Roaming charges

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Wicksey
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Roaming charges

Postby Wicksey » Mon Feb 13, 2023 4:50 pm

I was on a cruise the other week, visiting mainland Spain, Portugal, Madeira and the Canaries, so all within the EU for roaming. I have a very basic PAYG tariff but upgraded for the first time ever to give me loads of GB, free calls and texts for 4 weeks to cover my time away. (We don't have a mobile signal at our house and I just don't use the internet when not at home usually, so it's not something I would normally need.)

This all worked brilliantly whilst I was away until (and I'm still not sure why I did it) I turned on the phone in the early hours as the ship was approaching Madeira, but still 5 hours from docking there. My phone immediately started tringing with Movistar messages and my 13.71€ credit disappeared to 0€ within a minute. I managed to take a screenshot of the incident on the account which doesn't show any call or internet connection but simply says 29 seconds and my credit had gone.

I have been to two local Movistar shops and also had a very long Whatsapp conversation with no fewer than 3 customer service staff but no-one can tell me what it was that took all the money as I needed to speak to the PAYG team. I can only presume that somehow I picked up perhaps Morocco and was charged 25€ pm for roaming? Is this a likely charge? I didn't make any phone calls, there is nothing showing up in my call log, there were no messages to say I was in Morocco 'air space'.

As it's a PAYG SIM there is a special number to phone which costs money and I'm now at the point of giving up and not wasting any more time or money on it. I am just amazed that whatever it was cost me so much. I'm not going to attempt to phone them as all they ever say is that I now have 10€ credit which I am well aware of. Trying to get them to see the charge in question (and on Whatsapp I was able to send them all my screenshots) is nigh on impossible. I was curious, as much as anything, as to what this was and I wanted to be sure I never do it again (whatever it was :think: )

olive
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Re: Roaming charges

Postby olive » Mon Feb 13, 2023 5:38 pm

I think it is something to do with getting service via maritime service- probably InMarsat.

Same thing happened to OH on Bilbao to Portsmouth ferry. It is hideously expensive.

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Enrique
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Re: Roaming charges

Postby Enrique » Mon Feb 13, 2023 5:42 pm

Hi,
From Brittany-Ferries site....................

"Skybridge is a satellite-based marine mobile provider and charges will be considerably higher than your standard tariff."

"To avoid paying high data roaming charges, we recommend that you turn data roaming off on your mobile devices."
All my best learning experiences start with a problem I need to solve.

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Wicksey
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Re: Roaming charges

Postby Wicksey » Mon Feb 13, 2023 9:02 pm

Aha ..... that's news to me. I'm sure that's what it was then. Lesson learnt, although I don't think I'll be in the middle of the ocean again for some time! I wasn't sure about turning roaming off as I thought it would mean it wouldn't work if I was outside of Spain.

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costakid
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Re: Roaming charges

Postby costakid » Mon Feb 13, 2023 10:54 pm

Never turn a mobile on when out at sea. You connect to the ships wifi and network at ridiculous fees. I did it once on the santander crossing and found out the hard way.

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Wicksey
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Re: Roaming charges

Postby Wicksey » Tue Feb 14, 2023 9:53 am

Sounds like we have all learnt our lessons the hard way Costakid! Thankfully as it was only PAYG, it just took my balance. I guess if you have a contract and get a monthly bill, it could really rack up the costs which you would be unaware of.

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Enrique
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Re: Roaming charges

Postby Enrique » Tue Feb 14, 2023 9:57 am

Hi,
Following costakid's Post,,,,,,,,,, update

for travel on Brittany-Ferries...............

https://www.brittany-ferries.co.uk/ships/onboard/wi-fi

We use the the "free wifi" option first then if Mrs E has support work to do opt for the upgrade which includes two devices. Gives me a chance to keep an eys on you Guys on the two day crossing to Spain.............. :D
All my best learning experiences start with a problem I need to solve.

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costakid
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Re: Roaming charges

Postby costakid » Wed Feb 15, 2023 9:06 am

Enrique wrote: Tue Feb 14, 2023 9:57 am Hi,
Following costakid's Post,,,,,,,,,, update

for travel on Brittany-Ferries...............

https://www.brittany-ferries.co.uk/ships/onboard/wi-fi

We use the the "free wifi" option first then if Mrs E has support work to do opt for the upgrade which includes two devices. Gives me a chance to keep an eys on you Guys on the two day crossing to Spain.............. :D
We are travelling down on Brittany towards the end of March. I will be glad to have no phone, email and whatsapp for 20 hours.


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