Credit disappearing from Pay and Go balance while roaming in the EU ?

[Anonymous]

Having tried unsuccessfully to get to the bottom of this with O2 chat online, I thought I'd try the forum, so here goes:

I am on O2 Pay and Go with a Samsung Galaxy Note. I have just returned from a holiday in the EU. I travelled to France, Spain and Portugal on a cruise ship. During days when the ship was in port, and when my phone connected to a local network, I purchased 25Mb of data per day, for which I was charged £1.99 by O2. On these days, I was notified by O2 when I was near the end of my daily allowance. I never purchased a second 25Mb for the same day. During days when the ship was at sea - out of contact with land based cell phone networks - my phone connected with the service provided by the cruise ship. This was, I believe, Wireless Maritime Services - http://www.cellularatsea.com/.
On at least two occasions, with no warning whatsoever, large amounts of credit disappeared from my Pay and and Go balance. I estimate that the amount lost was at least £20. This only happened when the phone was connected to the WMS network - not when it was connected to one of the continental networks. A further observation, which may or may not be connected to this is as follows: I received several unsolicited texts from a company marketing Payment Protection claims. Unfortunately I deleted their texts, so have no record of the number. I also received a voice call from an unrecognised number - 00447585971671 - the caller hung up as soon as I answered. I spoke to staff on the cruise ship about the disappearance of credit on my phone. They said that the cell phone service provided by the cruise line (Celebrity Cruises) could not have charged my phone, as there is no mechanism for charging - it is simply a service provided for the benefit of passengers

Now let me make this quite clear. I disabled all auto updates, my phone has a data usage counter, and I know exactly which apps have been using data. The system for buying 25Mb of data works very well, and I know when I am getting near the daily allowance. I never agreed to purchase a second 25Mb for a day. What happens when credit disappears is something entirely different. On one occasion, I had nearly £10 of credit, which all disappeared overnight. My account topped up automatically with another £10, and that all disappeared too. During this time, I received no data, and my phone was not doing anything I did not know about.

It seems to me that either one of O2's roaming partners are making unspecified charges without notifying me, or possibly there is a virus on the phone which is stealing credit from my Pay and Go account. I do, of course have a security app on the phone (TrustGo) and when a scan is run, it tells me there are no threats.

Does anybody have any ideas as to why this might have happened? Thanks in advance.

[macblank]

with regard to the unknown number I suggest u Google it or search on WHOCALLSME.

with regard to the rest I suggest a call to cs.

if it's a cellular network, it COULD be that although the cruise ship doesn't charge it could be that IF it's a non WiFi service that o2 have charged for connecting to a cellular network?

best to check your bill via MYO2 to see what charges have been applied.

[Anonymous]

Your first suggestion - yes I tried that and the number is in fact a nuisance caller connected to PPI claims.

So far my approaches to O2 via chat online have been miserably unsuccessful, despite being escalated twice to higher levels and threatening to initiate a formal complaint. I was offered a credit of £4 - I said thanks, but I need to get to the bottom of the issue because I can't risk it happening again. I am currently waiting a call back from O2 - in fact I've been waiting most of the afternoon.

I can only see my top up history in MyO2, not what charges have been applied and when. Is this because I am on Pay and Go?

[adamtemp64]

http://www.wmsatsea.com/guest-services.html says you will be charged by your home carrier

[Anonymous]

Hmm, yes that appears to be so. I have not been able to speak to anyone from O2 who have any clue about whether the charges when connected to WMS are different from those applied in the EU, even though one might be geographically in the EU. If they are different, they must be vast multiples of the standard EU roaming charge of £1.99 per 25Mb.

[adamtemp64 · Accepted solution]

You would have been charged for the incomming junk call.

I would guess that the wms service would be charged at the higest world zone.

Rest of the world.

Standard rates when outside of Europe

O2 Pay & Go customers will be charged at the following rates when using their phone outside of Europe

Calling mobilesCost per minute Calling landlinesCost per minute Sending textsCost per message Receiving callsCost per minute Dataper MB

£1.49	99p	49p	99p	£6.00

On the old o2 international page there was an option for satelite based which was higher and that service on cruise ships is satelite based.

[Anonymous]

Good find by Adamtemp64.

How many voicemail messages did you recieve as even though you did not take the call you be charged as a call for the voicemail. Is this a possible reason for the charges you did not expect?

[Anonymous]

http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/bills/article-2226168/O2-roaming-charges-mobile-network-doubles-t...

£6 per Mb????????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Despite receiving virtually no data over the periods when the credit disappeared, that rate could explain why it happened, and I guess that's the most likely explanation. It's not even as if the ship's system worked very well: it was ridiculously slow. I think I have a legitimate grievance against O2 for failing to warn me that data when connected to WMS would be at world international rates, if that's the case.

There was no Voicemail message as the caller - possibly a computer - just hung up.

[adamtemp64]

this is an old thread about the subject shame i did not post the costs as the link there is no longer active http://community.o2.co.uk/t5/Apple-iOS-Devices-iPhone-iPad/Roaming-on-a-cruise-ship/m-p/46354#M23638

99p was the cost just to answer the spam call then only 3.16mb of data would use up the rest of the £20

[Anonymous]

Thanks adamtemp64. I seem to have been well and truly suckered, but I do think O2 have a responsibility to warn customers who attempt to connect to a ship's network. The normal wifi network which is provided on most cruise ships is expensive enough, but at £6 per Mb, the cellular data is in another league.