Be aware of Data only plans.

[Alexir388]

I've been loyal Fido customer for a wile now. I recently got 2 tablets with data plans, so in total I have 4 lines with Fido. Right now, when I'm getting closer to my data limit on my phones, I'm getting message notifying me about it, so I was pretty confident with using my tablet. At the same time, I couldn't login to My Fido app on my tablet because I wasn't receiving messages from Fido to authorize my login.

I got a message 2 days ago saying that I have reached a 50$ limit of my overcharges on one of my tablets and my Internet was paused. It was interesting because I had not received any messages from Fido that I was close to my limit.

I phoned the customer service an they told me that Fido is not responsible to send me messages, and that they have no way to notify me or pause my data usage ones I've reached my limit. I asked a person to arrange a conversation with a manager to bring up my concerns, So I was put on hold for 2 hours and 45 min when I was told that manager was not able to talk to me today and how I would receive a call back within 24 hours.

I haven't received any phone calls back and today I made a call myself. The manager was very straight forward and rude to me saying that she didn't see any reasons to talk about past and I she explained me ways how I should manage my data (App, reset usage every month on my iPad, phone Fido). 

I would like other users to be aware that Fido won't notify you that you are over your limit until you have an overage of over 50$.

They also don't want to do anything to fix this problem, and when I said that I might have to cancel my line because of all that, I was told that I'm more than welcome to review my options.

That's how "Merry Christmas" from Fido sounded for me. 

[CherrySoul]

Thanks for the warning. I just received a tablet and with fido's advertising of no more overages I did not think i had to be concerned with this. Its disappointing.

[Cawtau]

Hello CherrySoul,

Happy Holidays!

  The Data Overage Protection feature is only available on the newer talk, text, and data plans (see full details here). You should note that existing plans do not include the data overage protection either. To avail of the feature, you would need to change to a plan which includes the feature. The plans with data overage protection are clearly identified on the Fido Plans page.

Hope this helps 😀

Cheers

[ef4]

There are two issues here:

1. Incoming SMS is blocked, at least with my 4 GB $10 plan, even though the plan description claims it includes unlimited Incoming SMS. See my thread here:

https://forums.fido.ca/t5/General-Support/4-GB-10-tablet-data-plan-Does-not-support-incoming-SMS-as/...

2. Some tablets like the iPad can't get SMS in the first place, so even if incoming SMS was supported on the plan, you wouldn't be able to see it, because iPads cannot deal with SMS directly, even with cellular models. (The only way iPads can send/receive SMS is via a relay to an iPhone.)

I guess the other potential problem is perhaps Fido just decided not to send data limit SMS messages for data-only tablet plans, but the agents I spoke with claimed they should be sent on this plan.

[Cawtau]

Hello Ef4,

  I replied to your other thread here. As noted in that post, I don't believe the the data-only plans support text messages anymore.

  I understand you assumed you would receive a SMS regarding your data usage with your data plan because your phone plans provided them. However, although the older data-only plans did allow for voice and messaging on a pay-per-use basis, the plans were not intended for those purposes (hence data-only). In addition, as you note, many tablets do not allow for phone calls or text messaging. As such, the data-only plans did not provide the data usage notifications. Providing a text message notification for a plan which is not intended for messaging does not make sense.

Hope this helps 😀

Cheers

[Alexir388]

Hi,

The interesting part that I received 2 text messages on my data only IPad, one was welcoming me as a customer and another saying that I had reached 50$ limit.

So I guess Fido sending messages selectively.

[FidoClaudia · Accepted solution]

Hey @Alexir388,

I can confirm that the 90% and 100% data notifications are not compatible with data-only plans for tablets, therefore you won't receive a notification when getting close to the limit. 

We do however send you a text message notification if you incur up to $50 and $100 of data overage charges on your tablet line. 

The My Account app isn't compatible with tablets, but the good news are that you can keep track of the usage made on your tablet through your online account on our website under Usage & Services and by then selecting the tablet line in question. Keeping an eye on it through the website will help you monitor your usage and avoid going over. 

I hope this helps clear everything up! If you still have concerns about this, don't hesitate to contact us to look into it.

[FidoClaudia]

Hey @Alexir388,

We're really sad to read about your previous experience, it's definitely not what we want for our customers

We're looking into this and will get back to you as soon as we have more details!