Tips to prevent roaming from playing a trick on you

Telephone operators are starting to launch roaming tariffs that allow you to talk and surf in another country in the same way as if you were at home. However, before using the mobile phone to call home or check email, it is important to know every loophole in the contract, because then the bill will come as a shock.

 

 

Although roaming has the days —the date of its disappearance is June 15, 2017—, Reclamador remembers the following tips to avoid surcharges for calling, sending messages or surfing the Internet via mobile phone in a Member State other than the operator's home country.

1. Before traveling, you should consult with the company the conditions of the roaming to know how much and in what concepts can be used, both voice and data of the tariff applied in Spain.

2. If the user has it at his disposal by contract, you can automatically activate the service of roaming as soon as you call or browse abroad, but the company aiacute;a proceedá to bill without discount rate.

3. It is advisable to look for a cheap rate with the operators of the country of destination, as éstos usually offer promotions for calls and data consumption.

4. It is also advisable to include a warning system with the chosen rate to receive alerts before exceeding the maximum contracted consumption. Many times it is not known that voice/data consumption has been exceeded and hence the surprises on the bill.

5. If not contracted, this service should be requested to the operator before leaving for a trip abroad. If it is done by telephone, you must ask the operator to confirm that you have done so by message activation, since, otherwise, the user may be left incommunicado upon arrival at the destination or not really have a special rate when making calls or browsing, mistakenly thinking that it is.

6. If the roaming is data, the company does not apply the contracted flat rate prices abroad, but charges by consumption. To avoid high bills, disable the data connection of the smartphone and try to use free wifi networks in hotels, cafes and bars.

7. Check if for the destination abroad the telephone operator has bonuses or rate promotions, cheaper than roaming. If so and the user chooses them, when they are contracted an email or SMS must be requested to confirm the contracting and the conditions of the service and/or tariff.