Roaming failure for 0800 numbers

[PenyTr]

Hello,

I am currently in Greece and roaming works fine in general. I can receive and make calls and texts within Greece and from and to the UK. However,  I was expecting an important call today from a 0800 number and they emailed me telling me that I was not picking it up. No missed call or voicemail was registered. I am a PAYG customer and have a Big Value bundle, but also an extra £10 credit in case it’s needed.

Has anyone experienced similar issue with 0800 calls?

[BandOfBrothers]

Could it have been a case of the call not connecting due to roaming and a network connection issue @PenyTr at that time i.e a glitch.

There can be issues sometimes when roaming which we've seen from past posts.

Have you been able to receive such calls before while roaming ?

[PenyTr]

Thank you for your reply.

Yes, I received such calls normally back in September when I was roaming again. I was also only using the bundle allowance back then. Today, based on the possible issue of charges due to Brexit, I had an extra £10 credit.

I contacted customer support and they said it should work fine. Anyway, I will let them know before trying to call me again. We’ll see..

[AnnS]

Hi @PenyTr 

0800 numbers are for UK freefone use only

It may be the case that the callers 0800 number freefone services are barred when calling a phone that is not in the UK and it may be worth contacting the caller to make sure that is not the case.  As you are not on the UK network, the 08 number may not be recognised by the roaming network and the call would need to be made from a standard landline or mobile number. 

When you call an 08 number from abroad you would need to use +44800 and this may well be chargeable and not covered with your inclusive allowance.  Banks and other services that use an 08 number should have an alternative 03 number that will be covered in inclusive allowance.

[PenyTr]

Thank you for your reply.

it’s not a call FROM abroad  to the UK, it’s a call from a 0800 number in the UK to a UK number that is on roaming. And as I said in a previous pst, they were able to call me normally last September, but they say they couldn’t now. Also, I’m using extra credit on top of the inclusive  allowance, so if there were any roaming charges introduced after Brexit, they would be covered from this credit. At least, this is what the customer service advisor told me.

[PenyTr]

On second thought, it might be possible that this bar from 0800 numbers (aka the organization) has been introduced after Brexit. I will ask them if this is the case. Alternatively, they might have just be calling a wrong number instead of mine!

[AnnS]

Yes @PenyTr 

I did think of that and was going to put it in my reply.  0800 freefone numbers are really reserved for UK use only.

[PenyTr]

So, has it been announced that after official Brexit (aka January 2021), freephone numbers are reserved only for UK? I haven’t found anything related to this on google and I don’t know how this worked before the EU roaming agreement.

This would actually explain the problem and why I was able to receive freephone calls on September 2020 and not now.

Thanks again.

[donnyguy · Accepted solution]

Hey PenyTr,

I roam regularly in Greece, roam on vf-GR and receive calls from my works 0800 number absolutely fine so this is a strange one. 

There should be no issue with receiving a call. 

I would have them check they dialled the right number for you (as they're saying you didn't pick up) yet your phone didn't ring nor did the call go to voicemail. 

Should just add that there's also been zero changes to roaming since the introduction of Brexit. For now at least, it's BAU. If that was to change in the future, we'll be notified.

Hope you sort it out with them and work a way through this.

[PenyTr]

Hi Donnyguy,

This was extremely helpful, many thanks!