Beware Roam-further/world traveller scam

[ptaty]

I sent one text to the UK from the Caribbean. This cost me £6 instead of the standard text cost.

If I sent one text every day for 10 days it would cost £60.

This is a because of the "Roam-further/Worldtraveller" feature of my (all) pay monthly plans.

This feature was not asked for and I can't opt out of it.

This seems to me to be a scam by Vodafone. 

If Roam-further was for the customers benefit it would have been a cap on costs rather than a minimum cost or it would have been made optional.

[Getafix]

When you switched on your phone, did you not get a Text mentioning about the Charges?

Scam, only if you were not told about it.

Unfair, yes but that is what they have decided and made clear what it is.

The reason I believe they did this was many people were previously running up a high charges and then claiming the under EU Limit. So they probably made a decision to have the £6 (used to be £5 before UK government decided to charge VAT) roaming put in place instead of refunding above the EU Limit.

[ptaty]

Yes, but no way to avoid them....other than don't text.

[donnyguy]

Or hook up to wi-fi and send a message through an app such as Whatsapp. 

But so long as you got the welcome text then I'd say that all is good.

The question springs to mind, if you knew that 1 text was going to charge you the flat daily rate then why would you not send lots of texts, make calls and use the data on that day. You've paid for it anyway.

I'd be all about getting value for money. 

When I'm in India, that's exactly what I do. Hammer it on the days where I know I'm going to trigger the charge.

[ptaty]

No wifi available.

Received a text that I needed to reply to.

Why would I send £6 worth of useless texts just to get my moneys worth?

The point is I only send a few texts (when no wifi) and am happy to pay the standard cost. 

Vodafone have taken away that option.

[AnnS]

Hi @ptaty

Quite agree.  The mandatory charge of £6.00 is unfair business practice by Vodafone and customers should be able to opt out and pay the standard roaming charges.

Don't take a pay monthly mobile SIM to a roam further country, leave the SIM in a drawer at home and put a PAYG SIM in the phone, this will enable you to send the occasional text at the standard roaming charge.

If your phone is unlocked a workaround for now would be to try and get a SIM card for the country for use whilst you are away.

[rk18]

same as you ,i have been scammed by vodaphone .i have been charged £25 for calls and voicemail which i didnt use.

Also vodophone doesnt allow to disable sim or reject calls or text merely to trap users while using abroad .

when i spoke to customer service ,the advisors act like a robot ,no logical explaination why the charge is extortionate.such a rip off and a dishonet act of irresponsible service provider.

very very upset with vodaphone ,will never upgrade after this.

Its like a criminal offence to trave roaming further desttination as the firm like vodaphone waiting for the scapregoat like us..

Never trust the company

[Tash]

@rk18 It's a shame to see that you feel this way.

Our costs when travelling abroad can be found through our roaming page. These will also be reflected in the terms and conditions of your contract.
A charge will only be generated if the phone is used while connected to our supported network (this includes calls, texts or data) while travelling abroad. If you'd prefer not to be connected to a network while abroad, we advise our customers to switch their phone to Airplane mode during their trip. This will mean that only the Wi-Fi available is accessed.

You also have the option to add any bars you may wish to add or remove at any time while travelling to prevent calls abroad, for example. This can be managed in your  My Vodafone app and online account.