Calling local numbers at roaming destination (2024)

[StrangeDHighlan]

Hey everyone, 

Could someone from Vodafone confirm what the exact policy on making local calls to local numbers at a roaming destination for subscribers on 51 and 83 inclusive roaming destinations is?

I am on an 83-destination roaming plan and up until January 2024, I'd be able to call local numbers using my UK allowance. This has been the long standing convention not only with Vodafone but all other operators, I believe. For example, if I'm in the USA, I'd be able to call US numbers only (and call back home, of course) using my Unlimited plan. 

This seems to have changed without any notice. All references to included calls have been removed from Vodafone's website. There's a rather bizarre table hidden behind a link and at the bottom of the charges page titled Making International Calls in Roaming and it looks like Vodafone have introduced a 22p connection charge for calls within the EU, for instance. A simple example is this, according to this table, if the subscriber is in Austria, they had a 51 or 83-destination roaming plan, and called an Austrian number, they'll be charged 22p.

This same thing happened to me a month ago when travelling to the continent. A 21p charge appeared on my bill (it is now 22p). I called 191 immediately and they not only didn't believe that I'm abroad, they spoke with their 'engineers' who concluded that the call was made from the UK, despite me being in the Netherlands, having received the welcome texts (Welcome to the Netherlands, etc.) and none of the people a 191 understood my question. 

So, with apologies for the long post, could someone confirm what is the exact policy for calling local numbers at the roaming destination.  And if the policy had changed, when did that happen and why there wasn't a notification of such a major policy shift? Also, why no one at 191 appears so unprepared to answer questions. I spoke to the call centre in Egypt and they didn't understand my question at all. The call took about 1.5 hours and we got nowhere. They were adamant that I've made the call from the UK, didn't understand what I meant by 'calling local numbers at roaming destination'. 

[simax]

I’ve seen at least one other person discussing this on here (they were calling a local Netherlands number from within the Netherlands and were also charged 22p for the call), so it appears this is now the policy and Vodafone haven’t told anyone about it.

[Gemma]

Hi @StrangeDHighlan and @simax - please enter the country you’ll be travelling to, into our ‘Roaming Charge Checker’. When you scroll down, you’ll then see the section under ‘Costs for international calls while abroad’. This graph goes through the charges for calling within the country you’re in, or to another one. 

[StrangeDHighlan]

Hey Gemma, 

Thanks very much for joining the conversation.

Well, turns out, this is not the case.  The Roaming Charge Checker and then Costs for international calls while abroad does not apply to those on 51 and 83-destination plans when they call numbers in the country they are roaming in.

I raised a formal complaint with Vodafone and finally got to speak with a representative who understood the nature of the problem and answered my question. 

There appears to have been a glitch with my plan because the Complaints Team representative confirmed for me on the record that calls to local standard numbers in the country the customer is roaming in are not charged.

Instead, minutes from the customer's plan will be used (as it has been the case for the last decade). This rule only applies to calls back home in the UK and calls to standard local numbers in the country the person is roaming in. All other calls to third countries are charged as shown in the graph.

I have expressed concerns in relation to the vague information and the Costs for international calls while abroad pricing table which is not only misleading but also inaccurate when it comes to the 51 and 83-destination inclusive plans. 

Many thanks again.

Mentioning @simax so they can get a notification too.