Confused; calling Eu/UK

[PatrickW3587]

I bought €7.99 account in January and have been using it for Irish internal calls and texts since then, using a little data for  everything else (mainly Whatsapp and some limited web stuff). Current availability status is 99.85Gb data  from my 100Gb, with unlimited texts and calls. My credit card is billed automatically each month for the €7.99. Credit balance is stated as €0.01.

Today, (for first time??) I tried to call a couple of UK numbers directly and got "Insufficient credit..." each time. 48 Chat pointed me to a 48.ie/charges/international-calls page where UK and EU calls are listed as costing c23.37, whereas I had assumed I could rely on the following from 48's FAQ pages:

"Can I use my membership while roaming

Yes you can enjoy your membership allowance while roaming in the EU/UK on our new memberships. Calls and texts work just like your at home and you have a portion of your data allowance to use as well. To view your data roaming allowance login to your My48 and click on the globe icon. "

Does my monthly payment really not work while calling UK numbers from Ireland but would work if calling them from France or Germany (which would be a nonsense) - and therefore I need to pay additional fees into Membership?

AND, if so, is it possible to get the extra cost of calling EU/UK from Ireland automatically deducted by 48 along with the monthly €7.99, as would happen with other networks?

[dalyer]

You're mixing up roaming with making international calls.
You need cash credit to pay for international calls.
As far as I recall when roaming in the EU calls back to Ireland (and maybe calls within the EU country in which you're roaming?) are covered by your normal membership call minutes.

Hope this helps.

[PatrickW3587]

OK. Thanks. Normally, when roaming to a country is covered by a network, then an allowance of calls and texts to that country will also be covered by the network, in my experience. Obviously in this case I'll have to buy additional credit - and do so manually in advance - whereas with Eir (as only an example) any costs incurred outside allowances are collected automatically along with the next monthly bill. I guess those are the penalties for cheaper subscriptions.

I'll check with 48 before travelling about roaming calls back to Ireland and whether calls within a roamed country (e.g. calling a travelling companion), are covered - unless anyone else knows for sure if your memory is correct. 

[ThinkT7225]

From this

https://48.ie/charges/roaming

It looks like when you're roaming in, say, the UK then calls and texts to Irish numbers are covered by your membership allowances but calls and texts to UK numbers are still treated as international and so need cash credit to pay for them.

Some data can be used while roaming in Europe.

"When travelling to Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Channel Islands, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, French Antilles, Guiana, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Isle of Man, Italy, Latvia, Lichtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Mayotte and Reunion, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden & UK.​

If you opted into The Guido or 40GB or 80GB or 100GB membership then you can make and receive calls, and send and receive text messages in the same way you do when at home in the Republic of Ireland. Similarly, you can also use some of your data allowance while roaming in the countries listed above. Click here for details.​"

Hope this helps.

[dalyer · Accepted solution]

Once gain posts appear under the wrong name and not mine - an ongoing bug with the community forum... 😞