500 Free International Minutes in Roam Further Destinations

[stefanogiossi]

Hello,
I hope someone can help as Vodafone advisors cannot give me a clear answer, they all say different things. I have a red entertainment contract, which includes 77 global roaming plus destinationants, and 500 minutes of international calls from UK to the EU.

1. If I am in one of this Global Plus destinational, let's say the US, can I call France for free by using those 500 minutes?

2. If I am in a Global Further destination,  let's say Russia, can I use those 500 minutes to call EU destinations? I know in this case there would be a £ 6 daily charge, but I would like to know if I would be able to call without any other additional charge.

The website says 

"If you are in a Global Roaming Plus destination you will be able to make calls using your international minutes, but if you are in a Roam-free destination you may not need to.

Calls to Roam-free destinations will come out of your standard minutes allowance, and calls to Vodafone Global Plus destinations will come out of your International minutes.

If you are in a Roam-further destination you will be able to make calls to the UK, or to the same destination as the one you are visiting at no extra charge – but will be charged international rates for calls to another destination".

However, if I look for information on the general roaming page, and look for costs for phone calls from Russia to Italy, the website gives me the following answer:

"As you have Vodafone Global Roaming, you’ll be charged £6 per day and then £1.50 per minute to call Italy (inc. Vatican City) from Russia. If you have one of our International Saver extras you can use this to call Italy (inc. Vatican City). After you have paid the £6 Roam-further daily charge, any calls to Italy (inc. Vatican City) or other eligible destinations will be taken from your International Saver extra, just as if you were calling from the UK".

Is my 500 minute allowance also considered an international extra saver?

I would be thankful if someone could clarify all this.

Stefano

[stefanogiossi]

Hi Josh,

Is the situation the same? I've not changed my contract but Vodafone operators advise wrongly as usual.

[Josh]

@stefanogiossi As far as I'm aware, we haven't made any chnages to this at all. The same still applies with the international minutes usage, have you been advised differently lately? 

[stefanogiossi]

Hi Josh,

@josh

My contract ended in February. However, I didn't upgrade it so the only thing that has changed in my contract is the entertainment option, which was supposed to last only 12 months.

Just to double-check about 500 minutes, I contacted the customer support. The first answer just confirmed what we knew, i.e. nothing has changed, same contract, same rules. However, another customer support agent decided to message me and say that his colleague was wrong, and the minutes would not apply from abroad. I started a back and forth with Vodafone. One agent would tell me yes, another one no. As I've used such option several times even this year, I was confident I was right.
I called the complaint line of Vodafone. They kept me on the phone 90 minutes (!). They were quite lost as well but by going back and checking some old notes, they confirmed that yes, 500 minutes apply.

No charge would be applicable from roaming free and roaming plus destinations, while from roaming further destination I'd have to pay the daily rate of £ 6 but them the minutes would be taken from the bundle.

I didn't have a nice experience with the customer support. 

The confusing thing is that there are new roaming pages related to new contracts and now those options with minutes for the EU are not mentioned. However, if you pick a roaming further destination, Russia, and, let'say, you choose France as a country to call, the system gives you the standard fees as if you called from the UK (19 p/minute) but then would suggest you to buy the international saver. The minutes from such a bundle can be used in roaming. 
The international saver replaces the option I have (for new contracts). Thankfully, the billing system is automatic, otherwise there would be a lot of mistakes.

[stefanogiossi]

Hi Josh,

Thank you for your reply.

My contract ended in February. I made no upgrade or change to the contract. The contract has remained the same apart from the entertainment option, which expired after 12 months. I decided to double-check with the customer support in regard to the 500 minutes. I was confident I'd still able to use them abroad. I mean, same contract, same rules. 

The first advisor confirmed what we knew, i.e. that nothing has changed about 500 minutes. However, one of his colleagues decided to message me later and say that the previous reply was wrong, and I'd be charged for calls while on roaming. I woud not be able to use the 500 minutes.

Therefore, I started a back and forth with the customer support. Some advisors told me I had to pay while some others told me I'd not need to pay. 

In the end, I called the Vodafone complaints service line. They kept me on the phone for 100 minutes. They were a bit lost as well but by checking some old notes, they confirmed that when in a roaming further destination I'd not pay for phone calls to the EU, but the minutes would be taken from the bundle.

I wasn't really impressed with the customer support. I guess all this is a bit confusing because there are new contracts and the roaming page has been changed. However, if you check the rates of phone calls, let's say from Russia to France, the system would give you the standard price as if you were calling from the UK ( 19 p).

The system would also suggest buying the international saver, in order not to pay for such calls. You'd just pay the daily access charge of £ 6. The current international saver is more or less the same as my 500 minutes but applicable to more countries.

[Getafix]

Contract doesn't Expire. It is just the minimum term changes to 30 days.

As long as your Tariff has not changed, then everything remains the same.

Have a look here.

https://www.vodafone.co.uk/help-and-information/costs-and-charges/travelling-abroad

Enter your Roaming Country. This will give you charges to call UK.

If you Click on United Kingdom, it will give you option to nominate the Country you are calling.

And you will see there is a suggestion to have International Saver Extra. The 500 EU minutes are technically International Saver Extra.

[AnnS]

Hi @stefanogiossi 

If your contract ended February, you would have been on a discontinued plan and it's possible Vodafone may have migrated your account to one of the latest plans.  However, you should have received prior 30 day text or email notification before the change.

The latest plans do not include 500 international minutes, Vodafone have Global Roaming and Global Roaming Plus as alternatives.  For calling abroad from UK Vodafone, there are Extras you can add here .

You need to check the plan you are now on and this would certainly be something to check with Customer Services.