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abused by international data roaming with an iphone

Anonymous
Not applicable
News about to go around the web:
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Please please please may you write an article on how o2 people are being abused by international data roaming with an iphone. I have an o2 iphone and work in France, the unlimited data policy does not cover anything outside of the UK, and ALL data packages offered by o2 are not available for iphone users. Which means I can use my iphone abroad - BUT with a charge of 7.05gbp per Mb. Which means an average of 140gbp a month, which really means I would be stupid to use my iphone overseas, which means for any travel it is as useful as a nokia 2110.

Many thanks,
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Anonymous
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I have been an iPhone user for a couple of months since migrating from Vodafone using a Palm Treo 650 for my last 2 years with them and various Nokias since 1995.
I visited Italy for 4 or 5 days in January. I was warned about rumours of excessive data charges with an iPhone so upgraded the software so I could switch data roaming on and off to collect work email abroad. On two of three days I did not access the web - just collected mail and send a couple of small text replies the switched off roaming again. On 15 January I received 11 emails totaling 509.1kb of which I did not download at least 350kb ("This message has not been downloaded from the server") which was junk and deleted unread. However, I was billed over 2.083Mb at £12.20 on my return.
Does anyone know if the iPhone has to re-download all mail from scratch every connection or whether other apps like Clock, Maps, Safari and Weather are downloading in the background or whether just having the phone on is causing continuous data download charges? Is o2's system billing header details regardless of whether the email cannot be read? My Treo bills on Vodafone were a small fraction of the cost of an iPhone on 02 and the charges clearly related to the activity. I complained a got a credit from o2 but I need to fix this or go back to Vodafone and a Treo.
Since o2 Accounts say they can't supply a breakdown of the data charges abroad it's impossible to check why the charges are so high. How can I get a print out of web sites visited and the amount of data downloaded on an iPhone so I can check my bill?
My other problem was that on my final day in Roma I needed directions. So I switched on Safari whilst sitting in traffic to find Google maps. 3 attempts later I found I could load the google search page but Safari would would not execute the search. Net result another £19.69 for 14:12:57 mins connection or 3.361Mb on my bill. Seems odd it's timed in minutes. Does the iPhone only browse the web in US and UK?
Is it possible switch off EDGE so that I can only access wi-fi hotspots when traveling abroad?
Are there any minimum data charges rounding the bills up and causing the big charges or does an iPhone generate data charges every time it polls the nertwork?
Can I use my Omnitel Italy SIM card in my iPhone to make calls or collect email or use the web?
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Anonymous
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Great questions Alex,

I can only answer - Is it possible switch off EDGE so that I can only access wi-fi hotspots when traveling abroad?
Yes, switch off data roaming and switch on Wifi General-->Network.
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Anonymous
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Thanks for that Glynne.

I'll add that to my iPhone for business user blog which I started yesterday.

http://web.mac.com/alexchambers1/iWeb/i ... 0blog.html
Message 23 of 51
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Anonymous
Not applicable
at £7 per meg you might as well just rent a room close to a free wifi spot abroad and get yourself a new laptop and still work out cheaper than some of the bills being talked about. tongue
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Anonymous
Not applicable
My advice to anyone planning to take their iPhone abroad is to switch off data altogether and take a different make of phone or PDA to collect email or better still buy a local phone chip and use that. DO NOT USE SAFARI !!

If you do use an iPhone to collect and send email do not delete any of your mail from the mailbox on you internet account so you can work out data received. That means you can query the bill when you get home if you have not used the web. Also make sure that you set Auto-Check to Manual and disable data roaming between logins to be sure, show the minimum number of messages (25) and see if you can find a way of restricting the size of email downloaded to 25k per message.

In my case I collected email about half a dozen times over a few days and seem to have been charged the notional header size of the emails repeatedly. If not the iPhone data implementation/costing is completely wrong. My first international bill for a few email sessions appeared to be inflated by 500% to 1000% the actual data usage.

When I queried my invoice with 02 initially they rejected my query saying that 'a bill is a bill' and all they were doing was charging on what they had been given by the foreign network. However, when my query hit the Guardian newspaper (see my blog at http://web.mac.com/alexchambers1/iWeb/i ... 0blog.html ) the PR dept of 02 gave me a 100% credit for the international data usage. Since I have not heard from 02 billing I assume that 02 are unable to provide a printout of data usage abroad so you can check your bill. It would appear 02 cannot substantiate their international charges and the iPhone makes this apparent.

