated whilst abroad in the US, am I able to receive calls from +44 numbers (UK) without charge?

Reason I ask, I added the perk on when I arrived and it wasn’t working. So I received callback from EE CS who tried to rectify it - but after 5 different call backs; non of the agents could resolve it.

To make things worst, they even de-activated my Spending Cap. 

But really wanted to check if inbound calls are inclusive under this perk.

Thanks

[bristolian · Accepted solution]

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@chinny89 wrote:

A query about the Roam Abroad Pass.

I wanted to check if I had the perk activated whilst abroad in the US, am I able to receive calls from +44 numbers (UK) without charge?

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Incoming calls, regardless of source, are included in the Roam Abroad pass. Follow https://ee.co.uk/help/mobile/roaming/roaming-costs > USA > "Yes" to Roam Abroad...

The pass needed to have been active at the time of the received call. If not, call charges will correctly have applied.

[XRaySpeX]

@chinny89 : Yes, receiving calls from anywhere are free with the Roam Abroad Pass.

But did you activate roaming on your EE a/c before you left UK by texting ROAMING to 150? Having a roaming billing add-on doesn't of itself activate roaming on your a/c. 

[bristolian]

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@XRaySpeX wrote:

But did you activate roaming on your EE a/c before you left UK by texting ROAMING to 150? Having a roaming billing add-on doesn't of itself activate roaming on your a/c. 

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I'm interpreting this query as purely a billing one - OP mentions "So I received callback from EE CS" which suggests (in the absence of specific confirmation) local network access was enabled.

Perhaps the OP could clarify whether these incoming calls were received on their EE mobile, or if this question is an indirect way of asking "why can't I receive calls abroad?"?

[chinny89]

Hi everyone,

Thanks for your reply.

I did not activate the pass before I left the UK. I activated it when I landed. At this point, my spend cap was set to £0. However I did check what I needed to enable etc. I actually got the text confirmations through saying my pass and roaming was active (but no data roaming was working). I played around with the settings and moved my spend cap up slightly; still nothing.

At this point I hadn’t requested any call backs from CS.

So even though my pass was confirmed working and everything, I cant receive calls under the pass despite it being ‘activated’ after leaving the uk?

Thanks 

[chinny89]

Specific confirmation as in the SMS we receive when a perk is activated? 
I did receive that message before the CS rep made the call back. I took this message as any calls were inclusive now.

The phone was showing connected to local network and 4G too. So cellular was fine but data roaming wasn’t working.

Answer to your 2nd question; yes, the CS called me on my EE mobile number - one of them even confirmed my Abroad Pass was active on the account, but none could trouble shoot the problem.

i eventually said remove the £25 cos I couldn’t use the roaming. But didn’t think i was being charged for their call backs also

[bristolian]

There's an issue of terminology here, and I don't think you'll be the last to fall for it!

I think all you did was request the billing add-on, but didn't also enable the free roaming facility. A billing add-on reduces the cost of using a particular service - in this case using your phone abroad. You still need to enable the free roaming facility which unlocks access to foreign networks and thus the ability to use your phone abroad.

This is what's done - for pay monthly at least - by texting ROAMING to 150 before leaving the UK. Failure to do so will result in your phone not getting coverage abroad. You mention "cellular was fine" & "roaming was active" - were you able to send & receive texts, for example?

[chinny89]

I’m on iPhone and I did switch the data roaming function on under ‘Mobile Services’ & ‘Mobile Data Services’.

They walked me through all the usual steps which I had already enabled. They escalated but still didn’t manage to fix but to say wait 24 hrs… not helpful.

In terms of SMS, I rarely receive them from friends… but was able to receive ones from EE (150).

It was at this point where their call backs were being charged. I did get in touch with their CS via chat to dispute these charges… and they said that as the perk was enabled, receiving calls should be free, their response was to wait until the next billing… 

 

[bristolian]

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@chinny89 wrote:

I’m on iPhone and I did switch the data roaming function on under ‘Mobile Services’ & ‘Mobile Data Services’.

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That's a device-level function enabling the use of mobile data whilst connected to a mobile network, and secondarily whilst roaming onto a foreign network.

If roaming is not enabled on your SIM at account-level, your phone cannot connect to foreign networks - rendering those device-level settings immaterial.

[chinny89]

Hi,

I activated the Abroad Pass when i landed in the US. A few hours later I got the following messages saying:

Am I wrong to interpret that as minutes, sms and data should be inclusive now?

However, data wasn’t working so I wanted EE CS to check. They called from +44 so should now be inclusive under the Abroad Pass as it’s a UK number.