Billed International roaming rates for calling NZ 0800 number with WiFi calling

Forums › 2degrees (including Slingshot, Orcon, Flip, Stuff Fibre, MyRepublic, 2talk and Vocus) › Billed International roaming rates for calling NZ 0800 number with WiFi calling

ztytian

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#289453 7-Sep-2021 11:43

I'm in the States at the moment for some urgent business, before I hopped on the jet I figured I'd snatch a 2degrees SIM to avoid some hefty charges.

My debit card got blocked today presumably for international usage, decided to try out 2d's wifi calling. Connected my iPhone to WiFi, toggled on WiFi calling and flight mode, made a call to 200, the call went out without a hitch. Then I tried to dial my bank's 0800 number, the call failed, weird I thought. I figured that might be down to my balance of zero, so I made a quick top up and the call went through without a hitch.

When I finished the call I jumped back to check the degrees app, I was surprised to find that I was charged $0.49 * 3 for my call.

My understanding is that making calls to 0800 numbers within New Zealand should be free, and if I make a call via WiFi calling I should be treated as though I was calling from inside New Zealand, so the call is supposed to be free for me? Or am I missing some caveats here?

I wasn't charged for an inbound call for a friend of mine tho, so I'm pretty sure WiFi calling is on and working. (I turned on flight mode to be extra sure). I've called up customer service they've agreed to refund the charges but aren't willing to investigate any further. Could anyone please shed some light on this particular issue?

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#2773494 7-Sep-2021 11:58

Just to be clear, you've made these 0800 calls from the US, is that right? What makes you think that being on WiFi calling makes it treated as an NZ NZ call? Have you seen that documented somewhere?

ztytian

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#2773496 7-Sep-2021 12:00

lxsw20:

Just to be clear, you've made these 0800 calls from the US, is that right? What makes you think that being on WiFi calling makes it treated as an NZ NZ call? Have you seen that documented somewhere?

Per https://www.2degrees.nz/help/mobile-help/calling-features/wifi-calling: When you’re overseas WiFi calls and texts back home will also come out of your plan or Add-on – as if you are in New Zealand*.

Oblivian

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#2773498 7-Sep-2021 12:01

Going by this, I expect it doesn't know how to handle 0800 without prefixing to get through the routing.

When you’re travelling internationally and want to make a phone call on your mobile, you need to include the International Calling Code at the start of the number even if you’re calling someone within the destination you’re in.

If you want to call 022 123 456, simply drop the ‘0’ and replace it with the country code which starts with ‘+’.

New Zealand’s International Calling Code is +64, which means that to call the above number you would dial +64 22 132 456.

Every country has their own International Calling Code, to find the codes for other destinations, search on countrycode.org.

Any overseas short-codes, freephone or premium numbers will not work when you have WiFi Calling enabled.

Also if you look hard, the bank will give the full international calling number direct dial which would be best used as a +649xxxxxx

0800 269 296 (overseas +64 4 470 3142, charges may apply)

lxsw20

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#2773499 7-Sep-2021 12:03

Well you learn something new every day. That's a great feature....if it works!

ztytian

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#2773501 7-Sep-2021 12:07

Oblivian:

Going by this, I expect it doesn't know how to handle 0800 without prefixing to get through the routing.

When you’re travelling internationally and want to make a phone call on your mobile, you need to include the International Calling Code at the start of the number even if you’re calling someone within the destination you’re in.

If you want to call 022 123 456, simply drop the ‘0’ and replace it with the country code which starts with ‘+’.

New Zealand’s International Calling Code is +64, which means that to call the above number you would dial +64 22 132 456.

Every country has their own International Calling Code, to find the codes for other destinations, search on countrycode.org.

Any overseas short-codes, freephone or premium numbers will not work when you have WiFi Calling enabled.

Also if you look hard, the bank will give the full international calling number direct dial which would be best used as a +649xxxxxx

IE

0800 269 296 (overseas +64 4 470 3142, charges may apply)

If that's the case wouldn't the call just doesn't go through at all? And I'd expect to see a charge for international calls not international roaming for that.

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#2773516 7-Sep-2021 12:22

These calls should be free when roaming and using WiFi calling

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SaltyNZ

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#2773517 7-Sep-2021 12:22

At the moment due to all the IPO stuff that's going on I won't generally comment on anything 2degrees related. But I agree that you should not be paying international rates to call an NZ number - toll-free or otherwise - from the US, using VoWifi. You'll need to log a call with Care, but you can reference this GZ thread and tell them I said to assign it to me to look at.

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These comments are my own and do not represent the opinions of 2degrees.

halper86

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#2773555 7-Sep-2021 13:28

Out of curiosity, as mentioned above - try calling that 0800 number again in this format: +64 800 nnn nnn

Stu

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#2773632 7-Sep-2021 14:03

Nope, you don't need to muck around with numbers. That's not required for how VoWiFi works. The OP shouldn't have had the issue, and that's been acknowledged above by people in the know.

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#2773637 7-Sep-2021 14:12

If you have flight mode on then how does it even know that you're "roaming" in the first place? (I'd argue that you're not technically roaming if you're on Wi-Fi since there's no roaming partner network involved).

ztytian

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#2773639 7-Sep-2021 14:16

Behodar:
If you have flight mode on then how does it even know that you're "roaming" in the first place? (I'd argue that you're not technically roaming if you're on Wi-Fi since there's no roaming partner network involved).

Just my two cents but probably down to:

1. The cell tower I last connected to
2. The IP address of my WiFi network
3. The GPS coordinates

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cisconz

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#2773690 7-Sep-2021 14:19

Behodar:

If you have flight mode on then how does it even know that you're "roaming" in the first place?

It will know by what ISP is being used, and or how it is routed to the 2D network (Via international links or national ones)

Behodar:

(I'd argue that you're not technically roaming if you're on Wi-Fi since there's no roaming partner network involved).

Yes, this is acknowledged by the right people.

Hmmmm

Oblivian

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#2773696 7-Sep-2021 14:27

Well, if calling codes aren't required. (the blurb I pulled is from the wifi calling page)

Sure seems strange to put them under that title...

How do I make a WiFi call when I’m overseas?

cisconz

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#2773705 7-Sep-2021 14:38

They are required if you are calling local to where you are though (In this example +1 for US)

Hmmmm

ztytian

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#2773712 7-Sep-2021 14:50

cisconz:

They are required if you are calling local to where you are though (In this example +1 for US)

Yeah my understanding is that with VoWiFi and VoLTE Roaming (we could hope one day) the call is handled at the carrier as a local one, thus no dialling codes should be necessary when making NZ to NZ calls.

On the other hand the old GSM roaming system probably had your phone connected directly to the local carriers thus calls would be treated as originating from the visited network.

I use my local US SIM card to avoid any International calling charges.

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