Lesley Jane should yours not be free to send from the UK .... i always thought it was .... crikey i've been texting my sister hundreds when she was in Lanzarote .... the bill is due in soon!!!

Hi Tinkerbell, In the end I emailed 02, as they never answer the phones they said my free text messages could only be used to text the uk

Good luck with your bill.

I don't want to know ...... oooooh good job i'm about to go on hol for 2 wks and forget about it!!!

Lesleyjane i emailed o2 and they said i would have 4 texts taken off me for sending 1.Looks like they tell everyone different.

I've been with Vodafone for years and never ever had to pay to get them through to anyone that has been abroad - could this be because I am on a pay monthly contract?

Is everyone else that is having problems on pay as you go?

I know my mum is with TMobile and she was texting my sister in Lanzarote and she was having 2 texts taken from her allowance but she is pay as you go.

i am on 02 pay as you go with free text and get charged 49p per txt when doing so from spain to the uk
but if i say text my mate in spain from uk its free
bit of a ripoff really

O2
From Spain to UK: 73p/min (58p with ITS) (PAYG 99p)
Receiving calls in Spain: 80p/min (PAYG £1.49)
Text to UK from Spain: 25p (PAYG 49p)
Receiving text in Spain: FREE

http://www.costa-tips.co.uk/mobile.htm

Does anyone know how much it costs to text from Turkey to the UK with Virgin pay as you go?

I should have my bill through any day now So I guess I will see what I am being charged for texting my mate in Turkey. She has a UK sim card done know if that makes any difference.
I think I will see if my bill is on the net now

go on lesley jane have a look and report back to us ... hope its good news for you (if not i'm in bother too!!!)

Sorry Tinkerbell,

I've been on contract with Vodafone for years, and just in the last year or so you do now get charged for sending texts to Turkey (or anywhere abroad). Your free text allowance is only for texts in the Uk. I think I'm about 20p per text to Turkey.

Elaine

To text from Turkey with Virgin will cost 35p per text.

Just got my phone bill in from Vodafone and I certainly wasn't charged for texting Lanzarote - maybe this is because I pay for the extra bolt ons - not sure why but anyway it was part of my inclusive texts ....phew

Hi, I am on pay as you go with T-mobile. Does anyone know if both me and the recipient will be charged when I text from abroad or just me...also, anyone have any ideas how much dearer the texts are?? Just spent an hour and a half reading through my phone bumph and looking on the website but am still clueless!

EDIT .. merged with previous similar topic
David HT Mod

Hi Whiskas, You only have to pay for your texts if you send one and the same applies to who ever sends one back, you dont both pay for texting. For charges per text each company differs so you would have to phone them up and tell them you are going abroad and they will tell you the cost per text and also make sure that your phone is set up to roaming, this is so you can use your phone whilst you are abroad, and as soon as you enter the country automatically changes to their network.

Thanks so much for that, will ring them now and find out the costs etc.

Just back from Cuba and received my first bill from Virgin, didn't use my phone to call home but sent a good few texts, charge was 25p per text, however, am just about to call them to query it, nearly every text seems to be either duplicate of triplicate,
e.g.30.12.05 at 08.25 25p, text sent at 30.12.05 at 08.25 25p, 30.12.05 at 08.25 25p. Now this is either a huge mistake or I am being charged either 50p or 75p per text.
They say I did 35 texts during my holiday which I know I didn't as I forgot to take my charger and didn't want to use up the battery, would say that a dozen or so was nearer the mark.
Anyone else had similar trouble???
Heather

Ok, just to add my tuppence worth. Firstly, I am onVirgin Pay-As-You-Go. I've only ever had one mobile on a contract, and never again because I think the charges are a rip off, but anyway thats another story.

What I usually do is buy a Sim Card for one of the Mobile networks in the country I am visiting. Basically I am on Virgin, but I travel to Spain a lot so I have bought a VodafoneES Sim Card. I usually find that this works out much cheaper when sending texts back to the UK. For example, Virgin charge .35p per text sent back here. But my VodafoneES simcard means I only pay less than half that amount per text.

Voice Calls also work out much cheaper. I have also been advised by the people that send me texts while I am abroad that they are not charged any extra than their standard Network rates.

I think this is because whilst you are abroad, if you use your own mobile then the calls, texts have to be routed to the UK, then back to the country you are in and then back to the UK again. Or so I have been informed.
However, if you use a local Network, then your texts are simply sent directly back home without being routing twice.

The only drawback with VodafoneES is that you have to keep your Sim Card topped up, because if you don't then it will be disconnected after nine months.
But buying credit with VodafoneES is very simple. You can buy a top up card for €15, but a small part of this will aotomatically be deducted in tax, so your mobile will be credited with just a little over €12.

It is still well worth considering buying a local Sim card though. Just make sure your own handset is UNLOCKED, and not locked into your existing Network Provider.

Failing which, make sure you have your voicemail activated and do NOT accept incoming calls whilst you are overseas as the costs can be extremely expensive not only for the person making the call, but also for the person receiving it.

Also another little tip is this. Again this is aimed at those of you on the Virgin Network. If you choose to text or call home whilst you are abroad, make a note of the time you sent the text. keep an eye on how many pages of text you are sending and make a note of the destination number. The go to a local Internet Cafe or wherever you can access the Internet. LOg on the Virgin wbsite and register your account if you have not already doen so, and then you can keep an eye on your account and what you are being charged. I'm not suggesting you spend all your time on holiday checking your phone bill, but just say one each week you atre away.

I did this because Virgin made a mistake with my account on one overseas trip and charged me three times for each single text I sent. I called them and explained their errors, but they would not budge. So I emailed them and complained and threatened to take my custome elsewhere. Within 24 hours they had credited my account with the costs of the texts I had been challenging.

As I say, this is how it works out with PayAsYouGo. I can't comment on Contract as I've only ever had one contract mobile and I don't agree with their hidden charges.....but as I say thats not for discussion on these boards, accept to say be on your guard, as you may get a bill you cannot afford to pay. I did, and thats why I switched back to PasAsYouGo.

Just had exactly the same thing from Virgin. I noticed that a lot of my texts from Cuba back home where double and triple and on a couple four times charged for the same text. They said it was all down to the length of the text, you are allowed up to so many characters for one, if you go over that amount it does into two charges, then three charges etc. I was not aware of this. I know that some of the texts were long winded so I a=cannot prive this was ot the case, I deleted all my old texts in sent items when I got home.

Anyone else had similar????
Heather

Thanks for that - will phone them again