0.0009mb roaming charges when Roaming switched off

[KevinL]

While abroad for 2 weeks I received 3 random days worth of Roaming Service Charges (£5.83 a day). My bill shows these were each for 0.0009mb of data, but I was using a Truphone eSIM for the country I was in and had my Data Roaming switched off the whole time. I tried ringing Three customer services but just went around in a circle and was unable to speak to anyone so in desperation I opened an online chat through the website. The agent that I chatted with was unable to help at all and said he would escalate this issue to the next level but within a couple of hours the support call was closed and I had a text message saying ‘we’ve recalculated your bill and haven’t found any errors’ which to my mind is ridiculous and very poor customer service.

I’ve researched this issue of a 0.0009mb data being charged as a roaming service and it seems that there is a known issue with the way that the network tries to establish a connection even when data roaming is switched off and therefore sometimes manages to register as a data roaming charge but I can’t get anyone to do anything about it.  My contract has expired and is now on a 1 month rolling basis so if this is the sort of service I can expect from Three, then I’m going to change to a new provider after being a loyal Three customer for more years than I can remember. I’ll also change the rest of my family away from Three as soon as their contracts expire this year.

[PeteG]

Hello.

Normally they would use the details within the complaint for to match up with what's on the account. It's possible there was an error on the form, or is it possible that the account holder is someone else, like a partner or other family member? 

Pete.

[KevinL]

Hi Pete,

Nope - I am absolutely the account holder, so all I can put it down to at this time is their incompetence.

[MZone]

It might be worth your time raising a complaint via this page https://bit.ly/3RaqpvS

[KevinL]

Thanks @MZone  - I have submitted a formal complaint as you suggested so will see if that makes any difference.

regards

[KevinL]

I meant thanks MZone - my autocorrect changed it to Maxine before I noticed and submitted the reply.

[JonathanB]

No worries @KevinL, I've corrected this for you now. Please let us know how things go when the team are in contact with you.

[KevinL]

I have now received a response which is basically offering me a £10 credit as a ‘good Will’ gesture and asking me to drop the complaint.

i have just responded to say that I will not accept anything less than a full refund of the roaming charges which have been incorrectly added to my bill, and if I do not receive a full refund then I will be taking this matter to the Ofcom Alternative Dispute resolution service.

[JonathanB]

Thanks for updating the Community @KevinL. That's disappointing to hear that we didn't reach an agreeable solution for this. I'll send you a PM now to get you in touch with some colleagues I work closely with. They'll take a fresh look at this and do their best to help.

To view your private messages on the community, click on your avatar image in the top right of any community page, then "Messages".

Thanks,
Jonathan

[KevinL]

Hi Jonathan,

I have now had a response from the Complaints team advising that they will credit the roaming charges in full against my next bill, which is all I wanted them to do in the first place. It’s a pity it’s taken so much of my time and effort in persuading them that it’s not my fault and clearly an issue with the Three systems that are involved in this service. 
Thanks anyway for your offer of help,  it thankfully common sense has now prevailed.

regards

kevin

[JonathanB]

Hi @KevinL,

Thanks for updating me and I'm glad we managed to resolve this in the end. We've passed on feedback about your experiences, so hopefully this helps others obtain the right help too.

Thanks,
Jonathan