im on three, just come back from greece, couldnt use my phone whilst there. had a text from them when i got there telling me i could use it and the different rates for making/receiving calls, texts etc. also had texts from mates come through (theyre free), yet couldnt send any replies (which would cost a couple of pence). wife also couldnt ring my phone, said it was unavailable (that would also incur a charge).

i did a live chat with three on my laptop, they said it had a cap set on my account to stop extra spending. i probably put that on to stop massive bills through unknown data charges. they removed it, asked me what i wanted to raise it, i said a tenner. they said it would be live in 10 mins. it never was. contacted them again, they said id hit my tenner limit. grrrrr……couldnt get them to understand it was impossible as i couldnt use my phone and they only raised it the day before.

back in uk now, raised a complaint and had foreign call centre type rubbish where i could hardly understand the accent and she seemed to imply i had to ‘credit’ my account before use. totally confused now.

she said id have to ring again next time im abroad so they can test my sim. im not hopeful itll work.

one question thats confusing me tho. i wondered about ‘roaming’ settings on my phone. whenever i land abroad i switch ‘mobile data’ off, and just use wifi.
im just wondering about calls tho. ive just been looking for some settings but the only roaming setting is ‘data roaming’. this has 3 options, ‘disable’, ‘national roaming only’ and ‘all networks’. its set to national only. could this be my problem? what is ‘data roaming’? to me it means the internet rather than phone calls/texts, but then again thats covered with switching mobile data off.

anyone got any suggestions as to whether the faults my end or theirs?

thanks

You’re right re data roaming. Just internet stuff only. Did your phone actually roam to a foreign network? I.e. Could you see moviestar instead of three (just an example of course) or is roaming (not data roaming naturally) disabled at either your or the network side?

yes, could see the name of a local supplier up top and had a full signal. (which brought my texts in from uk mates)

thanks

or is roaming (not data roaming naturally) disabled at either your or the network side?

well three say theres no reason it wont work so im flummoxed. i cant see any option for normal roaming, it doesnt seem to be in the settings anywhere, just data roaming.
its an HTC M8 if that helps……

My three phone (iphone 6 fwiw not tied to any network) works everywhere inc asia, europe etc including where the data is free due to feel at home or paid. Note sometimes I turn off the automatic network selection as for example if France it picks up Free (useless) and I prefer Bouyegues (exclide spelling 😳 )

On my iOS phone there are different types of roaming, inside EU and out. Try the automatic network thing next time

Do you have the full numbers stored? International codes etc.

Try the automatic network thing next time

just been looking at that. it says its set to choose automatically, and when i press it again it says registered on network and returns to ‘3’.

Do you have the full numbers stored? International codes etc

yes, i checked that. numbers started +44.

just worries me a bit as our next trip is to spain later in the year and ill be hiring a car at airport and then trying to find a villa an hour away from airport where my family will be. plenty of scope for needing to make an urgent call there somewhere along the line! 😀

thanks

The feel at home thing should work in spain, it should just latch on to the local network and you just use your phone as normal.

Find similar problems in Spain with my cellular IPad, even though I buy the add on from EE
I have to go in to a wifi bar 🙂

It will be no extra cost to use data and call in Europe next year. Oh, wait…….. bugger

Had 2 weeks in vegas took my three htc one m8 rang up before hand and paid 3.25 for the processing fee to allow my phone to work in usa. Usee just as i do at home uploading pics to facebook for pals downloading music and streaming stuff and making texts and calls.. no charges whatsoever???

Are you sure greece is in the feel at home deal? As im sure tenerife isnt in the deal stangley enough… im sure it was being added later this month but with other “stuff” going on at the mo i dont think thats going to happen.

I have to go in to a wifi bar

Always good to have a Plan B, perhaps consider that as Plan A !

OP in the old days the phone co used to have to allow international use, perhaps there is a problem with the account setup. I sometimes find I have to switch airplane mode on/off a few times to “wake up” the phone or reconnect to a network. Its also worth saying my phone does not work as well as when at home (I am in France a lot) despite the feel at home etc

Just back from Madrid – my iPhone 6 worked flawlessly, as it does everywhere. My son’s samsung Galaxy Mini 4 (same network – Three, same tariff) wouldn’t dial or text out. I gave up trying to sort the android settings and I’m just going to replace it with another iPhone. Life is too short for this sort of nonsense.

Public WiFi in bars and hotels I find are useless abroad. They’re bad enough in the UK. Can connect but then get timeouts and zero bitrate slow connection. Hotels often find the wifi only works in some locations and often not in hotel rooms. In Italy they also have a law that prevents anyone using public wifi without being identified, so in hotels they take your passport and verify it before giving you access (and then try to keep your passport for the stay!). Bars etc give public access but you have to sign up and often need an Italian landline to register.

I just turn on data roaming and keep an eye on what I’m using as I’m on EE. Three, I’d get on one of their plans that offers the feel at home option, so you just get the same abroad as if in UK. Though they don’t offer it for all countries.

Anyway, ‘national roaming only’ sounds like an American thing. In US they have roaming within the US basically. They pay mobile bills like it’s their landline at home and have a state specific number but if they want to use the phone in another state they have to roam.

But that’s supposedly for data so shouldn’t affect calls.

Do you have some app that routes calls through data? WhatsApp, Skype or stuff like that? When calling it might be trying to do it via data and says no because roaming is turned off effectively.

Other thing is though the call centre monkeys removed the cap, is there a roaming bar on it? Used to be most operators barred the SIM abroad unless you go it lifted before you leave. When I was on Orange if it was barred you can’t get it lifted from abroad even if you call them on another number or contact them on the web. It’s a technical thing as a special message needs to be sent to the SIM and that can only be done in the home country.

Are you sure greece is in the feel at home deal?

no its not mate, thats not the problem tho, im not expecting free calls or owt, id happily pay the extra charges if i need to. its just i couldnt use it to invoke the charges.

Do you have some app that routes calls through data? WhatsApp, Skype or stuff like that? When calling it might be trying to do it via data and says no because roaming is turned off effectively.

nope, never do that.

Other thing is though the call centre monkeys removed the cap, is there a roaming bar on it? Used to be most operators barred the SIM abroad unless you go it lifted before you leave. When I was on Orange if it was barred you can’t get it lifted from abroad even if you call them on another number or contact them on the web. It’s a technical thing as a special message needs to be sent to the SIM and that can only be done in the home country.

yep, they looked at my account and told me theres no roaming bar. the ‘my 3’ app also says im able to use phone abroad. plus, the website says if i can use the phone abroad ill get a text message with call charges listed. if i cant, then i get a text telling me that. i got the text saying i can use it and these are the charges….

puzzler innit 🙂

thanks