Vodafone PAYG in USA

I went to the US recently and my PAYG mobile did not work properly:

Incoming and outgoing texts worked fine.
Incoming phone calls worked fine, I could answer them.
I could not make outgoing phone calls or ring the credit top up
number. I got "the service is not allowed messages".
I could not get into voice mail to pick up messages that people were
leaving.
I could find out the credit balance by dialling *#1345#.
I had over £30 credit balance on the phone.

Both T-Mobile and Cingular which were the only networks available were
the same.

Rang up Vodafone who whilst helpful could only suggest that the local
networks would not accept PAYG mobiles for some reason. Sounds
unlikely.

Rang up Cingular from another phone. They seemed to be unaware that
foreigners could use non Cingular phones on their network so I gave up
after never even making contact with a sentient life form.

Any thoughts on what might be going on ?

Thanks, J.

---

› See More: Vodafone PAYG in USA

[email protected] wrote:
> I went to the US recently and my PAYG mobile did not work properly:
>
> Incoming and outgoing texts worked fine.
> Incoming phone calls worked fine, I could answer them.
> I could not make outgoing phone calls or ring the credit top up
> number. I got "the service is not allowed messages".
> I could not get into voice mail to pick up messages that people were
> leaving.
> I could find out the credit balance by dialling *#1345#.
> I had over £30 credit balance on the phone.
>
> Both T-Mobile and Cingular which were the only networks available were
> the same.
>
> Rang up Vodafone who whilst helpful could only suggest that the local
> networks would not accept PAYG mobiles for some reason. Sounds
> unlikely.

Is it possible you need to use the USSD code? I noticed Vodafone claim
Cingular is direct dial, but T-Mobile isn't. In which case *123*#
should be used. See
http://www.abroad.vodafone.co.uk/pdf...s_you_talk.pdf


> Rang up Cingular from another phone. They seemed to be unaware that
> foreigners could use non Cingular phones on their network so I gave up
> after never even making contact with a sentient life form.

You can. I've used it on Orange Contract (Not very much - roaming is
very expensive, especially in the US!) 611 from the phone would have
also probably worked? (It's not charged)

On 2006-10-03, [email protected] <[email protected]> wrote:
> I went to the US recently and my PAYG mobile did not work properly:
>
> Incoming and outgoing texts worked fine.
> Incoming phone calls worked fine, I could answer them.
> I could not make outgoing phone calls or ring the credit top up
> number. I got "the service is not allowed messages".
> I could not get into voice mail to pick up messages that people were
> leaving.
> I could find out the credit balance by dialling *#1345#.
> I had over £30 credit balance on the phone.
>
> Both T-Mobile and Cingular which were the only networks available were
> the same.
>
> Rang up Vodafone who whilst helpful could only suggest that the local
> networks would not accept PAYG mobiles for some reason. Sounds
> unlikely.

I think the problem is that standard GSM roaming arrangements are
done on a credit basis, i.e. the roaming network sends records of
you calls you initiate to your home operator after the calls have been
completed. You get billed after the fact. This obviously doesn't work
for PAYG since there is no mechanism to bill you if you run out of pre-paid
account balance, but your home operator won't find out your usage has
exceeded your account balance until after you've done so. Supporting
PAYG roaming hence requires a different (and more complex) technical
arrangement to be established, and this is done on a case-by-case basis.
Apparently Vodafone doesn't yet have this kind of relationship with a US
operator, which doesn't surprise me since US carriers have only recently
started providing support for prepaid roaming anywhere and Canada and Mexico
would be their first priorities.

Note that what works and what doesn't depends on what Vodafone can
bill you for in real time. Incoming calls and texts to your phone work
since they are routed through the UK where Vodafone can drop them if your
balance drops to zero. *#1345# works because it is an uncharged service.
Why outgoing texts work I know not, but all other outgoing calls are
prohibited because Vodafone has no way to prevent you from going past
your balance.

