topic Re: Charges abroad for unanswered spam calls in Pay Monthly

Charges abroad for unanswered spam calls

Katie0123 — Thu, 30 Nov 2023 18:57:39 GMT

Hi,

I have seen that there are recent charges on my account for calls to me while I am in Bolivia, but that are spam calls and that I did not answer. Can you advise?

Both calls were charged at £2.00.

Thank you.

Re: Charges abroad for unanswered spam calls

MI5 — Thu, 30 Nov 2023 19:02:18 GMT

@Katie0123

If your voicemail answered the call, £2 is the minimum charge.

Using Your Phone Abroad → O2 Travel Search Tool | O2

Re: Charges abroad for unanswered spam calls

Enlli — Thu, 30 Nov 2023 19:04:31 GMT

If you didn't answer or rejected the call then there would be a charge for the return leg back to the UK voicemail.

This is standard practice and I often advise people to turn of voicemail before leaving the UK

Re: Charges abroad for unanswered spam calls

MI5 — Thu, 30 Nov 2023 19:27:16 GMT

@Katie0123

Voicemail guide for future reference

Re: Charges abroad for unanswered spam calls

s456hy34be — Sat, 03 Feb 2024 19:40:08 GMT

Same has just happened to me whilst abroad. Spam call came in, not answer, call lasted 5 seconds, charged £2.00 by O2. License to print money.

Re: Charges abroad for unanswered spam calls

Enlli — Sat, 03 Feb 2024 20:03:54 GMT

I've roamed since the late 90s and always turned off my voicemail before going.

Only time that changed was when we got 'roam like home' when in the EU

Re: Charges abroad for unanswered spam calls

pgn — Sat, 03 Feb 2024 20:33:12 GMT

@s456hy34be - a little excerpt from the current t&cs -

- https://www.o2.co.uk/termsandconditions/mobile/our-latest-pay-monthly-mobile-agreement

The fine print usually is where the money gets made...

Re: Charges abroad for unanswered spam calls

HughL — Sun, 28 Apr 2024 11:06:19 GMT

Helpful info. Would it also work to set all calls to divert to voicemail before leaving the UK as then there wouldn't be a return leg from overseas? Thanks.

Re: Charges abroad for unanswered spam calls

MI5 — Sun, 28 Apr 2024 11:24:39 GMT

@HughL

No.

Once your phone registers on a foreign network, that's where the system will see it until back home.

Re: Charges abroad for unanswered spam calls

HughL — Tue, 30 Apr 2024 12:33:08 GMT

Thank you. Disappointing but hey ho.

Re: Charges abroad for unanswered spam calls

slynch5888 — Wed, 23 Oct 2024 14:01:06 GMT

Yes its a normal O2 tactic to charge you for just the fact you're leaving your sim card roaming outside EU even though you don't intend to pickup the calls you don't recognise. Same happened to me in Kazakhstan when 4 calls were charged because I had my voicemail enabled before leaving UK. Problem O2 don't seem to understand is I'm supposed to be allowed to receive sms messages for free yet its my fault spam calls came in & my voicemail was enabled before leaving UK. I wouldn't mind if the voicemail was recorded on a server in Kazakhstan but it isn't its recorded in UK. Fact is O2 don't seem to think I should be allowed the choice when to dial into my Voicemail or not and when to ignore a call from an unknown number. I'd understand if I called my voicemail box whilst outside the EU abroad to listen but I didn't. Its just O2 robbing.... you can finish the sentence. best set your Spend Cap to £0.00 then you can still receive sms messages like for 2FA when logging into other online accounts etc.

Re: Charges abroad for unanswered spam calls

Enlli — Wed, 23 Oct 2024 14:48:01 GMT

Nothing to do with O2 all networks work the same re voicemail and it's been like that since the start. I had it in Rome when there was only 2G In the late 1990's

So you can move networks but you won't escape the problem. It's a simple thing to turn Voicemail off before you depart

Re: Charges abroad for unanswered spam calls

pgn — Wed, 23 Oct 2024 21:01:43 GMT

Voicemail is overrated anyway - leave it off and disable all diverts: if you are on your mobile, the caller will get a busy signal, their phone will auto-call back after 30secs or so. If your mobile is out of range of a signal, caller will be told the mobile they are calling is unreachable. Simples. Less panic and stress all-around.