Meteor and Roaming

Bluehair

Am currently on Speakeasy/O2 and am traveling a lot at the moment and running into places where Speakeasy just don't allow you to roam. The States/UK and Europe no problem almost anywhere else forget it :mad:

So far Maurititius/India/China/Mexico are out and seeing as we're going those places soon I'm seriously considering switching to Meteor pay as you go.

I know about the credit-card/prepay €60 malarky and thats fine but can anyone confirm they actually have roamed anywhere out of the way with Meteor pay as you go and had no problems?

I've no interest in going bill-pay btw I simply don't use it enough to justify it.

Bluehair

P_ wrote:

Here's their list of countries they cover.

Thanks for that but I've found that there can often be a wide gap between whats said on a website and what happens in practise (due to a range of excuses).

So anyone on Meteor pay as you go with actual experience of roaming outside of US/UK/Europe?

Dizzyblabla

I have roamed in Italy and in England with them, with no problems whatsoever... You only have to pay the 60euros the first time you roam with them and only if you haven't been with them for two months as far as I know, I paid the 60 and they used it for my next bill, no probs!

Bluehair

P_ wrote:

Yeah, that's true. What you could do is e mail them asking your above question, then that way you'll have what they say in writing/e mail ... You could give them a call too.

Hmm not a bad idea on the email. I did call but while she happily called out the list of countries i've gotton burnt by call-centre people before.

Dizzyblabla are you on bill-pay or pre-pay? Most bill-pay they're happy to let you roam anywhere but pre-pay reduces your roaming options on O2 hugely.

stereo_steve

Have successfully roamed in

England
France
Mexico
USA


Was able to use every network in those countries aswell. On two occasions it didn't work because they never set it up :mad: Called them both times from a pay phone and was up and running within about 5 mins. Can't understand why they simply can't activate it the first time you ask!

[EDIT] Before some smart ass says anything, I was able to use all GSM networks in the above countries![/EDIT

Mr Moon

Sorry for hijacking your thread but I have a quick question!

Do you have to top up by 60 euro if travelling to the UK?

Which network is the cheapest to roam on?

Thanks!

Bluehair

stereo_steve wrote:

Have successfully roamed in

England
France
Mexico
USA


Was able to use every network in those countries aswell. On two occasions it didn't work because they never set it up :mad: Called them both times from a pay phone and was up and running within about 5 mins. Can't understand why they simply can't activate it the first time you ask!

[EDIT] Before some smart ass says anything, I was able to use all GSM networks in the above countries![/EDIT

Thats great cheers for that. Sounds like it might be worthwhile giving them a second call before actually leaving to make sure they've actually set it up then!

BuffyBot

Do you have to top up by 60 euro if travelling to the UK?

Not anymore (if you're on pre-pay). The rates are on meteor.ie

cee_jay

I have roamed on O2 in Thailand, Singapore and Australia.
My fried who was with Meteor at the time wasn't able to roam in any of these countries!!
And s
he requested it twice to be set up for her.
First time she went into one of their stores and asked would she be covered in Australia and the sales assistant asked her what continent that was on!

ferryman

I have roamed with Meteor pre-pay in Thailand, the UAE and in the US, and have had no problems what so ever. Make sure you give them enough notice though, the credit card registration form must be posted, electronic/over the phone activation isn't allowed. It's very easy to run-down the credit, it normally takes a few days before your balance is updated, so be careful. They say that the roaming bar is automatically re-applied once you go into negative credit, however that's not really the case. It happened to me twice the first time I got roaming set-up, I even left it 3 days before topping up again and had no trouble. By the way, if you're planning to be away longer than 28 days, make sure to let them know. From what one of the CS agents told me before, the roaming bar may only be lifted for 28 days at a time, so make sure to check. Just in case you thought you might get lucky, you'll be out of reach in China. I was there this time last year and had no service.

Bluehair

[QUOTE=ferryman From what one of the CS agents told me before, the roaming bar may only be lifted for 28 days at a time, so make sure to check. Just in case you thought you might get lucky, you'll be out of reach in China. I was there this time last year and had no service.[/QUOTE]

Cheers for all the info. I switched over last Friday and so far am happy with the service. I signed up for roaming on the day too but am going to phone in shortly to make sure it was done.

They did confirm though that the bar is only lifted for a month at a time so I presume thats the 28 days thing. Also one of the guys in the shop had been in China and it seems they aren't keen on roaming for any operator and make you buy a sim when you enter.

Funnily enough the guy recommended just using google to find a website to unlock the phone (6230i) and then pop the China sim in when we arrive. I asked him did Meteor mind me unlocking the phone in that way and he was "like naa for a once off it's cool"

ferryman

Not sure about the Chinese operators not wanting to open their networks to outsiders. A friend of mine from the UK was able to roam using his T-Mobile pre-pay sim, so this might be another option for you. I remember pricing China Mobile sim cards while I was there, but given that I was staying for just 6 days, it wasn't worth the money. Also, in relation to the restriction placed on the lifting of the roaming bar...once you get it lifted 3 times, it's then permanently lifted, even if you go into a negative balance. Don't trust what the CS agents tell you, I have found that the information they provide can vary depending on who you get, especially in relation to roaming. So if you're not totally convinced with what you here from a particular agent, ring back and ask someone else!

Bluehair

ferryman wrote:

So if you're not totally convinced with what you here from a particular agent, ring back and ask someone else!

No kidding, it's been a pain in the ass getting the bar lifted this time.

Phoned yesterday to make sure it was done by the shop the previous Friday, they'd no clue about it but said they'd post out a form, explained that wouldn't work as I'm going tomor (wed) so eventually said they'd fax it.

No fax by v.late yesterday afternoon so phoned again. "oh yea don't worry will fax that in the morning". Needless to say no fax so on the phone again :mad:
"ah yea that girl is very busy she'll post it out to you", cue the whole story again, "yea she's busy though so we can't/won't fax it to you today, why don't you go to the meteor shop? Because it's a 2-hour bloody roundtrip maybe??"

Phoned the shop as a last resort and explained the whole story again. She pulls up the account and goes "the roaming bar is lifted" ????? i was just told by meteor it wasn't done... "ah yea no worries I just did it..."

Keeping my fingers crossed it works ok or I'll be one pissed off new meteor customer.

Andy-Pandy

At the moment meteor have automatic roaming in the follow countries. France, germany, Spain and the uk. This means that you just arrive and switch on your phone and it'll work. For every were else, you have to put 60e into your account, and leave credit card details. Most people have a problem with giving there credit card details, but theres a valid reson for it *, and meteor offer much reduced calls when your roaming to try and compinsate.

*The four countries listed above are the place's where there is real time billing. In the other countries it takes between 12 and 36 hours for your credit to be deducted from your account, so if you have 1e left you could make a 400e call. The cc details means meteor have a contact with you.