> Rang up Cingular from another phone. They seemed to be unaware that
> foreigners could use non Cingular phones on their network so I gave up
> after never even making contact with a sentient life form.

The first line Cingular customer service knows nothing about foreign
anything, if you are a Cingular customer with roaming problems they
transfer you to someone else. You could try phoning the someone else,
i.e. International Customer Care, directly at

1 916 843 4685

and they might even know about this, but they'll probably just tell you
that pre-paid roaming doesn't work.

Dennis Ferguson

[email protected] Wrote:
> I went to the US recently and my PAYG mobile did not work properly:
>
> Incoming and outgoing texts worked fine.
> Incoming phone calls worked fine, I could answer them.
> I could not make outgoing phone calls or ring the credit top up
> number. I got "the service is not allowed messages".
> I could not get into voice mail to pick up messages that people were
> leaving.
> I could find out the credit balance by dialling *#1345#.
> I had over £30 credit balance on the phone.
>
> Both T-Mobile and Cingular which were the only networks available were
> the same.
>
> Rang up Vodafone who whilst helpful could only suggest that the local
> networks would not accept PAYG mobiles for some reason. Sounds
> unlikely.
>
> Rang up Cingular from another phone. They seemed to be unaware that
> foreigners could use non Cingular phones on their network so I gave up
> after never even making contact with a sentient life form.
>
> Any thoughts on what might be going on ?
>
> Thanks, J.
Vodafone needs to update their sim. Out going calls are only allowed on
AT&T.




--
mrcamp

<[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>I went to the US recently and my PAYG mobile did not work properly:
>
<snip>
>
PAYT roaming never works properly, at the very least
you won't be able to roam all available networks.

If you have to have PAYT roaming, at least go for Virgin Mobile
PAYT with Direct Debit added having post pay,
then giving you full roaming.

Steve Terry

mrcamp wrote:

> [email protected] Wrote:
>
>>I went to the US recently and my PAYG mobile did not work properly:
>>Both T-Mobile and Cingular which were the only networks available were
>>the same.
>>
>>Rang up Vodafone who whilst helpful could only suggest that the local
>>networks would not accept PAYG mobiles for some reason. Sounds
>>unlikely.
>>
>>Rang up Cingular from another phone. They seemed to be unaware that
>>foreigners could use non Cingular phones on their network so I gave up
>>after never even making contact with a sentient life form.
>>

>
> Vodafone needs to update their sim. Out going calls are only allowed on
> AT&T.
>
That statement needs updating - ATT was bought up by Cingular.
My old ATT SIM now shows Cingular on its screen.
My Orange PAYG one, shows either Cingular or T-Mobile, depending on
local signal.

On Tue, 03 Oct 2006 20:39:09 GMT, Loz <[email protected]> wrote:

>Is it possible you need to use the USSD code? I noticed Vodafone claim
>Cingular is direct dial, but T-Mobile isn't. In which case *123*#
>should be used. See
>http://www.abroad.vodafone.co.uk/pdf...s_you_talk.pdf

I tried that. It came up with something like unsupported feature.


>You can. I've used it on Orange Contract (Not very much - roaming is
>very expensive, especially in the US!) 611 from the phone would have
>also probably worked? (It's not charged)

Sadly 611 did not work either. Both good ideas, thanks.

On Wed, 04 Oct 2006 12:03:36 GMT, "Steve Terry" <[email protected]>
wrote:

>
><[email protected]> wrote in message
>news:[email protected]...
>>I went to the US recently and my PAYG mobile did not work properly:
>>
><snip>
>>
>PAYT roaming never works properly, at the very least
>you won't be able to roam all available networks.
>
>If you have to have PAYT roaming, at least go for Virgin Mobile
>PAYT with Direct Debit added having post pay,
>then giving you full roaming.

I'm now going for the strategy you suggest as I have a Virgin SIM and
it is cheaper than Vodafone. Thanks.

