O2 Travel Changes 7/4

[Anonymous]

Hi All,

I have been usng the free O2 Travel bolt on since 2016 as I travel to European countries quite often. I use it primarily to browse for when wifi is unattainable. I browse and I get charged £1.99 for the day. In terms of of making phone calls and text messages. If I text a UK number whilst in a European country I get charged 4p. So the overall current setup is:

"While travelling in Europe just pay a 50p connection charge to make and receive calls between European countries then talk for free for up to 60 mins. You'll pay just £1.99 for the days you use data in Europe & there’s no upper limit, but traffic management steps apply. £40 monthly spending limit for data outside Europe."

An email has been sent out from O2 stating changes to how O2 travel works. It now states that:

"From 7 th April 2016, we’ll be adding calls and texts sent back to the UK and within O2 Travel destinations, to the data you already get with our O2 Travel Bolt On. This will give you data, up to 120 minutes and 120 standard texts, per daily charge within selected destinations in Europe. With O2 Travel you’ll only be charged for the days that you use it."

My udnerstanding is that from 7/4 if I am in a European country and I text a UK number, rather than being charged 4p like I used to be, I will be charged £1.99.  Is this correct? I appreciate they are saying you can send up to 120 messages and still get charged £1.99 but I never send 120 messages. I usually send just a couple. By this logic, the £1.99  charged that was activated only when you used data, will now also be activated by sending a text message. If I send one text per day for 3 days I will end up paying £5.99? 

Can someone please verify tell me if I have misunderstood the change?

Thank you.

PS: I am not asking to be told about the different options to circumvent sending a text.. I just want to know that I have understood the changes correctly.

[Bambino]

You can't tell your O2 Travel rant threads without a scorecard.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I was just talking with one of the O2 advisers asking exactly this question - it seemed to me shocking that a single text could trigger a £1.99 charge and wanted to make sure I had it right. So yes, that's exactly what happens. It's a terrible deal for people who just want to send a few texts and make a single phonecall, which will cost apparently 16.5 p/minute if one opts out of O2 Travel (not included in one's monthly plan) compared with the flat charge of 50p before. This is a very bad deal and I'll personally be writing to complain about it.

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Hi Sova,

Let us know if you find anyone to complain to. So far, the Live Chat guy I spoke to knew nothing about it. The girl I spoke to on the phone confirmed that a single text will now cost £1.99 - I asked her to feedback that this was a ripoff for most customers and she laughed. o2.co.uk/emailus is dead, so there don't seem to be many avenues open.

Martin, if you could stop merging the threads that would help - one thread is more easily ignored than a community full, and it might help others avoid being ripped off (as well as getting a message to O2). I'll email moneysavingexpert too. Hopefully we can stop this before it starts, because it is a clear decision to exploit the ignorance of customers.

Cheers,

Michael

[Martin-O2]

Well this topic is suddenly very popular! 

I've merged the majority of the threads into this one. If anyone spots any others please let me know. I also pinned this thread to the top of the board to try and reduce duplicate threads. 

To update you all on this issue I'm waiting for clarification on how the changes to the Travel Bolt On will be applied. 

I will update this thread once I have news. 

Martin 

[MI5]

@Anonymous the official complaints process is listed here http://www.o2.co.uk/how-to-complain and threads will be merged as it is easy for the forum to manage and for people to find info that has already been posted.

[viridis]

Anyone typing O2 travel into the search bar will easily find this thread.

[Anonymous]

Fair enough, thanks for replying. Hopefully momentum is building!

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@MI5 wrote:

@Anonymous the official complaints process is listed here http://www.o2.co.uk/how-to-complain and threads will be merged as it is easy for the forum to manage and for people to find info that has already been posted.

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[MI5]

Yes, there appears to be plenty of people unhappy about it.

[Cleoriff]

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@MI5 wrote:
Yes, there appears to be plenty of people unhappy about it.

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I must be exempt. I haven't had my email....

[MI5]

Nice try but I doubt that defense will work

[Cleoriff]

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@MI5 wrote:
Nice try but I doubt that defense will work

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As I said on the Bolt on thread it will be interesting to see what happens when I go to Spain on the 22nd March and return on the 8th April