WARNING!!! O2Travel on Ferries

[Anonymous]

Having gone to the trouble of investigating how I can best use my phone for navigation in Spain and France and advised to use O2TRAVEL at £1.99 per day I duly subscribed confident that this is all I would pay extra. I boarded the ferry and checked emails and used the navigation option once to see how far we were from Gijon our Spanish port only to be receive a text telling me I had used over £60 worth of data (actually £75.34 for just over 12Mb). At no point in our 'echat' was I asked how I was getting to Spain then France as apparently even in European waters this does not mean O2TRAVEL will work, nor does it on planes as you would expect.

Advice: turn off your data roaming before leaving the UK port and dont turn it on again until you reach dry land in Europe.

Disucssions with O2 are ongoing!!

Not sure what the situation is on the Chunnel but didnt take the chance using it on the way back.

[Anonymous]

Hi

We have heard especially with using a phone on boats that it can switch from one network to another and the ferries onboard services can be expensive.

[jonsie]

This is something that we have warned about in the past and there are a few threads about the extortionate costs of connecting to ships own services. This especially relates to unknowing customers using ferries, cruise ships and some airlines. Sorry you were stung.

[Anonymous]

A similar thread http://community.o2.co.uk/t5/Pay-Monthly-and-Pay-Go/O2-Data-Roaming/m-p/421760/highlight/true#M40541

[Cleoriff]

Agree this is absolutely appalling (particularly when  you are under the impression you have O2 Travel and you will pay no more than £1.99 a day)

Wishing you well getting resolution

[MI5]

It's important to always check on the phone which network you are connected to (as you have found out). This is also pertinent when close to the border of an EU country with a non EU country as the signal come come from the latter and run up big charges that way too.

[Anonymous]

I'm just trying to get charges removed myself.

I did phone O2 before I travelled, read the web page.  I think the pertinent phrases are: -

"Whatever you get up to on the continent, you'll pay just £1.99 for each day that you use data with O2 Travel. No catch. No scary bill to keep you awake at night"

"use the web without worrying about over spending"

"You'll only be charged £1.99 for each day that you use data in Europe"

Travelling by ferry between two European countries should hardly be a surprising thing to "get up to".

This issue has been around for a while; they should put a prominent warning on the web site about it.

Edit: Just used chat and have been assured that the charge will be removed.  Nice.  But would have been better to not have had the nasty surprise and had to take the time to sort it out.  I'm sure a lot of people don't notice or just swallow it.  Maybe that's why there isn't a warning...

[MI5]

It's actually nothing to do with O2 pricing and the ferries don't use EU networks, so the charges are justified.
Well done for getting them removed but it's no obligation from O2 to do so.

[jonsie]

If chat say they will remove the charges I'm sure they will....

[perksie]

Sadly being on a ferry is not being in Europe and O2 have no control over these charges.

If they do refund you it will be a goodwill payment as they are not obliged to do this.