WIFI Calling to 800 Numbers While Abroad

I am living in Italy for most of the year. I have my US phone on WIFI Calling/Airplane mode. I am a pre-paid customer. I have had the ability to make calls to 800 numbers in this mode with no issue for several years, now in January I got this message that "I do not have enough money on my account to make an 800/888/877 call and that I would be transferred to Verizon" then it promptly disconnects me. I contacted support and they informed me that I would need to be using TravelPass and connected to the telco network in order to dial all 800/888/877 numbers (except calls directly to Verizon 800 customer support) because calls to these numbers are not considered domestic. How can this be? I need to pay $10-12 and connect to the telco network everytime I call a business in the US? Ridiculous and I don't know if I believe the agent as I have heard different things from Verizon. For now, they are not allowing me to make any WIFI calls from Italy to 800 numbers.

Accepted answers

Verizon_Support

Hello Leeep. You would need to call Global Support, but it does have to be done from a landline phone, and it is toll free. They will be able to help figure out what is going on with your services. The toll-free number varies based on where you are calling in from. Here is a list of numbers for you: https://www.verizon.com/support/pdf/BPOD-I2400-Toll-Free-Numbers-V5.pdf. If you have access to your Verizon phone and are able to call, please dial +1-908-559-4899. Here is some additional information: https://www.verizon.com/support/international-travel-faqs/. You can find it under "While You're Abroad" > "If I have a technical problem while traveling, how do I get help?".

*Rhonda

Global Service and Support Team (GST/GPST)

Phone: 800-711-8300 (Support Team)
Phone: 908-559-4899 (Roaming Internationally)
Phone: 800-711-8300 (Information and Inquiries)

Mon-Fri 9:00AM - 6:00PM ET

All comments

SynthpopAddict

My speculation is that ever since Travel Pass was enabled for prepaid lines, if you don't use Travel Pass and/or do not have funds loaded into your account or you disabled the Travel Pass option, then your prepaid line doesn't work at all. Or it's something with the overseas phone service.

If your phone is unlocked and supports dual SIM/eSIM, can you add a local service to your phone which would allow you to do the WiFi calling?

leeep

Thanks for the input. Actually I have my phone on airplane mode with WIFI calling enabled every day give I am in Italy and I am able to place calls to US numbers with no issue. Then recently I wasn't able to call 800 numbers any longer, I get this message saying I have no money on my account and then it disconnects me. In January I worked with tech support to solve this issue and the support person told me it was their issue on the backend. Today, again no ability to make 800 calls and then Verizon told me that they don't allow 800 numbers using WIFI calling as they don't see these numbers as domestic numbers. I do not believe that, first 800 numbers are by their nature domestic as they are US numbers. I was able to place 800 calls in the past and I still able to call Verizon support numbers which are 800 numbers, so I know it functions. They need to clarify their policy and their technology in my view.

Verizon_Support

*Rhonda

SynthpopAddict

You're welcome. Here's what I found on Google concerning this issue:

Calling 800 numbers overseas

In a nutshell, 800 numbers are free only within that country. If calling other US numbers which aren't 800 numbers is working on WiFi calling and not asking you to turn on a Travel Pass session, a workaround is to call the "regular" number the business has, if they have one.

Verizon_Support

Hi there, we know it is imperative to stay connected with family and friends whilst travelling. We can look into it for you. Please send us a Private Note. *Leyla