Roaming Status - Better support?

[#1]

Having had a lot of trouble with international roaming, and seeing that there are a lot of other similar posts, I'd like to suggest a couple of changes that would help.

First, instead of claiming that roaming works worldwide (https://www.plus.net/help/mobile/roaming-and-international-calls/), actually list those countries where it works and where it doesn't. Plusnet must receive billing information from overseas providers, so should be able to easily work out which countries have been successfully roamed in. All others should be marked as "maybe", and those for which support messages have been received but no billing has been received, marked as "probably not".

Second, provide a public list of the expected network provider in each country. Part of the standard support response is to try connecting manually, but to which network? Yes, you can work it out by trial and error, but somebody inside Plusnet must know which networks they have roaming agreements with.

Third, and I'm going to start this shortly, maintain a set of country-specific threads on this board to cover problems and solutions in various countries.

Comments please?

[#2]

Hi jimkeir,

I have responded to your other threads regarding roaming. 

If a customer cannot connect to a network when roaming abroad, we do advise of  troubleshooting steps. This is due to the connection itself, as the issue may lie with the handset and its settings, rather than network related. If lack of connection is linked to the local network, removing the SIM card and re-booting, can help to establish a connection.

We appreciate your feedback and I can assure you that this will be passed onto the relevant department.

- Rebeka

[#3]

Hi Rebekah,

Thanks for the response. I understand that Plusnet has no control over foreign networks, I'm just trying to get accurate information available. Roaming worked perfectly for me in Greece, for example, but so far nowhere in South America; had I known that I would have chosen another provider, rather than be stuck with a nearly useless phone.

My wife recently had a bag stolen including passport, bank cards etc. and we are now trying to fix all of this, via the UK, with no phone access beyond Skype over free wifi. Plusnet's "Just switch it on" description of roaming is a little annoying under the circumstances.

Simple steps as I described above would maybe prevent a few people signing up, but should also reduce the number of unhappy customers who may switch away anyway.

One more point, again for others' information; the last-ditch suggestion is to get a local SIM, and I assume that you're entirely correct in that this would fix the connection issues. I haven't tried it. The problem there is that many large companies, banks, and other secure apps are tied to a specific phone number and in some cases a specific SIM. It would be worth pointing that out as part of the standard info.

[#4]

Good suggestions Jim. More transparency from Plusnet about roaming would be better and allow a more informed choice by the consumer. I'm stuck in Andorra with a phone that doesn't work and so I can't access my online banking as a result. A local sim won't help as it's a different number so I can't retrieve the security codes which two factor authentication requires. There's only one network here and from other threads on the subject on this community I find it unbelievable that Plusnet either don't realise this is an issue or are not prepared to acknowledge it. The first thread complaint was 4 months ago with just a series of poor responses from Plusnet claiming that it might be the users equipment but they'll "inform the relevant department"

[#5]

Hi Larry,

Thanks for the update. I agree, I have no problems with plusnet in the UK, I'm annoyed with the lack of (and mis) information. Can I suggest that you start a separate thread in the same format as mine (Roaming Status - Chile/Argentina) to make your information easier for others to find? If plusnet won't provide the information, we'll need to do it for ourselves.

Thanks,

Jim