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Data Roaming Charges when Data Roaming is turned OFF - o2 UK

Recently I was stuck in Barcelona for work thanks to the Icelandic volcano which closed international airspace. The iPhone was an absolute godsend: Barcelona's free citywide wifi service kept us abreast of travel disruptions. When I returned to the UK, I found that I had been charged by my service provider o2 for "mobile internet browsing and downloads." Given that I had international roaming switched off at all times, I queried the charge.

Here's the bit you may not be aware of it. I was told the following, verbatim, by a member of staff at o2's "iPhone department":

*"o2 advises iPhone users who are abroad always to switch off their wifi connections after every use, even when connected to free wifi, because sometimes this can turn roaming on and incur charges."*

I was not aware that this was an issue with the iPhone. Having owned it since version one and travelled widely in the US and Europe, I had not experienced this "problem" before.

So: 1) is this information accurate? And 2) if it is not, is Apple happy that an international partner is propagating this nonsense?

Mac OS X (10.6.3)

Posted on May 17, 2010 7:12 AM

Reply
36 replies

May 17, 2010 7:39 AM in response to drspk

I have read another post on here (can't find it right now) from someone also on O2 who got charged for roaming, despite being adamant he had only used Wi-Fi whilst abroad and had Data Roaming turned off.

So, it seems you're not the only one. I've used WiFi whilst abroad with data roaming turned off with no problems, so I don't know whether this is a widespread issue, or a rare technical glitch.

I don't really understand how using WiFi can turn Data Roaming on though - unless there's a bug in the iPhone OS.

May 17, 2010 9:45 AM in response to drspk

"Information on costs when using your phone abroad http://www.o2international.co.uk/
How to check data roaming is off http://www.apple.com/iphone/how-to/#settings.network . Another tip to be sure you do not get a shock bill is to modify the apn so no data access can be used just put a charater or 2 before the 3 apn's and then remove the extra charatcers on return. (with thanks to 02 User forum )"
There might be some pointers here for you in particular the APN tip
This is not new

May 17, 2010 9:57 AM in response to wegras

Hi Peter,

Thanks for those links but none addresses o2's claim - and I quoted it verbatim - that disconnecting from an open wifi network in another country can somehow override data roaming, switching it from OFF to ON.

I ensured that I had it OFF at all times. It seems clear to me that the o2 representative and her manager deliberately misrepresented the iPhone's software in an effort to excuse costs which had been applied to my account. Their characterisation of the behaviour of iPhone software relies on users' ignorance. I'm afraid I'm not ignorant enough to fall for it.

The fact that they reimbursed the fee as soon as I threatened to contact Apple about the supposed relationship between an open wifi network and data roaming says it all.

May 22, 2010 3:45 AM in response to drspk

I am currently travelling and this issue with dodgy roaming data charges has now happened to me three times. At first it was only for a small amount and I let it go, then it was for around £20 so I complained and recieved a goodwill refund. This time I have just got a bill for £100 of data roaming charges. The data roaming function has always been set to off since I have started travelling.

One thing I did notice on the day it claims I have been using it was I scanned for wifi and tried connecting to one. It connected and I used it but the wifi symbol did not appear in the top bar (on going in to settings it named the wifi network next to the wifi setting though indicating it was connected). Again data roaming was off. I have contacted o2 about the error and so far getting a refund for this is looking unlikely as o2 have checked the network data and confirmed the usage. This would suggest the iPhone did use the data network when it shouldn't have therefore this may be apple's problem after all. Although since o2 sold me the phone they will still also have a liability.

Moneysavingexpert have an article on the issue:
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/phones/2010/04/complaints-over-erroneous-i phone-data-roaming-charges

May 22, 2010 4:24 AM in response to Cloakedrat

Cloakedrat,

I've been meaning to write a follow-up post and your reply has prompted me. Here we go.

Subsequent to speaking to o2, I received a series of texts asking for feedback on my phone call with o2 support. My responses were negative and I described the misinformation I'd received from the o2 representatives to whom I had spoken.

The next day I had three calls from customer services who wanted to clarify my issues and take my feedback. Since speaking to o2 I'd spoken to my local Apple Store boffins, scoured the iPhone bug lists and talked to a communications technologist at the university where I work.

The Apple store said that there was no such bug; the manager even checked Apple's official buglist. Nothing came back. He said he'd heard about this problem before - but only with reference to o2 customers. I phoned Orange and Vodafone and asked if there was a bug in international roaming on iPhone. "We've never heard of that."

The senior o2 customer support guy tried a conciliatory patter but when he realised that I knew what I was talking about, he cut to the chase. "There was an international roaming bug on iPhone 2.01 software and whenever we receive complaints about roaming charges, we assume it's a 2.01 problem." There is an obvious question here about whether customers should be responsible for software bugs (if such a bug exists); but it turns out I'm on iPhone 3.02, and as I told the o2 rep, there is no such bug. He agreed. Interestingly, he admitted that he set up a VPN connection every time he went abroad, which has implications for what my colleague told me, below.

We ended our conversation by discussing the limitations of the support screen prompts used by customer services. "Your feedback will help us improve." Yadda yadda yadda.

