Roam further - is it mandatory?

[donnyguy]

Beginning next month, will Roam-further (what is now known as World Traveller) become a mandatory product or will customers be able to still opt out of it and pay standard rates if required?

The reason I ask is my parents travel and it drove me nuts last year when they were in the UAE (which was at the time a World Traveller destination) as they'd incur the £5 per day charge for sending a text and no matter how many conversations I'd have with them around "you may as well use your phone all day as if you were here in the UK as you're charged on the first activity of the day", they didn't. 

So looking at their bills, I'd see a £5 charge for a text or for a 30 second call. 

The Roam-further is brilliant for people like me who will get their monies worth but is there an option for other customers to pay the standard prices rather than the flat daily charge?

[ruswilks]

Hi Gemma,

Thanks for your reply.

Regarding the mixed/misleading information, Since arrival in Japan on Monday I've had (in roughly chronological order): an automated text on arrival to Japan saying Roam Furher would be added to my account soon but roaming charges currently still apply, two seperate confirmations from Live Chat operators it won't be applied as I have an old account and that even if it is applied I can contact them to remove it, an automatic text saying Roam Further is now active, Twitter help confirmation that it's mandatory (and a discussion about the unclear T&Cs around it), another automated text saying it will be applied soon but roaming charges still apply, a follow up text from a Live Chat operator confirming again it is not applied to my account (he promised to follow up 48 hours after our online chat) and now a further confirmation from you that it is mandatory for all customers.

I'm sure you agree that level of conflicting information about 1) whether it's even yet active on my account, and 2) if it is mandatory with no opt out for me as an existing customer, is getting quite ridiculous.

I already make use of free wifi in Japan for most of my communications, hence data roaming always being switched off and not needing to make call. However there are situations and people that mean text messages are the only way for some of my regular communication. As I say normally it's just a couple of texts a day typically, so the oncost hasn't previously been too great.

The fact the final answer does appear to be that it's mandatory, without any possibility for an opt out even for existing customers, means I'll be leaving Vodafone when my contract is up at the end of the year.

[Annie_N]

After careful thought, I have decided to withdraw my suggestion above of using a PAYG SIM to avoid the £5 daily charge for using a phone in Roam-further destinations.

The Global Roaming Ts&Cs state "Note: from 11 June 2017, all existing customers will benefit from Roam-further automatically." The advance notifications I received about the 11 June changes didn't suggest that this would apply to me (I'm a PAYG customer), but if this is the case, then avoiding the benefit of the £5 charge, although still possible, would be somewhat more complicated than I had indicated, and realistically not likely to be worth the trouble of having a separate phone.

[jeffkinn]

Cheaper to get a local phone for the odd text message. There are lots of wifi options for dialling home including BT Smart Talk and WhatsApp.

[Carly]

Hi @ruswilks,

I understand your frustration with this as you're receiving conflicting text messages.

Roam further is now mandatory and is something that's applied to all Global Roaming plans. 

We'll pass on your feedback in regards to this.

Thanks

[Annie_N]

@Carly 

@ruswilks informs us that his contract will be up at the end of the year. This would imply that Vodafone Global Roaming was not part of the deal that he signed up for; indeed I believe it would have been World Traveller which would have applied to roaming in Japan, and would have been an optional service.

Compelling him, during the course of his contract, to switch to Vodafone Global Roaming, which carries with it mandatory Roam-further when in the relevant 60 countries, strikes me as a remarkably shabby trick.

[ruswilks]

Thanks @Annie_N, this is the point I have been trying to make. My existing contract has run since November 2015, didn't include World Traveller/Global Roaming/Roam Further as part of the bundle and I never applied it as an option, but now I am being told it is now mandatory for all customers regardless of new/existing contract and even though it's clearly going to have a knock on effect to the size of my bill (as I've described above previously).

Honestly, I think it's reasonable to be requested to be released from my contract early due to this, and once back in the UK will be contacting Vodafone again to request it (had I known at the time I got the first notification about Roam Further that there was no opt out, I would have been straight on to Vodafone at the time, but as I've already pointed out to the Twitter help team, it wasn't clear that an opt out wouldn't be available - even the April 2017 T&C's at the time I got the notification say Roam Further only applies to new customers and doesn't state it's mandatory for existing contracts).

[Jenny]

@ruswilks and @Annie_N – The introduction of Vodafone Roam-further to all existing customers, was a business decision.

This isn’t something which can be opted out of, however we do appreciate your feedback and we’ve passed on your comments and concerns.

[Jenny]

@ruswilks - Further to my previous post, I’ve sent you a private message with instructions on how to get in touch, so we can check everything on your account.

[RobertR]

Come on Vodafone, if you thought about your customers in the first place you wouldn't have to rely on listening to our feedback to assess the popularity of this policy.  I've just checked the price of sending a text from a non roam-further country.  It's 7p.  Yes, seven pence.  That means that to make the £5 charge worthwhile, I would have to send 72 texts.  I don't want to send 72 texts, I want to send only one or two.
And as for your advice "if you don't wsnt to incur the charge, don't use your phone" (or words to that effect).  This is just patronising, and really displays the contempt that you hold for your customers.

[Eyefor]

Dear Vodafone CS.

I know of 7 existing Vodafone customers (including myself) who will leave Vodafone when their existing contracts expire because of this mandatory imposition of the new World Traveller / Roam Further charges.

Your customers are yelling and you're not listening?