Especially as iPhone has data roaming OFF by default with an explicit warning to "avoid substantial roaming charges" - granted though it does prompt to turn ON when you need data.
I use a prepay 3 data only SIM with my iPhone in OZ and an at&t or t-mobile prepay SIM in USA.
Maybe CSR's should be told to tell the customer "Okay, you're roaming, it's going to cost more than your normal national rates. And the rates are on our website".
That could have solved the problem.
However, still, you could have asked as well. Both of you are at fault here.
If the CSR didnt warn you (which is weird, because last time i went to AUS they warned me over the phone), maybe it's worth sending them some feedback on the situation?
If I call up a plumber on the weekend and fail to ask for a price before he does the work, then he presents me with a bill much higher than I thought it was going to be because I didn?t realise he charges a premium for weekend calls, is it my fault for not asking about his charges, or his fault for not specifically telling me exactly what his charges are?
For what it's worth, the last time I was roaming in Australia (late April this year), in addition to the usual "Welcome to the Vodafone Australia network" automated TXT message I also received a helpful TXT reminding me that roaming would cost $10 per megabyte charged to my account. I received both messages as soon as I turned on my phone on arrival in Melbourne. Perhaps it's a Melbourne thing as I can't recall getting the same message in Sydney last year.
I'm on a TXTer plan with a Broadband Lite plan - it all seemed highly reasonable and transparent. I agree that the prices are a bit ridiculous, but I'm happy to not bother with getting a local sim card when I'm only in town for a few days and only want to check my email a couple of times a day.
Before a recent trip to Oz both my partner and I called Vodafone to ensure our phones were setup for roaming and I remember the CSR specifically asking on both calls if I would like to hear the roaming charges. They did actually mention the data charges when they went over it.
KevinL: For what it's worth, the last time I was roaming in Australia (late April this year), in addition to the usual "Welcome to the Vodafone Australia network" automated TXT message I also received a helpful TXT reminding me that roaming would cost $10 per megabyte charged to my account. I received both messages as soon as I turned on my phone on arrival in Melbourne. Perhaps it's a Melbourne thing as I can't recall getting the same message in Sydney last year.
I can confirm I got this same message when I arrived in Brisbane in April this year as well, so if you're connecting to Vodafone when you arrive (which you should do if you want to use Vodafone Traveller anyway) then you should have been informed as to the cost as well.
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