International roaming in the UK?

I was on Sheringham Beach in Norfolk, just a normal day out with the kids, and when I checked my phone later I saw I’d been charged international data rates — even though I never left the UK.

My phone had somehow connected to a World Zone 4 international network, and without any warning it started billing me at £6 + VAT per MB. That works out to over £7,000 for 1GB of data. I had no idea this could even happen, especially not while standing on a beach in England.

I didn’t get any alerts, no spending cap warning, nothing to say the charges were about to start. By the time I noticed, the costs had already been added to my account — £30 + VAT in this case.

It’s incredibly frustrating because I did nothing wrong. I was literally standing on a UK beach and still got billed like I was overseas. I’ve contacted my provider, but I haven’t received a refund yet.

Had a Vodafone Contract That Could Never Work

I’d been using a Vodafone SIM because I was in contract and had no choice. The problem was simple: it just didn’t work in my house. I couldn’t make calls, send texts, or use data.

Vodafone had told me it would work fine in my area. But when I checked the coverage maps properly, I realised why nothing ever worked — there are no Vodafone masts anywhere near my village. The only network that actually works here is EE.

So I was stuck in a contract with a SIM that physically couldn’t work where I live.

What makes it worse is that Vodafone must have known this. They can see coverage, they can see usage, they can see failed connections — yet they still wouldn’t let me out of the contract. I was paying for a service that wasn’t fit for purpose from day one.

I’ve now switched to EE and everything works perfectly, which proves the point: the Vodafone SIM was never capable of working here in the first place.

Couldn’t Activate a Simple PAYG SIM

I run a farm, and I needed a temporary SIM so I could use mobile data in the office while the BT lines to the village were down. I bought a Pay As You Go SIM, expecting it to be straightforward, but I couldn’t get it to activate at all.

Out here the signal is already limited, The SIM wouldn’t register, the activation kept failing, and every time I tried to top up or verify the number, the system rejected it. With no proper signal on the farm, I couldn’t receive the text messages needed to complete the setup.

Everything was automated or pushed me online — even suggesting I scan a QR code, which is a bit of a joke when you’ve got no signal and the SIM isn’t activated. In the end, I had to leave the farm, go to a friends to use their Wi‑Fi to try again. Even then, the process was still far more complicated than it should have been.

All I needed was a simple SIM that would activate. Instead, I lost time & money just trying to get basic service running. It shouldn’t be this difficult!!

Misled at Point of Sale: Sold “24GB” but Only Received 8GB

I went into the retailer needing a simple Pay As You Go SIM. On the shelf, the packaging clearly advertised 8GB boosted to 24GB. Nothing suggested there were conditions, delays, or hidden catches. As far as I could see, I was buying a SIM that would give me 24GB of usable data in the UK.

That’s exactly what the point‑of‑sale display led me to believe.

But once I activated the SIM, I realised I’d only been given 8GB. No sign of the extra 16GB. When I contacted the network, I was told the “boost” could take up to 72 hours to appear — something that wasn’t mentioned anywhere at the retailer.

Then it got worse.

The extra 16GB wasn’t UK data at all. It was roaming‑only data, meaning it could only be used abroad, not in this country. None of that was shown on the packaging, the shelf label, or the retailer’s product description. I had effectively bought an 8GB SIM for £10, despite being led to believe I was getting 24GB.

The retailer didn’t explain it. The packaging didn’t explain it. The point‑of‑sale information didn’t explain it.
I was misled at the moment of purchase.

I ended up with far less data than advertised, and the “extra” data was completely useless to me. It wasn’t what I paid for, and it wasn’t what I was told I was buying.

This is exactly the kind of misleading point‑of‑sale practice that leaves customers out of pocket and without the service they thought they were getting.