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Beware of the Fido Roam

Fredyo
I'm helpful level 1
I'm helpful level 1

If you have a Fido Pulse plan, Fido will have enabled (whether you wanted it or not) the Fido Roam plan. You might think you can just ignore it if you have no interest in using their roaming services but that is not the case. There are in fact a few sneaky little gotchas that may cost you upwards of $180 in extra charges on your next bill if you aren't fully informed. Read on.

 

It used to be that when you arrive in a destination country, you'd recieve a text message informing you that you were roaming and that pay-per-use roaming charges would apply. You would then even be given some roaming package you could choose to opt-in to. Cool!

Not the case anymore. Now with Fido Roam enabled, what happens it that once you arrive in your destination country, you'll recieve a text message that looks something like this:41945306_10155496318011734_1795333541324652544_n.jpg

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It would be very easy to think that by just not turning on your data (and data roaming) you'd be ok BUT that is not the case at all. There in lies the grand trap that cost me a small chunk of change! 

 

You will automatically enable Fido Roam services for a 24 hour period at whatever cost was specified in the initial text if you simply send a text message OR recieve an MMS message (a text with a picture) OR recieve a call and reject it (rather than letting it ring and go to voicemail). You won't have any idea that you activated it either until you get your bill at the end of your billing cycle. Further more, you can't even disable it from your customer account portal, you need to either get onto live chat or call a customer service representative to have them disable it!

 

I have a dual-SIM phone and in my case, it used to be that upon leaving, I'd disable Fido's data and enable my host countries data plan and I'd be free and clear. If I recieved a text or call on my Fido line, I could simply respond to it and pay the one time usage fee... turns out this year, that wasn't the case and rather than paying $10.50 for sending about 14 text messages I was dinged $84! Now that's one hell of a markup in price! 

 

I highly recommend you disable Fido Roam ASAP before travelling and instead, get a SIM chip for the country you are visiting. You will almost ALWAYS get a far superior deal to any roaming package Fido offers you! 

 

Going forward, here is what FIdo should do:

1) When the roaming plan has been activated for a 24 hour period, you should recieve a text message indicating it has been activated and should also give you the exact time it will be deactivated (as it lasts for a 24 hour period).

 

2) There should be a quick and easy way to opt out by text message.

 

3) It should NOT be automatically enabled on any plan, instead users should be able to opt-in to it like before.

 

4) It should be easily enabled/disabled via the customer service portal as opposed to having to actually have a customer service rep do it for you.

 

I don't forsee any of these happening though because there is money to be made as data overage and roaming charges bring HUGE dollars to telecom providers. 

 

Hope this helps someone from falling into this trap because if you think Fido will reimburse you, you are sorely mistaken. You will be told that their roaming policies are "clearly laid out" on some part of their site for anyone to read... sadly this is all after the fact that you've fallen into the trap!

 

Now cue the customer service reps and community mods to chime in with their copy-pasted responses indicating how sorry they are that I feel this way and that it's not for everyone and so on....

90 REPLIES 90

Hello RoamingRiOff,

 

  Welcome to the community!

 

  Logging into a network's Wifi which requires authentication does not use cellular data. However, while your device may be connected to Wifi in order to login, your device won't be connected to the internet until it is fully authenticated. It will only be connected to the local Wifi network for login.

 

  If your data and roaming data were enabled, any data required by your phone's systems or apps before you finished logging-in would have used cellular data because your device was not connected to the internet.

 

  For the future, if you do not intend on using your cellular services, you might consider enabling Airplane or Flight mode for the duration of your trip. You could then manually enable Wifi when required. You should note that if your phone is capable of Wifi-calling, certain usage would be considered roaming as well.

 

Hope this helps 😀

 

Cheers

 


RoamingRiOff
I'm a participant level 3
I'm a participant level 3

you don't understand the main point, Fido hides the ways to avoid these charges.

Fido plays dirty with its customers.

cathalog
I'm a participant level 2
I'm a participant level 2

I just got nailed by this sneaky charge as well. Charged about $39 to send around 5 text messages over the span of 3 days in Europe.

 

If Fido really cared about customers’ interpretation of Fido Roam charges as being predatory, they would change it to a price cap. In other words, you would pay the per-usage-rates, but only up to a maximum of $13 / day ($8 in the US).

RoamingRiOff
I'm a participant level 3
I'm a participant level 3

Hi,

 

Fido hunts down its customers to charge them Roaming fees.

Fido charges you when you connect to a wifi that requires login authentication!!

 

Fido will have to reimburse all customers because what they are doing is illegal.