J.

On Wed, 04 Oct 2006 08:19:59 -0400, S Viemeister
<[email protected]> wrote:

>mrcamp wrote:
>
>> [email protected] Wrote:
>>
>>>I went to the US recently and my PAYG mobile did not work properly:
>>>Both T-Mobile and Cingular which were the only networks available were
>>>the same.
>>>
>>>Rang up Vodafone who whilst helpful could only suggest that the local
>>>networks would not accept PAYG mobiles for some reason. Sounds
>>>unlikely.
>>>
>>>Rang up Cingular from another phone. They seemed to be unaware that
>>>foreigners could use non Cingular phones on their network so I gave up
>>>after never even making contact with a sentient life form.
>>>
>
>>
>> Vodafone needs to update their sim. Out going calls are only allowed on
>> AT&T.
>>
>That statement needs updating - ATT was bought up by Cingular.
>My old ATT SIM now shows Cingular on its screen.
>My Orange PAYG one, shows either Cingular or T-Mobile, depending on
>local signal.

Sounds interesting. How do I get my SIM updated ?

J.

S Viemeister Wrote:
> mrcamp wrote:
> -
> [email protected] Wrote:
> -
> I went to the US recently and my PAYG mobile did not work properly:
> Both T-Mobile and Cingular which were the only networks available were
> the same.
>
> Rang up Vodafone who whilst helpful could only suggest that the local
> networks would not accept PAYG mobiles for some reason. Sounds
> unlikely.
>
> Rang up Cingular from another phone. They seemed to be unaware that
> foreigners could use non Cingular phones on their network so I gave up
> after never even making contact with a sentient life form.
> --
> -
>
> Vodafone needs to update their sim. Out going calls are only allowed
> on
> AT&T.
> -
> That statement needs updating - ATT was bought up by Cingular.
> My old ATT SIM now shows Cingular on its screen.
> My Orange PAYG one, shows either Cingular or T-Mobile, depending on
> local signal.
No! My vodafone uk sim still shows the 3 networks. But outgoing calls
are only allowed on the former AT&T. I live in the US. So I know what
I am saying.




--
mrcamp

mrcamp wrote:

>>That statement needs updating - ATT was bought up by Cingular.
>>My old ATT SIM now shows Cingular on its screen.
>>My Orange PAYG one, shows either Cingular or T-Mobile, depending on
>>local signal.
>
> No! My vodafone uk sim still shows the 3 networks. But outgoing calls
> are only allowed on the former AT&T. I live in the US. So I know what
> I am saying.
>
For a large part of the year, _I_ live in the US!
My original ATT contract is now held by Cingular, and 'ATT' no longer
appears anywhere on my phone. My Orange SIM, when roaming in the US,
shows either T-Mobile or Cingular.
If you try to go to the ATT Wireless website, you will be sent to Cingular.
It must be different in your part of the country.

<[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> On Wed, 04 Oct 2006 12:03:36 GMT, "Steve Terry" <[email protected]>
> wrote:
>
>>
>><[email protected]> wrote in message
>>news:[email protected]...
>>>I went to the US recently and my PAYG mobile did not work properly:
>>>
>><snip>
>>>
>>PAYT roaming never works properly, at the very least
>>you won't be able to roam all available networks.
>>
>>If you have to have PAYT roaming, at least go for Virgin Mobile
>>PAYT with Direct Debit added having post pay,
>>then giving you full roaming.
>
> I'm now going for the strategy you suggest as I have a Virgin SIM and
> it is cheaper than Vodafone. Thanks.
> J.
>
Yes Virgin PAYT postpay roaming with DD added costs less than
Virgin PAYT roaming. Making it cheaper than any UK PAYT roaming.

Although PAYT roaming has the advantage of the cost limiting of your top up.
Virgin with DD doesn't have that limit so easier to over spend

Steve Terry