Urgent Billing Issue – Unexpected High Data Charge?

You have sent me a private message with the same question. Please do not do that.

I am not an Simyo employee, so it is difficult to help you there. Purely based on the information I can only speculate.

With only 5MB of data usage and a 26.11€ charge, the MBs did cost about 5 euro/MB. That's actually possible when you were dataroaming outside of The Netherlands and zone 1 countries (Europe) or on some air-planes and ferries/boats.

It is also possible to sometime connect to mobile networks from another country from within zone 1 countries (Greece to Turkey for example).

If you are roaming, please do check the rates on the following page:
https://www.simyo.nl/klantenservice/roaming

Hi ​@xiaogea,

Thanks for your message. To begin with, I’d like to point out that it’s against the house rules to send private messages to users or moderators without asking first. I kindly ask you to not do this again and to keep all communication public so everyone can help and benefit from the answers!

That said, ​@Groentjuh's response is correct. A charge of €26.11 for about 5MB suggests a rate of around €5 per MB, which is in line with our out of bundle roaming charges in countries outside the EU (zone 1) or in special cases like connections via airplanes, ferries, or satellite networks. Sometimes even when you're in a zone 1 country your phone may connect to a nearby non EU network (as ​@Groentjuh mentioned in his message, like in Greece near the Turkish border) which could explain these kinds of charges.

I checked your account and I can confirm that the charges occurred because you used data in China where the rate is indeed €5.00 per MB. We always send a text message when you arrive in a different country including the applicable rates. Did you see that message? 

To avoid this in the future I recommend turning off mobile internet in Mijn Simyo or disabling data roaming altogether when traveling outside the EU.

Hope this clears things up a bit  and thanks again ​@Groentjuh for your help!

Greetings,
Seren

Before asking my question, I browsed through some other posts and mistakenly thought you were a community staff member. I didn't intend to bother you, and if my actions have made you feel disturbed, I sincerely apologize.Finally, thank you so much for your help. Thank you once more.

I apologize for my actions. It was not my intention to violate the community rules. I was quite rushed at that moment because I saw that my account balance had disappeared and I have no idea what happened. Please forgive my reckless behavior. I will no longer send private messages to other forum members. And by the way, if I continue to top up, do I just need to turn off my data connection so that the €5 per MB charge won't occur?

While you are in China, turn off the option “Internetten in het buitenland”. That is an option in “Mijn Simyo”. This will block data roaming from Simyo's side and will prevent you from using any internet abroad. Because it will be blocked for Simyo's side, no data roaming charges can occur.

The unblock a prepaid connection you need to top up. Any prepaid connection with 0 euro balance is blocked. You might have to restart your phone after topping up to remove the block.

Please note that receive calls, calling and sending SMS from within China also have roaming charges.

No worries, it's okay. :)

​@Groentjuh already mentioned the best options for you in his previous message. Did that help you out? If not, let me know!

Also, thanks ​@Groentjuh!

No other questions at the moment, thanks for your help, and thanks also to  ​@Groentjuh!

I'm happy to hear that your question has been answered. I will close this topic for now. If you have any other questions, feel free to open a new topic!