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Charged for roaming we didn't use

Anonymous
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My husband and myself have been on an extended holiday. We were overseas for seven weeks on a cruise.

 

We both took our iPhones (mine iPhone 5c, husband's 5s), but made sure data roaming was switched off before we left. Apart from one text that I sent in Singapore, neither of us sent any texts, didn't receive or make any phone calls and didn't turn on data roaming in order to use the internet. We kept in touch with people by email and Twitter, but used the ship's wifi network for this.

 

We are therefore suprised that we have both received bills for overseas roaming from O2. There are 40p charges for texts while we were on the ship and one for a day when we were in Fiji. There are also £4.99 O2 travel charges on some of the days we were in New Zealand and USA, although I also had a £4.99 charge on one day I was in Australia.

 

We have both been affected by this, and the pattern of charges is different. My charges amounted to £14.40 and my husband's charges were £37.33

 

Obviously, we both contacted O2, fully explaining the situation, and asking for a refund and also asked how this could have happened.

 

We've both had confirmation that the fees have been refunded, but the complaints have not been upheld as the charges are 'correct and valid'. They completely ignored our request for an explanation of how this could have happened.

 

We're obviously pleased that the fees have been refunded,  but it's like a complete brick wall trying to get an explanation from O2.  Their position is that the fees are correct because the SIM says so, and no matter how many times we seek more information as to how we could have been charged for something we didnt use, we are completely blanked. We even asked for both of our complaints to be escalated to a senior member of staff for review. However, this request has been refused.  The complaint handlers say they are the highest port of call within O2, and there's no one to escalate the complaint to, as managers are not customer facing and just manage colleagues.

 

One part of me wants to give this up as they are going to credit our accounts with the disputed charges. This will also be better for my blood pressure.

 

But on the other hand, its become a matter of principle to get a full explanation of how this situation could have happened.  The current stance from the O2 Complaint Review Service agents is 'if you arent happy, go to the Ombudsman'.  Trouble is, there's no real evidence that we didn't use the services we have been billed for, its just our word against O2.

 

So my questions to the community are as follows

 

Has anybody any idea how we could have been charged for O2 Travel (bearing in mind data roaming was always turned off) and texts we didnt send?

 

Is there anything I can do to get O2 to look at this and do a meaningful investigation?

 

Any thoughts would be read with interest!

 

 

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MI5
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You don't need to have data enabled to trigger the travel charge. Sending a single text will trigger it too.
You can't send text messages over wifi so any that were sent would have invoked the travel charges on those days.
It's also possible the the ships wifi dropped out occasionally which would also mean you were using the gsm networks.
I have no affiliation whatsoever with O2 or any subsidiary companies. Comments posted are entirely of my own opinion. This is not Customer Service so we are unable to help with account specific issues.

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Anonymous
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The ships wifi network will be different & you will be charged for using it 

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jonsie
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Having been on many cruises with all the big cruise lines I can assure you they charge for wifi. Much more competitive than they once were but overpriced nonetheless. As for the ship's roaming charges, diabolical and better to wait until you hit port and free WiFi the next day. 

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Anonymous
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Between us, we sent one text throughout the entire 7 weeks away.

 

This single text was one that I sent in Singapore, and I don't dispute the charge for that.

 

Neither myself or my husband sent any other texts.  We didnt mistakenly think we were ok to sent texts while we were on wifi, because we simply didnt send any other texts for the 7 week period we were away.

 

We only accessed the ships wifi network on sea days. 

 

The ship's cellular network is operated by Telenor Maritime, not part of O2 Travel. Therefore, if the wifi signal dropped, we would have been charged for data at the applicable rate ( although data roaming was turned off).  However, our detailed bill doesn't show data usage at the time we were using the ship's internet.  The charges on sea days were various 40p charges for texts we didnt send - and not at the time we were using the ships wifi network either.

 

Hope this clarifies the situation and look forward to any other thoughts

 

So I do not believe its possible that we accessed the internet by GSM - and ijndeedthe disputed charges are not for data at the time we were on the wifi network.

 

 

 

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Anonymous
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[quote] The ships wifi network will be different & you will be charged for using it [/quote]

 

Yes, the ship's wifi network is very expensive.

 

We bought a 24 hour package at £12.50 once a week to keep in touch.

 

But we cant see that this would have any bearing on O2 roaming charges, especially as they dont tie up to the times we were using the ships internet!

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Anonymous
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Jonsie said 

'Having been on many cruises with all the big cruise lines I can assure you they charge for wifi. Much more competitive than they once were but overpriced nonetheless. As for the ship's roaming charges, diabolical and better to wait until you hit port and free WiFi the next day'. 

 

Theres no way that we'd use data on the ship as the roaming charges are high. Which is why we always keep data roaming turned off.

 

Anyway, the charges we are disputing arent data roaming on sea days - they are for texts on sea days and O2 Travel charges of £4.99 in some of the ports

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MI5
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As none of us were on the cruise with you it is impossible for us to know what, how or why unfortunately.
We can only offer you the benefit of our experience in such matters which may or may not assist you further.
It is however, very unusual for o2 to make a billing mistake so you can be pretty well assured that the charges are accurate.
I have no affiliation whatsoever with O2 or any subsidiary companies. Comments posted are entirely of my own opinion. This is not Customer Service so we are unable to help with account specific issues.

Currently using:
Pixel 7a (O2 & Lyca), One Plus 6 (Sfr), iPhone 12 Pro Max (Vodafone)
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jonsie
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Many people make the mistake of thinking switching off data roaming is sufficient. You need to switch off mobile/cellular data thus end of problem. 

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Anonymous
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Jonsie said

'Many people make the mistake of thinking switching off data roaming is sufficient. You need to switch off mobile/cellular data thus end of problem'

 

I think I will have to do that in future.  Even though it would mean that, if someone did need to telephone me in an emergency situation they wouldn't be able to contact me. Which kind of defeats the purpose of having a mobile phone in the first place!

 

 

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