Latest news with #roaming
Wall Street Journal
4 days ago
- Wall Street Journal
Traveling Abroad? How to Avoid Surprise Phone Charges and Save Money on Roaming
On your next trip abroad, you'll need plane tickets, hotel reservations and…a cellular data strategy. There's the simple route: Turn on roaming and let your home carrier charge a daily fee for talk, text and data overseas. That adds up quickly. Verizon's Travel Pass went from $10 to $12 a day last year. And that's for each phone in your family plan. Or there's the money-saving approach: Download a prepaid eSIM for a week's worth of data that costs a fraction of the price.
The Sun
6 days ago
- The Sun
Warning to Brit tourists over ‘hidden' charge that could cost you £300 before even stepping out of airport
BRITISH holidaymakers are being warned of a 'hidden' roaming charge that could leave you up to £300 out of pocket. Corfu, in the northwestern corner of Greece, lies just 48km from the Albanian coast. 3 3 Because of this, strong mobile signals from across the border can reach parts of the island, especially on the eastern side. This can cause some phones to automatically connect to Albanian networks—even though tourists haven't left Greece. As a result, many holidaymakers have reported receiving a confusing 'Welcome to Albania' text shortly after landing at Corfu Airport, which in some cases has led to unexpected roaming charges and hefty phone bills. One traveller shared a message received from a service called Rate Advice, which read: 'Welcome to Albania! Calls, texts and data in Albania are chargeable and do not come out of your standard allowances or UK data add-ons.' Charges can be as high as £1.50 per MB of data, with a roaming cap of £45 – but many users report blowing past that limit if not careful reports MailOnline. Several tourists have taken to social media to warn others. Steve Moore, from Chesterfield, wrote on Facebook: 'I arrived Sunday, usual welcome text to Corfu charges just the same as UK – 2 days later message 'Welcome to Albania' this is your charges. "Wow what a rip off… was told the network must have changed to a different mast.' Another Facebook user added: 'Only if you go to the east of the island. I did that mistake while on a quad. "Using Google Maps. £128 to drive up road lol.' A third warned: 'We got caught out – £298 bill when we got home.' To avoid these charges, Brits are being urged to manually select a Greek mobile network upon arrival. Turn this off now One traveller advised: 'All you do is let your phone set its paired Greek network automatically when you arrive on the island at the airport. "Once it's selected the correct Greek network, go into your settings and turn OFF 'automatically select network'. "This means your phone will not hunt for or connect to anything else other than your correct Greek network.' Others recommend turning off roaming completely and relying on Wi-Fi in hotels, bars, and restaurants. 'We keep our roaming off at all times and just log into Wi-Fi,' one user said. Some have even reported successfully challenging the charges with their network provider afterwards, though this is not guaranteed. The warning comes as travel experts highlight other mobile settings that could leave travellers out of pocket. Georgia Brivida, from international SIM provider Sim Local, says one commonly overlooked feature is autoplay – which automatically plays videos on apps like TikTok, Instagram and Facebook. She warns this can quietly use large amounts of data, especially when abroad. 'Autoplay is a feature that automatically plays videos as you scroll through apps like Instagram, TikTok, Facebook and YouTube, often without you even tapping play,' she said. To avoid any nasty surprises, travellers are being urged to check their mobile settings before flying – and stay alert to unexpected network switches, especially when close to international borders. 3
Daily Mail
14-07-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
Thousands of EE customers overcharged and due a refund - how to check if YOU'RE affected
EE customers are being urged to check their bills after thousands of customers were overcharged while on holiday. The telecoms giant charged customers travelling to Europe double the usual roaming fees, according to The Sun. Customers without roaming included in their plan, as part of an add-on, usually pay £2.59 when using their phone in the EU, but this doubled to £5.18 per day. Previously, phone operators were required to offer fee-free roaming in Europe but this ended after Brexit. Holiday hell: Thousands of customers were charged double for data roaming last month Lots of networks, including EE, reintroduced the charges for customers, especially because there is no longer a data roaming cap. Previously, there was a £45 cap but this is no longer UK law, leaving some customers with huge bills if they use their phone abroad. EE told The Sun it started giving refunds to affected customers on 8 July, but that the process had taken longer than expected. It said the billing error had affected customers for a 'short period' at the beginning of June. Those who were overcharged are being contacted by text and phone calls, but refunds will be automatic. Customers without roaming included in their plan can switch off data roaming services and set bill limits to avoid any unexpected charges, but it's important to check your policies before going abroad. Some travellers opt to use an embedded Sim - or eSim - which can be cheaper than using international roaming, especially if you're away for a longer period of time. ESims make it easier to change networks, and can quickly connect to a local network to pay local rates, without having to swap for a local Sim card. An Ofcom spokesperson said: 'Any customers that think they were affected by these billing errors, but have not yet been refunded, should contact EE directly. 'Ofcom rules require that bills are accurate and customers are not overcharged. Providers must give customers, on request, and at no extra charge, access to adequate and up-to-date billing information that allows them to monitor their usage and expenditure.' It added it would consider 'appropriate action' for on evidence of errors. Previously, the regulator fined O2 £10.5 million in 2023 and in 2019 fined GiffGaff £1.4 million for overcharging customers.
