Morocco -Do not have any credit on phone there. *Nothing* (texts/calls/data) works& you los

[#1]

Dont use Giffgaff in Morocco. it does not work

I have just spent 10 days in Morocco. had £22 of credit in the credit account (not goodybag) on my phone. This was zeroed from £22 to £0.00. I lost all the credit money for zero phone usage on any network.

My phone has worked fine in many other countries.Nothing on my phone set up has been altered since it successfully worked in the UK and other countries overseas.

When I arrived in  Marrakesh; I attempted to send text from airport to UK giffgaff phone saying "I have arrived". But instantly got message failure.  Same result when I tried another 4 times at different times.

Sat nav didnt work at all; any data apps and calls didnt work at all ever.

Whilst in Marrakesh I met several other UK Giffgaff phone holders; and another girl on O2- and nothing worked for any body. 

Giffgaff lists Morocco as a country that one can roam in- but for whatever reason 'languages' of the networks- they are not compatible.

Another British man on a non Giffgaff UK network said he thought his phone was working.

I am not sure with it is network incompatibiity or whether there is a 'scam' at work whereby somehow someone may be taking off the credit.

Either way I have asked Giffgaff for a refund as the product purchased has not worked *at all*; and ws therfore not fit for purpose.

Next time I will buy a Moroccan sim from the airport.

I hope to go to the Lebanon in a few months. does anyoe know if Giffgaff phones will actually work there?

kind regards.......

[#2]

@skysea just a thought @skysea did you have your data switched on

at £5/mb it could have used £22 in the background as soon as you switched your phone on

[#3]

Hi @skysea sorry to hear of your troubles. Giffgaff/o2 do have roaming partners in Morocco so it’s strange you and others struggled. List below up to date but I have read many have been and roamed ok   

It could have been a network issue or a problem with your account hard to troubleshoot now that you are back I assume? 

This may help https://community.giffgaff.com/t5/Using-giffgaff/I-am-abroad-why-can-t-I-make-a-call/ta-p/7435754

Get an agent to to check your account out for you and to also check where/how the £20 was used because it definitely went somewhere and not just disappear. 

Use 

Use this link 

https://support2.giffgaff.com/app/ask/International-and-Roaming/Calls-texts-data-while-abroad/form/

Please note agents can take up to 24hrs to respond

Check for reply from agents using link below
https://giffgaff.com/support/questions

And yes, you will be able to roam in Lebanon on gg but it will cost you £5/MB charged to your airtime credit for data which is eye watering and probably a local sim is best option for you if your phone is unlocked.

See here https://giffgaff.com/roaming-charges

[#4]

@skysea

giffgaff's roaming rates are here https://giffgaff.com/roaming-charges

Outside the EU/EEA they are very expensive (with the exeption of a few European but non EU countries) & if cost is an issue for you then using giffgaff in these places should be reserved for genuine emergency use only.

Lebanon is not in Europe - so draw your own conclusions.

@mcilwraith is absolutely correct about your mobile data while in Morroco - it you had it turned on it would only require a tiny 4.4MB of data usage to wipe out your £22 of credit & your phone could easily use that while you were trying to type your SMS message.

[#5]

@skysea a friend of mine went to New Zealand she forgot to disable the data and lost £39 in airtime credit.

[#6]

@skysea

In addition to the cost problem giffgaff say "Roaming coverage cannot be guaranteed in this destination, and some services may not be available" about roaming in Lebanon (see just below the roaming rates), and O2 say Pay As You Go is "Unavailable" there - see http://international.o2.co.uk/internationaltariffs/travelling_abroad#. So giffgaff will certainly not work fully & correctly there (although some parts of the service may work).

[#7]

Hi,

Morocco isn't part of the EU so you will get roaming charges.

If you left data activated on your phone it is very probable apps have been updated in the background leading to a unexpected loss of credit.

[#8]

weird. might be worth contacting an agent on that one.

[#9]

I'm not sure why you couldn't roam in Morroco but to save you some stress when you get there I can tell you that you cannot roam in Lebanon with giffgaff.

For reasons best known to themselves,giffaff are very economical with the facts when it comes to roaming coverage in non EU countries and if you select Lebanon from the menu on the giffgaff roaming page,underneath the supposed prices you'll find this information:-

"Roaming coverage cannot be guaranteed in this destination, and some services may not be available."

What this actualy means is "you can't use your giffgaf sim in this country"and the way to be absolutely certain is this:-

giffgaff's roaming coverage is the same as that offered to O2 PAYG customers so if you visit the page below and select Lebanon from the menu then click the PAYG button you'll see this:-

http://international.o2.co.uk/internationaltariffs/travelling_abroad

Just why giffgaff don't adopt a more open and honest approach to which countries you can and can't roam in is a mystery to me and I've seen it cause a lot of frustration to members over the years when they've arrived in different countries jsut to find their phone is useless there but that's the way giffgaff choose to present us with the information unfortunately.

[#10]

In Morocco you only get 4.5 mb's of data for £22. Two emails maybe? That's it.