I am in South America, where I have been since last July.
At Christmas I sent a text message from my phone to my brother in Sydney. He received my text and replied by text to my UK number, but it was not received by me.
Subsequent tests have been made to four different contacts in Sydney and the situation is the same: they receive my text but I do not receive their replies. I send them a text, and they follow up by email to find out if I received their replies, which I never do.
At the same time, tests (and regular contact messages) back and forth to the UK work perfectly.
I have tried the chat line, over three days I have spoken to eight different advisors and the result is always the same.
Apart from one advisor who told me that this sort of problem does not exist, they tell me that there is an international bar´on my phone, which prevents calls to anywhere but home to the UK.
Why this should be is beyond me considering that I am out of the UK for 80% of every year and have done so for more than a decade, relying on my UK O2 phone to allow clients to reach me wherever I might be, and for me to be able to respond instantly by text.
The fact that my texts reach Australia, and I called my brother in Sydney twice during one of the chats as a test, did not seem to disprove this bar business in their eyes. Four times I have been told that the ´bars have been lifted and the problem will be resolved within between 2 and 24 hours`.
Needless to say it has not.
Can anyone suggest anything?