Roaming Confusion

[ei6al]

I was recently roaming in Europe, total of 11 days.  I received the following summary of texts during that period:

17th August    23.03   Welcome to Spain

20th August    07.41   Welcome to France

                       20.43   Reached 90% of my roaming limit

                       20.44   Reached credit limit  - service suspended   (it was. Data disabled)

                       20.50   Welcome to USA      (some feat as I was still in Europe)

21st August    11.39   Reached 80% of my roaming limit    (must have been going in reverse)

                       11.54    Welcome to Monaco  (data service was back on again)

                       13.27    Reached credit limit - 1 hour to contact 3 to keep browsing.  (ignored)

23rd August    07.16   Welcome to Italy.

Total data usage be the end of the 11 days was about 5% of my allowance.

I will be watching my next bill with a great deal of interest.

Any comment from 3 would be welcomed...............

[SeanMac]

That's highly bizarre to say the least. Are you on a bill pay plan? Whats your EU data allowance? Over 20 gigabytes?

[Three_Shane1]

@ei6al Hi there & thanks for the detailed timeline. Two of the pieces of information you have given jump out at me as possibly causing charges to occur.

The first is the 'Welcome to USA' text, around that time were you on a ferry or cruise boat by any chance? 

The second is the 'Welcome to Monaco' text. Monaco is a principality so while it's in Europe it's not part of the EU. When you connect to a mast in Monaco you don't have any roaming allowances so you would be charged per MB of data, per minute on a call and per text. 

[ei6al]

Thanks for the reply Shane.  Yes, I was on a cruise when all this occurred so was in and out of coverage on a regular basis.  I am a bit confused on the Monaco issue - the text I got with Welcome to Monaco was the same as the other EU texts i.e. "Data out of allowance is ....etc".  That would lead me to assume I was still on a roaming allowance??  Or are you saying that all calls, texts and date usage when roaming in Monaco are charged?  I dont recall if I used the phone in Monaco but would certainly not have done so if all usage was outside the allowance.

[Three_Shane1]

@ei6al When you were on the cruise you would have connected to a maritime service carrier. A popular one that's used on cruise ships would be provided by AT&T. As they're an American company, this would cause the text message stating 'Welcome to USA' even though you weren't in the States you were connected to an American carrier.

That's correct all calls, texts, & data usage while in Monaco is charged. As there are no roaming allowances built into our plans for usage while in Monaco all usage would be classed as out of allowance.

In both instances, you may not have used your phone for calls or texts but if your mobile data was active it would have been used in the background of your phone to update apps like WhatsApp or for location services.

In your original post, you advised you'll wait for your next bill to generate. Once it generates have a look at it to see if there are any extra charges & if the dates match up with when you were on the cruise or in Monaco. If you have any questions after viewing the bill pop back to me here & I'll take a closer look at the bill for you 😊

[ei6al]

Bizarre indeed.  I am on a bill pay plan with roaming allowance of 23 GB.  Total roaming usage for the full 11 days (according to the stats on the phone) was just over 1GB.   Helped by the fact that the 3 system decided I was in the USA and shut off all data on 20th 😁 However it conveniently came back on sometime on 21st in Monaco, when I am now advised that no data allowance applies and every mb will be charged for. 

[ei6al]

Thanks for the detail Shane.  The bill has just arrived - as anticipated there is an additional €27.63 added fur using     3.9 mb Data on 20/21st August. It was on 20th August en route from St Tropez to Monaco that I lost all data connectivity and received a text from 3 advising that I had reached 90% of my defined credit limit 75 and to call customer care to make a payment. That was followed by a further text advising I had reached my credit limit of 75 so "we have stopped services on your account" until the next billing date.  Sure enough I had no data access. So why the charge of €13.18 for that day?  On 21st August we arrived in Monaco and I received another text advising I had reached 80% of my roaming limit of 50.  What did that refer to?  Re the us of data on the ship, I did not subscribe to any wifi service on board - the only social media platform I use is Whatsapp and that only for emergency contact with home.  However, it appears I have been charged €14.45 for data roaming USA with total usage 2.6mb.  How is that possible when I had no access to the ships wifi?    I never had any of these issues with my previous service provider even when doing similar trips - I paid a basic rate for a basic service and it never changed month on month. I have had constant fluctuations 3 and can never tell what the next bill is going to be. Would appreciate clarification.

[Three_Shane1]

@ei6al Thanks for getting back to me. To give a full breakdown of the charges & to better understand why the credit limit texts were sent I'll need to access your account. Can I get you to PM me your number along with your full name, address, & date of birth for the validation of your account?