Roaming charges whilst data roaming turned off

[bcracknell]

I was on holiday in the US last month and had data roaming turned off before I even left the UK. At no point did I turn my data roaming on. Three texted me randomly at 3 points during my trip saying hello and welcome to the USA, outlining the costs associated with using my phone whilst in the USA. These texts were not telling me I was using my data, just letting me know I could. I've just received my bill to find I've been charged 3x £5 plus VAT for roaming services whilst in the USA. I can see on my bill that these supposed usages were really tiny amounts of data, <10MB. When I tried to dispute these charges, stating that I had my date roaming turned off the entire time,  I was told there was no way the system could be incorrect. However, clearly, the system is wrong if I can be charged tiny amounts of data usage whilst my data roaming is turned off. Please can you advise what I can do in this situation? 

[ZoeM]

Thanks, I will do so - and point them towards this forum post if they try to deny responsibility...

[GordonP]

For my 2 days of roaming charges while I had roaming switched off on my iPhone 15 pro max I was given £5 credit for the £4 roaming charges. They said it was a good will guesture as I didn’t know about the charges. I clearly told them that I knew about roaming charges and that is why I had roaming switched of from before I entered Spain and to after I had left. And I told them about this forum. Still the response was that I had used roaming abroad and they would waiver the charge this time with the £5 credit. Not very honest from my point of view, but got charges back. Will have to do the same for next months charges, which is frustrating.

[free3]

I've been following this subject for a while - since this issue started happening to me around August/September - and after hours of discussions with Three customer services and Apple here's the conclusion:

1. It only happens when I have my Three SIM in an iPhone (regardless of the iOS version, I have 2 iPhones, one on iOS16 another on iOS17) 
2. Same SIM in a Pixel phone doesn't trigger any unwanted charges

Now the best bit:
3. In iOS, the "Mobile data" aka "Cellular data" switch IS NOT a hard switch, i.e. it disables mobile data for the user side of things only, IT DOESN'T disable mobile data for services running in the background (i.e. System Services). This is the key, there are 2 sources of mobile data consumption:
- USER (which can be disabled through the "Mobile data" aka "Cellular data" settings) and
- SYSTEM (which can't be disabled, unless you switch off the line/SIM completely).
So in essence the "Mobile data" OFF switch in iOS is just a partial LIMITER not a real OFF button. 
4. In iOS "Data roaming" switch IS NOT a hard switch either, it is a SUGGESTION to the network carrier. For Three at least, disabling data roaming seems to restrict USER data to within Three's network and region which they specify. It doesn't seem to restrict/limit the SYSTEM side of data consumption.
5. Three triggers data roaming abroad whenever mobile data is consumed, regardless if it's USER or SYSTEM triggered data, and because you can't control the SYSTEM side of consumption (see points 3 and 4), whenever SYSTEM connects in the background to mobile data this will trigger mobile data roaming when abroad.

[stewjoin]

Thanks. So there only seems to be 2 options change phone or change network provider in order to stop these charges.

[atommyk]

Quite. I’m back in the EU and not getting charged as long as spend cap is on 0. As soon as I increase that I’ll get charged. However, without an increase in the spend cap I can also not make any calls to the UK - so, one is a bit stuck really. I’ll aim to change away from three with broadband, smartwatch and iPhone contract as soon as I’m able to (Feb 2025 at the latest). 

[caterham2002]

I had the same issue in Brazil in January 2024 with data turned off on an iPhone SE running iOS 17.

10 occasions where minimal (1-10Kb) of data usage triggered 10 x £5 daily data charges. I suspect 10 reconnections to the network (at about the time of day my battery died and was recharged or poor signal) triggered the 10 x Three texts "Your daily roaming charge is....". 

I contacted Three via Chat and had a very helpful guy. After listening calmly to my explanation he got it and initially offered a 50% refund. After 'further explanantion' he gave me 100% but couldn't come up with an explanation.

I'd love to know what causes this (any Three techs on here?). In the meantime I'll just keep checking my bill each month - which is worth doing anyway.

[carlodacas]

Hi I am have the same exact issue roaming off. 

But charged for 0.0009 mb and so on. 

Please help 

[jkasab]

*Ask what your credit limit is set to - mine was £150!**

Three is 100% deceiving customers. I am sorry you have had this experience, I have had ongoing issues since Feb with wrongful data roaming charges - despite having my spent cap set to £0, mobile data and roaming disabled and each individual app turned off in mobile data settings (IPhone 13). On all occasions I have either turned my phone off and on or it it has died and when charged I received a daily roaming charge text.  In some instances, I have incurred these charges at 2am or later when I have been asleep! These times have appeared on my bill as 0.0009MB which I am sure isn't even enough to access an app or the internet?!

I have escalated this numerous times on Three live chat, asking if there is anything else I or they can do to prevent this charges, each time I have been assured there is nothing to do/I can do & will not be charged. 

I wasn't until late March that I was informed my credit limit was to set to £150, not visible from what I can see in the App. Very deceiving from Three, with the occasional credit of £2 or £5 credited hours into the chat, it does not come close to what I have been wrongfully charged. It takes hours of communicating to be told this credit is in "goodwill' or 'just for you, a loyal Three customer'. They say they cannot do this more than once - despite this being a justified refund for incorrect charges!

Appalling. I've since looked into early termination of my contract - of course that wouldn't be simple. I have been given three different amounts for my early termination fee, differs via email, text & live chat.

Best of luck!

[AtnEgr]

I also have the same issue. This needs fixing!!! I am getting charged for 0.0009mb even though my data roaming is switched off.

[Natalie01]

Hi all

I’ve recently returned from Peru and Ecuador. Whilst in Peru I received these ‘daily roaming charges’. 0.0009mb for each text received from Three £5 charge. 
I was refunded half the costs incurred (7.50£) Thanks for the explanation from free3 as this makes a lot of sense about the complexities of systems using data outside of toggle being off for roaming and WiFi calling.
Strange that this is only for Three customers though and does not affect their other partners like Smarty. 
I will be monitoring this thread for any solutions to the issue or Three being able to investigate their end and being able to see if something can be worked out without having to disable the three sim completely. Which is a safety issue when wanting to make calls (911/999 for example). 
I won’t be using Three outside of Europe again whilst this is ongoing and won’t be renewing my contract at end period either as I want to prioritise roaming abroad.