Phone Arena
11-07-2025
- Business
- Phone Arena
AT&T customer gets $10K roaming bill for one month
Imagine getting a monthly bill from your wireless firm for $10,000. This is what happened to an AT&T customer who received the bill embedded in this story. The size of the bill had nothing to do with buying new devices and included a charge of close to $8,500 for 4.25GB of roaming data. Another $1,000 was rung up for 500 minutes of phone calls. The bill was that high even though the customer said he activated an International Day Pass before he traveled. The AT&T International Day Pass allows a customer to use his existing domestic plan's talk, text, and data allowances when traveling abroad. Receiving the bill has left him feeling panicked and stressed out. "This should not happen," he said. After receiving the bill, the AT&T subscriber called the carrier's customer service line, and a ticket was created, which we imagine will lead to an escalation of the investigation over the incident. AT&T customer is charged $8,500 for roaming despite claiming to have an International Day Pass. | Image credit-Reddit The responses from others were pretty much universal. Most agreed that there is no way that 4GB of data should cost $8,500 in 2025. One Redditor wrote, "4GB of non-plan roaming should be at most $100, not $8500. Basically, the price should be high enough to discourage excessive usage without a proper data plan, but it shouldn't be financially ruinous." The AT&T customer made sure that the International Day Pass was activated before he left the country. In fact, the customer said, "Yes. I called before travel and made sure IDP was active." However, several Redditors noticed that the receipt included in the post made by the AT&T customer did not include a line item for a day pass. However, if you look at the receipt, it does show that the customer upgraded his lines to Business Unlimited Premium 2.0. This plan includes 7 International Day Passes per line per bill period at no cost. If this ever happens to you, or you have another issue with a U.S. wireless firm, one possible solution that was suggested is to file a complaint with the FCC. This can be accomplished by tapping on this link and following the directions to submit your complaint. Those who have filed before with the regulatory agency say that the response is fairly quick. If the customer did everything he said he did, this mistake would seem to be on AT&T . Secure your connection now at a bargain price! We may earn a commission if you make a purchase Check Out The Offer
Phone Arena
11-07-2025
- Business
- Phone Arena
AI is annoying, but human desperation is worse – carrier bots could be the lesser evil
GTDOTFC: that's what I like. That's short for Getting Things Done On The First Call and it rarely happens to me when I have to speak with a carrier rep. It's often the case that I encounter an employee who is not interested in offering a solution – or simply can't come up with one, because they don't have the knowledge. Like the time that I came home from abroad and there was no remaining data for me to use. Yeah, I'm not on an unlimited plan. The monthly gigabytes that come with my plan are almost always enough for my needs – and if, by any chance, I burn through them earlier, I just buy several more to get me through the month. Has happened once or to my story: I called my carrier, asked what the hell was going on, since I was obviously roaming, and I wasn't using my home country data. Nobody could give me an answer or an bad as that is, I wasn't prepared for the story that my colleague Alan reported on the other day: What happened is that many wireless carriers (including Verizon, T-Mobile, and AT&T) use high-pressure sales metrics that force their reps to meet strict quotas for selling accessories, insurance, or extra lines. If reps don't do that, they risk losing their pressure has led to cases where reps allegedly add unwanted services to customer accounts just to hit their numbers. One Verizon rep, desperate to avoid punishment tied to low customer feedback scores, was caught begging a customer for a perfect 5-star rating, fearing pay cuts or worse. This isn't the usual "Hey, please rate the service, thank you very much" type of request. Quite the contrary: Image source – Reddit In a span of five minutes, the user apparently got no less than three messages for a Verizon representative who was begging for a five-star review. Not four, solely five: otherwise, they'd "be in hell". Probably what they mean by "hell" is that they'll risk losing their job. I don't think Verizon (or the other carriers, for that matter) has a literal hell with forks and boiling water. It could be the case that the star-rating system affects a representative's paycheck at the end of the month, though, as another Reddit user suggest: Image source – Reddit A part of me wants to say that I'm not surprised by this rep's behavior, since I've seen it all throughout the years. But I've never been in such a situation, where grown professionals beg me to rate their service with the maximum score, otherwise "hell" is know what? Even if the service was top-notch, the fact that someone is daring enough to ask for a 5/5 review would automatically make me want to give it a lower rating. You don't ask for the highest rating, people – either you earn it, or you don' you remember that Tywin Lannister quote from Game of Thrones? It goes like this:Similarly, a true five-star rep does not need to proclaim their alleged top-quality service, as it should be self-evident through their actions. Image by PhoneArena At this point, it's hard not to wonder whether AI bots could actually be an improvement over some of the human reps you encounter when dealing with telcos. At least, an AI would never beg you for a five-star review or sneak unwanted insurance onto your bill… right?It would simply do its job without complaint, without desperation, and – most importantly – without the emotional baggage that comes with crushing sales quotas. In fact, with the right programming, AI bots could handle most straightforward customer service requests much faster and more accurately than overworked, undertrained human appeal is clear: AI doesn't get tired, doesn't get defensive, and won't pressure you to buy something you don't need (unless it's specifically programmed that way). It can provide consistent, polite responses, remember details from previous chats, and process large amounts of data instantly to offer solutions based on actual customer said, it's important not to fall into the trap of thinking AI bots are a silver bullet for customer service. Anyone who has ever gotten stuck in a chatbot loop knows exactly what I mean. AI bots can misinterpret complex issues, fail to grasp nuance, or deliver dull, hollow responses that don't solve the real problem. There's nothing more frustrating than being stuck in an endless cycle of "Did this answer your question?" when what you really need is a human being with the authority and flexibility to actually fix things by thinking out of the also lacks empathy – something that, when genuine, can make a big difference during frustrating situations like billing errors or service outages. Bots don't understand context the way people do, and sometimes, no matter how advanced the AI is, there's no substitute for talking to someone who can truly listen and react accordingly. The best solution is probably somewhere in between: AI bots handling the routine, repetitive tasks that bog down human reps, while well-trained humans step in for the more complex, sensitive cases. It's about balance, not total replacement. I hope so. Secure your connection now at a bargain price! We may earn a commission if you make a purchase Check Out The Offer