There's a rumour going about that a few people who have left data roaming enabled have received £1000+ bills whilst on holiday for a week so beware the iPhone abroad.
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Anonymous
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Just spent a wasted half hour or so on the phone to customer service who place the entire blame for my inflated email costs abroad on me. Yes. It's all my fault. I should have called o2 to say that I'm going away. I should have read the entire o2 website in detail before going. I should know how many megabytes an average email contains. I should know how to see in my mobile settings how much i've used etc etc

Daylight robbery.
Locked into an 18 month contract.

I checked my emails, text only, maybe half a dozen times, and the charges are like £90 just for that bit. Add on all the other stuff.
My friend got a £900 bill from o2 for the iphone for her month in France and they refunded it.
But me, I was careful. I turned off roaming. Sometimes it switched itself back on. I didn't even know that looking at your emails thru wifi means that you don't get charged.
So I didn't get it refunded.
I've emailed complaintreviewservice.
Are they any better?

A Mac devotee for 15 years, I'm disgusted. Not only that I paid through the nose for the phone and the contract but that they are ripping me off as well.

marmite lover
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Anonymous
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Just spent a wasted half hour or so on the phone to customer service who place the entire blame for my inflated email costs abroad on me. Yes. It's all my fault. I should have called o2 to say that I'm going away. I should have read the entire o2 website in detail before going. I should know how many megabytes an average email contains. I should know how to see in my mobile settings how much i've used etc etc
Daylight robbery.
Locked into an 18 month contract.
I checked my emails, text only, maybe half a dozen times, and the charges are like £90 just for that bit. Add on all the other stuff.
My friend got a £900 bill from o2 for the iphone for her month in France and they refunded it.
But me, I was careful. I turned off roaming. Sometimes it switched itself back on. I didn't even know that looking at your emails thru wifi means that you don't get charged.
So I didn't get it refunded.
I've emailed complaintreviewservice.
Are they any better?
A Mac devotee for 15 years, I'm disgusted. Not only that I paid through the nose for the phone and the contract but that they are ripping me off as well.
marmite lover


I understand that you are disgusted with the service but why shouldn't you have to pay for what you used? I think it's slightly unfair that some customers are having to pay the full amount for services used whilst others expect it too be refunded. Agreed the prices for using data abroad are expensive but ignorance is not an excuse. O2 have been very good and showing lots of goodwill previously, your friend being one of the many who had the charges wiped off but O2 have been making a big deal trying to alert many people of data roaming charges throughout the year. Emails/letters/texts have been sent out, information on the website/Internet/forums, data roaming bolt ons available, info in the iPhone 3G boxes, customer services free of charge to call and you can call customer services free of charge from abroad if you want to check prices. O2 now need to draw the line somewhere.

It's common sense, if an email is classed as data here in the UK why would it be any different outside of the UK. Any email is sending/recieving data and doing this over an international network can be expensive.
It's like walking into a restaurant, ordering an expensive bottle of wine then demanding it for free because you didn't look at the menu to check the price and you only drank one glass.The restaurant would still expect you to pay full price for that bottle of wine.

Sorry to sound so harsh. I'm not sure how you will get on with this but good luck.
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Anonymous
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And what section of o2 customer services do you work for?
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Anonymous
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iPhone tech/complaints. I always always stress to people the charges and to add on a data roaming bolt on or not to use data whatsoever. Nothing worse than coming home to a high bill.
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darrengf
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Unfourtunatly, O2 are correct in charging you for the Data use.

Im also not sure why o2 should refund you the monies.

All the info is on the o2 web site and as chippie says a call to o2 customer care (even in France) would have been free of charge.

When i went to USA my bill was £150+. However as i used the services so i paid for them.

Sorry
Need Help, Just ask. We are one big Family here in the o2 Forum.
Use iPhone XS Max dual sim, SE, Honor 10, IPad Pro 11, Apple Watch 4 LTE, 100+ Mpbs Barrier and a Record Player.

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