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?

[Eyefor]

From Money Saving Expert today regarding the manadatory Roam Further service

Quote

If you'll pay more you may be able to leave Vodafone penalty-free

Vodafone says all customers were given 30 days' notice of the change in roaming policy and a further confirmation after it was applied to them – and insists most are likely to save money as a result.

A spokesperson told us: "'Roam-further' constitutes a revision of our pricing and is the only option available for customers roaming outside of our 'Roam-free' destinations.

"We believe 'Roam-further' gives our customers peace of mind when using their device and helps to reduce further customers' worries over bill shock, ensuring they will not get any surprise bills. The average amount spent by our customers whilst roaming is more than £5 a day, therefore making 'Roam-further' very competitive."

However, if you believe you'll end up paying more as a result of the change, you may be able to leave penalty-free. Under rules from regulator Ofcom, mobile providers must give customers one month's notice of contractual changes "likely to be of material detriment", and must then allow them to withdraw from their contract penalty-free. To try this:

• Contact Vodafone and ask to leave. You can do this via their customer service line or using their web chat. Vodafone said: "We looked at the usage pattern for our customers who had roamed in the relevant countries in the past three months and anyone who would be subject to higher charges in the future than they had previously would be entitled to leave us without penalty."
• If Vodafone says no and you're still unhappy, request a 'deadlock' letter. This applies to any complaint against a mobile firm which you haven't been able to resolve. Vodafone will have to set out in this letter why it's handled your case the way it has. 
  
  You can then give this letter to Ombudsman Services, which will rule on who is in the right and has the power to enforce a range of solutions. 

Unquote

More info at

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/phones/2017/09/vodafone-roaming-warning---just-one-text-abroad...

[metahome]

This is really outrageous for the occasional holiday traveler who just wants to send a couple of texts per day.

I guess most of us have an old handset lying around and I have just checked with three.co.uk and you can get a PAYG SIM from them for nothing where international texts will be charged at 35p each.

This is a much more reasonable solution and one that I will be taking on holiday to Canada shortly.

Vodafone - this is really damaging your reputation - why not just let customers opt-out of roam-further if they are low-use customers in roam-further destinations?

[Annie_N]

The lunatic thing is that sending a text from Canada would only cost 7p with Vodafone's own PAYG accounts. You can get a SIM sent from http://freesim.vodafone.co.uk/ - just be sure not to buy a bundle at the same time - or pick one up at a supermarket for 99p.

It's hard to understand what has gone wrong with Vodafone's decision-making over Roam-Further, but it must be doing a lot of damage.

[metahome]

Even better! Thanks for the tip - have just ordered a couple - one for me and one for the wife.

[Annie_N]

@metahome

PAYG accounts will "feel" a bit different from the PayM account you're used to. You'd probably be well-advised to set up an online account for each SIM - you'll need a different email address for each, and different from the one you use for your PayM account. It's quite easy to set up alternative addresses with most ISPs, if you haven't already got one. You can then check that there aren't any bars on the account that might cause you problems, especially bars on use overseas!

Also, if you may want to use mobile data, you may need to change the phone settings from PayM to PAYG - see https://support.vodafone.co.uk/38913427

If you want to use the MyVodafone app, get this set up before you apply any credit to the account. You have to let the app "find" you over mobile data to get things set up, after which you can use wifi. The app's connection to mobile data isn't metered, but switching on mobile data will inevitably result in other apps making a metered connection - which would incur the £2 daily charge for data if you haven't got a bundle which includes a data allowance.

[metahome]

Thanks for the advice.

All I want to be able to do is text the family members I am on holiday with to agree when/where to meet etc.

without paying a fiver a day to do it. So a 2nd phone with a PAYG SIM for sending a handful of texts is all I care about.

Shame Vodafone's poor thinking won't let me just opt out of Roam Further and let me do that on my own phone.

[Annie_N]

@Go1256

As discussed above, are you able to take an old phone with a PAYG SIM, or use an app such as Skype? I've recently added my mobile number to my Skype account, and now the texts which I send or calls which I make from Skype arrive looking as though they came from my phone!

[CGP7]

Gemma - are you sure that advice is correct? - that if you turn off data roaming it doesn't trigger the £5 charge?  I understood that registration on the network in the country would trigger the charge.  I really hope you're right as my daughter is in the US for the next 6 months and that will get very expensive if everytime she turns her phone on there is a charge of £5/day.

[Annie_N]

@CGP7

Were you asking me? :smileywink:

I'm reasonably sure! If you look at http://support.vodafone.co.uk/Using-our-network/Going-and-calling-abroad/Vodafone-Global-Roaming/965... the actions that trigger the charge are defined as

• Call or text any standard UK mobile or landline
• Call or text a number within the country you’re roaming in
• Make a call or send a text to any other country (you’ll be charged your daily fee, along with standard international rates)
• Check your voicemail
• Use any data – for example, browsing the web, streaming, checking emails or using apps

So the important thing is on no account to turn on mobile data, as the first kb of data will almost certainly be enough to trigger the charge!

Receiving a text or picking up an incoming call shouldn't do so, but it's as well to think in advance what to do about voicemail. Firstly, you'll need to have set up a PIN in order to access it, but also you don't want voicemail set to call you and deliver messages, or I think that probably would trigger the charge. 

There are some notes here relating to voicemail - the information on Support has improved a lot since I wrote them, but I was surprised the other day to realise they were still at the top of the PayM section.

I'm a PAYG customer, so the ground rules are a little different, but I tend only to turn on my phone for a limited time each day while roaming, so that I don't absent-mindedly use it as though I was at home.

[Getafix]

I believe it is Call/Text to any Number and not just UK or Roaming Country that will trigger the £5 charge. And Mobile Data as well.

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