Sour, that’s what 17-year-old Emma calls the 56.47 euros she has to pay extra for using 23 MB. Full of enthusiasm, she went on holiday alone for the first time. “I had picked out all kinds of fun things. For example, you could take the boat to Bodrum in Turkey.”
Roaming off
Once on the boat, her friend received a text message from her provider: you are in Turkey. Emma didn’t get that text, she says. “So I texted my father if the internet was costing me extra money. He told me to turn off my internet. So I turned off my roaming before I even got to land.”
She was so careful with her internet usage throughout the holiday. “I have to pay attention to that because I don’t have a super large subscription, so I often checked how many MBs I had left. I also often turn off apps like Instagram and TikTok.” That made the blow of the bill extra big last week. “I was very shocked. It is a large amount to pay and I do not think it is worth it.”
A small online tour shows that Emma is not alone. For example, a KPN customer posted a message on the KPN forum last year about his holiday on Kos. He said he spent the entire holiday on the island, without going to sea. Yet he received a report about internet use outside the EU, and the corresponding bill: 60.50 euros. Other people tweet about amounts ranging from 2 to 60 euros.
Extra cost
That is strange if you look at the EU scheme. Since 2017, you do not pay any extra costs for calling and using the internet within the EU. “You can call, use the internet and text messages anywhere in the European Union (EU) at no extra cost,” the government writes on its website.
If you are in Greece and your phone is constantly in contact with a Greek network, then there is nothing wrong, you would say. And it is precisely those networks that are the problem.
Because Greece is so close to Turkey, a phone may automatically connect to a Turkish network. This happens if the Turkish network is better and more stable than the Greek network at that time, says Martijn Witvliet, lawyer at the European Consumer Center, which provides information about consumer rights in the EU, among other things. “A phone automatically chooses the best network.”
That is not always a problem: various providers such as Vodafone and Tele2 also apply the European rules in countries such as Turkey, because ‘Turkey is a popular holiday destination’ and they want to ‘avoid hassle’, says Witvliet. But other providers such as KPN, T-Mobile, Ben and Simyo do not.
‘Be careful’
There is a reason for this, says the KPN spokesperson. “Europe, of course, ends somewhere. We do look at popular holiday countries among the Dutch, but Roam like home application in countries outside the EU partly depends on agreements we can make with telecom operators in those countries. For example, we do offer in Switzerland and England roam like homebut not in Turkey, because it was not possible to reach favorable agreements there.”
It is therefore necessary to ‘be careful’ for those customers, says Witvliet. It is also for people who use a ferry service with its own network. If your phone makes contact with that commercial network, the rules of your provider no longer apply. “You then have to deal with rates that are separate from the roaming rules.”
Connection to a Turkish network? You pay this
If you go on vacation and your phone connects to a Turkish network, there are several providers with whom you pay extra – unless you purchase a special bundle. These are the costs:
Vodafone: no extra costs
Tele2: no extra costs
Budget mobile: outside the EU it is not possible to use the internet from your Sim Only subscription, unless you buy extra credit.
Youfone: internet is blocked by default outside the EU.
Simple: internet is blocked by default outside the EU.
T-mobile: 2,07 per mb
KPN: 2,50 per mb
Ben: 2.50 per mb
Simyo: 5 euro per mb
50+ mobile: 0.50 cents per mb
That often happens to people who go to Sweden or from the UK to Scandinavia, he says. “During the crossing, they want to send photos at their leisure and they are presented with the bill at home.”
It is not clear how often tourists encounter the problem, but it is a ‘recurring problem’, says Witvliet. It is also an ‘annually recurring subject’ at ACM. “Turkish transmission masts are regularly stronger than Greek ones. The closer to the Turkish coast, the greater the chance that things will go wrong,” says a spokesman.
Not paying attention
Most of the complaints ACM receives come from people who have turned off their notifications from the provider, he says, and therefore have not received a warning. Or from people who did not pay attention to the report and still continued to call or use the internet.
“And there are also people who do not realize that certain areas do not belong to the EU. Put simply: these are usually reports from people who have not been paying attention. That does not alter the fact that there are also reports in which the information is not properly or not at all obligation has been fulfilled.”
The big question is: can you do something about such a high bill? If you’re lucky, yes. Witvliet: “Providers are obliged to send a message to their customers when they use a different network. If this is negotiable – for example because the provider did not send the message or sent it too late – you can ask for a refund.”
But try to prove that. “For example, if you are in the mountains, have poor coverage and therefore do not receive the message until later, you have already used up data and the damage has already been done, even though the message was sent on time. Then you have no hard requirement on which basis you can claim a refund.” Some providers respond out of courtesy, he explains. “But not because it is required by law.”
Courtesy
There is a maximum to that data use via another network: from 50 or 60 euros you must receive another message from a provider to which you must respond in order to continue. And, emphasizes a KPN spokesperson: “It is not the case that customers are faced with high costs unnoticed. As soon as your phone connects to a Turkish network, you will receive a text message containing clear information about the costs of using the network.”
But the safest thing is to keep a close eye yourself, says Witvliet. You can do a number of things: “It is possible to set a data limit, so that you receive a notification if you go over it. You can also turn off automatic updates or set apps that use a lot of data to only work with WiFi. And some telephone providers offer the option to block telephone networks outside the EU.”
In Emma’s case, she has lost her 56.47 euros. A tweet from her father to KPN yielded nothing. “How sour. The bundle for calling/sms/internet can be used within the EU. For Turkey you pay separately per MB and then the costs unfortunately go up. It’s good that she eventually turned off her internet.”
KPN’s advice: manually select a Greek network – don’t forget to convert it to automatic later – or switch off the internet in advance if Emma is going to sail or go to Turkey, or take a bundle in Turkey. “I wish your daughter a nice holiday despite the inconvenience.”
‘Fooled’
That discomfort means that she can do less fun things in the coming month. 56 euros means eating out with friends three times, she says, or buying a nice set of clothes. “I spend that in one whole month. That doesn’t happen quickly for me.”
Especially now, she says, because she stopped working to pass her exams. “So I have to be careful with my money. I feel cheated. That it costs so much to get connected to the internet. I feel a bit ripped off, even though they are legally allowed to do this. And I’m angry But I can’t do much about it.”
2023-08-07 05:03:19
#holiday #Greek #island #watch #telephone #bill
