After exceeding the mobile operator’s two-month roaming limit, Three UK is blocking users stuck abroad due to Covid’s travel restrictions.
Recently, three users near their homes in Australia, Brazil, Sri Lanka and even Europe have complained that their telephone services have been cut off, making their bank accounts inaccessible and unable to answer important work or personal calls.
Self-proclaimed roaming champion for a long time, Three offers its customers the opportunity to use call, text, and data assignments at no additional charge in 71 destinations around the world.
However, the deal has a “fair use” and a two-month term, and the company isn’t ready to give free access to calling plans to customers who have been abroad for several months. It seems that you have decided.
Last month, the three began textually warning users to suspend service unless contacted to explain why they were stuck abroad. However, the customer noticed that the phone was turned off, even though he told Three that he couldn’t go home.
For others who missed the text and noticed that the service was interrupted, Roaming has been permanently suspended and service will not be restored..
James Crowley, who is stuck in Australia, contacted Three two weeks ago to explain his position but said the company hung up his phone anyway.
@ThreeUKSupport My roaming was suspended but webchat said they would restore it and the process would take 2 hours – it’s been 4 hours at the moment, how long should it take? Need to receive text message from bank to login. Thanks
— Tom Simpson (@tomakasatnav) November 9, 2020
“They turned off free roaming and completely disabled my sim instead of returning to the paid roaming rate I expected, so they said they were stuck abroad like me. You won’t be able to receive SMS from banks, etc. This seems extreme, even if you don’t have a lot to do with it, “he wrote to Guardian Money.
Eve McCann is stuck in Brazil without phone access or data roaming.
“No one in live chat could help and my service was down. I’m very worried because I need urgent access for personal and business reasons.” She tweeted..
Three spokespersons said mobile operators would pay foreign providers for their customers’ right to roam.
“There are fair use restrictions to protect against overuse. If a customer roams to a GoRoam Around the World destination every 12 months for a full two months, usually with that account. We will stop international roaming, “she says. We want to stay connected with our customers, especially if they are stuck abroad due to a pandemic. If you have a customer with a problem, please contact our customer service team.”
She said Crawley’s phone was disconnected due to a “human error.” Then he was reconnected and the company apologized.
Roaming is becoming a major political issue as the Brexit transition period approaches.
Three said it would continue to offer free roaming in Europe after Brexit, but other major operators have not confirmed their plans.
Free roaming across Europe is stipulated by EU law and the UK will no longer be a party after 31 December. This means that British people traveling to Europe next year may be charged a roaming fee. (Guardian)