The communications tech boffin at my university had a rather more adequate explanation. He dismissed the idea that disconnecting from wifi turned off roaming. He blamed the fact that networks across the world are using multiple data gathering protocols and may therefore transmit incorrect data usage stats. So it looks like this has nothing to do with either the iPhone or wifi - but, as ever, inept telephone networks!! The fact that o2 recommend using a VPN connection when abroad is telling: VPN forces the foreign network to recognise the connection protocol correctly... He got very technical, but this makes sense to me.

I'll be pressing o2 on this if it ever happens again!

May 22, 2010 7:42 AM in response to drspk

cheers for the response mate.

I would say that I would take apple's response with a pinch of salt. Apple would probably not admit there was a problem if there is because then they'd open themselves to numerous charges from mobile companies, but then if it is only the o2 network this is happening with that does look pretty suspect?

I sometimes use a wifi scanning app, I'm not sure if you did too? I have since found these have been removed from iTunes, though this doesn't seem to remove it from my phone. Apple didn't seem to give a clear reason as to why this was. This could be completely unrelated though.

Anyhow whether it's o2 or apple's fault I certainly know that if the options off on my phone I don't want to pay for the charges so I will also persist.

Jul 16, 2010 9:00 AM in response to drspk

I just received my latest bill from O2 and was pretty surprised to see £34 of data roaming charges on there. I spent the majority of my time in the US, but always have data roaming turned off and only ever access data through either my home or office WiFi.

When I looked at the time of the data charge, it was at exactly the same time that I'd done my OS 4 upgrade. All I can assume is that there is a bug in the upgrade process which doesn't re-apply the data roaming preference immediately (although as soon as the upgrade completed I had checked and it showed as off). Anyway, this is just speculation, but it is certainly no coincidence that the data was downloaded at the same time as the upgrade.

Anyway, I contacted O2 and got a reply back claiming:
"Greg, I truly appreciate that you switched off your data roaming while
in abroad. However, I'd like to share with you that Wi-Fi support all
over the world is free and you shouldn't be charged. You may have been
charged for connecting the Wi-Fi through the internet.

I hope this information helps you in the future to avoid any charges on
data usage while in abroad. Please be assured the charges doesn't
consider the OS 4 software."

Clearly absolute rubbish, and was accompanied by an offer of a goodwill credit of £15. I refused this, and pushed the point further to get this response:

"I'd like to inform you Greg, if you're using Wi-Fi while abroad and the
connection drops/disconnects, your phone will automatically connect to
your phone network (GPRS) and you'll be charged for the data usage at
the rates applicable to the country you’re visiting.

The only way to completely stop roaming charges while abroad is to
delete the APN.
To do so use the steps below:
- Tap 'Settings' on the home screen
- tap 'Network'
- tap 'APN' or ’access point'
- delete the content.

If you need to browse data simply follow the above steps and add our APN
which is:
idata.co.uk"

Again, absolute rubbish, as I regularly walk out of WiFi range with my iPhone and am correctly informed that data can't be accessed as data roaming is disabled. They've offered to fully refund the amount, but they don't seem to be at all accepting that this is a bug.

Jul 16, 2010 10:56 AM in response to drspk

Hi

Same happened to me and I'm on O2 aswell. I used Wifi in hotels in both Dubai and Belgium and after leaving the hotel around 15mins later my phone downloaded my email while at dinner (I felt my phone vibrate so I knew it had happened).

At all times data roaming was OFF.

O2 advised me to also disable the cellular data setting and corrupt the apn to avoid future charges when abroad.

They say it's as wifi drops or slow the phone switches to the cellular data network.

I'd like to know why data roaming doesn't switch this off !

Regards

Jon

Jul 25, 2010 10:26 AM in response to drspk

I've had an iPhone 3G for about 18 months now. I travel abroad regularly and haven't had any problems until earlier this month when I was billed, on 3 occasions, a small amount for "data". It seems to only have happened since I updated to iOS4. On 2 of the times I was at an airport (switching from "airplane mode"?) and on the other I may have received a MMS at the time billed. Both of these have been mentioned by others as possible sources of the problem. I was abroad for 5 weeks and these were the only instances. Obviously this thread pre-dates iOS4, as do the problems:

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=2423511

but it does seem to be a big coincidence in my case!

Jul 27, 2010 7:38 AM in response to drspk

I have had the exact same problem. I was charged once in the US and again in Spain for data roaming when I was sure that I'd never used data roaming.

O2 are bloody useless as I just came off the phone having raised my concern and they told me as well that I must have turned it on by mistake. After arguing with him for 5 minutes I asked him if he could bar data roaming which he initially said no to.

After a bit more arguing he said that he could and has now placed a bar. Whether he was just trying to get me off the phone or what I don't know but hopefully this will be a work around for what clearly seems to be a bug!!!

It probably is a very subtle bug which requires a certain scenario to happen but that still makes it Apple's or O2's problem!!!!

Aug 25, 2010 8:35 AM in response to Herbie333

On a recent trip away - I noticed that the phone picks up e-mail when I close the mail app from the task bar - even though data roaming is turned off.

A minute or so after closing the app my phone would vibrate. On checking it there would be no SMS message or notification, but when I check my mail, by reopening the app, my mail has been updated. It seems to consistently do this.

A technical guy from O2 confirmed that Apple know this is an issue. O2 have been quite good about this so far and have refunded the charges but I hope this gets fixed soon.

Data Roaming Charges when Data Roaming is turned OFF - o2 UK

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