topic Re: Unreasonable international calls charge - potential for charges to be waived? in Pay Monthly

Unreasonable international calls charge - potential for charges to be waived?

Robbiefresh — Wed, 17 Sep 2025 21:44:19 GMT

My normal bill for phone usage is approximately £12.50 per month.

This month I’ve had to arrange a trip to Australia to visit a sick relative. As a dual national, I have to travel on an Australian passport so I was going back and forth with the Australian embassy on the best action to take, as I don’t currently have one.

One of the numbers I was asked to call was, unbeknownst to me, an Australian phone line which then rerouted back to London. The reason the charges have come as a shock was because I was on the UK page and the phone line was only open 9-5GMT, leading me to believe it was a UK number.

The total length of the call was 27 minutes and I’ve been charged £106. For this call I was on hold for about 25 minutes and only actually talking to someone for about 90 seconds.

The charges are obviously in the terms and conditions but they’re so unreasonable given FaceTime / WhatsApp would be free, and had I known it was an international number I wouldn’t have used the network.

I am going to call O2 support tomorrow to try and ask for the charges to be waived as a good will gesture, or I’ll be forced to switch my contract to someone else.

Does anyone have a similar experience, hopefully with a positive outcome?

Re: Unreasonable international calls charge - potential for charges to be waived?

MI5 — Wed, 17 Sep 2025 22:24:04 GMT

You may get lucky @Robbiefresh but it depends on how sympathetic thev agent is you speak to.

I'm not sure how you think any other network would charge you differentlly though and I very much doubt that the threat of leaving will influence the outcome.

Re: Unreasonable international calls charge - potential for charges to be waived?

Enlli — Thu, 18 Sep 2025 07:02:32 GMT

Let us know how you get on. As stated you may be lucky but no guarantees.

Threats of leaving go nowhere. For everyone who leaves another joins.

If you need Australia a lot look round for someone who does cheaper calls. Some MNVO'S are a good bet and you may find an international eSIM suppler meets your needs.

Re: Unreasonable international calls charge - potential for charges to be waived?

jonsie — Thu, 18 Sep 2025 09:20:21 GMT

Cheap as chips

The International Bolt On | O2