 

Please, stop copy/pasting your ridicule answers!

kpreville
I'm a participant level 2
I'm a participant level 2

how can i opt out!! why cant i simply text UNTRAVEL to 222?

Jvajna
I'm a participant level 2
I'm a participant level 2

I just got dinged $12 because I got a spam call while at the airport in Germany and I canceled it and it got forwarded to voicemail!! I should not be charged for that!! I have my data roaming turned off. After reading this forum, I have been leaving my phone on airplane mode because I was paranoid. The original poster was right - Fido Roam is a total scam!! Beware. I am in the process of trying to port my number over to a different provider anyway. But I should get $12 credited to my account. 

Hello Jvajna,

 

  Welcome to the community!

 


@Jvajna wrote:..I got a spam call while at the airport in Germany and I canceled it and it got forwarded to voicemail!! ...

  Is that all you did with your phone? Rejecting calls were no longer supposed to trigger roaming charges (see here). Perhaps @FidoSolutions could verify that information, please?

 

  If you do not intend on using any of your services, your best option is to keep your phone with Airplane or Flight mode enabled. You can then manually enable Wifi when required.

 

  When comparing other providers, you should note that many of them have a similar roaming service.

 

Hope this helps 😀

 

Cheers
 

 

 

 

 


Jvajna
I'm a participant level 2
I'm a participant level 2

Okay, well I'm currently chatting on Facebook Messenger with one of your colleagues and she just said this..

 

"When you end a call manually and it gets forwarded to voicemail on a foreign network, it is considered roaming as the phone is being used on their network. That's what triggered the charge."

 

I literally got this message a couple minutes ago.

Hello again,

 

  Firstly, I don't work for Fido...

 

  I understand your frustration. I had previously tried to warn people that this could happen. However, I was assured that simply rejecting a call would no longer trigger the Fido Roam charge (see above link). Could we please get some clarification from @FidoSolutions ?

 

Cheers

 


FidoNick
Former Moderator
Former Moderator

Hey @Jvajna and @Cawtau!

 

We've confirmed with our roaming team that rejecting a call while abroad should not trigger a roaming charge. We're investigating why this happened on our end Smiley

 

Hope that helps everyone out! 

 

 



Aa51
I'm a participant level 1
I'm a participant level 1

The fix Fido Roaming is a SCAM. It's opted in by default. There is no communicate on how this is charged. I still got charge when i turn OFF data, no text and no voice!!  You guys are just making more angry customers.

maudie
I'm a participant level 2
I'm a participant level 2

wow fido. I'm in Europe and just fell into this trap. Well never again. I'm switching off my phone and researching better providers as soon as I get back.I do hope that more people become aware of this trick! This is awful business practice.

Hey @maudie

 

It's unfortunate to see your experience with Fido Roam has left you feeling this way however I can assure you that there is no trap. If you do not wish to have any charges for roaming with Fido Roam, you can simply choose not to use any of your services from your Fido phone while abroad. 

 

You are only billed for what you use and you are notified of the applicable charges as soon as you connect to a foreign network. 



maudie
I'm a participant level 2
I'm a participant level 2

HI @FidoAmanda

 

Yes, I do get that now. I know now that you have to turn off your phone completely in order to avoid charges. I could tell by the 200 dollars overcharge in my bill for sending and receiving a few text messages.

 

But it is definitely designed to trick customers with the charges. Fido Roam is turned on by default and unless you turn your phone all the way off/ remove the SIM, it IS going to be activated one way or another, without you even getting a notification that you're being overcharged and entering a 24 hours activation period.

And you can't even just turn it off without calling customer services. 

 

 If I had realized it would be like this I wouldn't have brought my phone and just got a temporary phone here. It's certainly cheaper than fido roam charges.

 

thanks for your response though.

 

We're really sad that you feel this way about Fido Roam @maudie! That's certainly not the impression we want you to have of the service. As my colleagues mentioned before, we only bill you for the usage incurred on your account. If there is no outgoing usage, there is no charge. 

 

I personally received email notifications both times I activated Fido Roam on my line to advise me of its impact. Did you check your email if you received it too?



Lololo
I'm a participant level 3
I'm a participant level 3

@FidoSaira "I personally received email notifications both times I activated Fido Roam on my line' - please provide a step by step description of how did you "activate Fido Roam" on your line! Thank you

 

 

Hello Lololo,

 

  While I don't necessarily wish to speak for FidoSaira, she likely referred to using her services abroad.

 


@FidoSaira wrote:

 

The fee is only triggered if there is an outgoing usage that we detect through your Fido SIM card. The following usages would trigger the fee:

  • Outgoing SMS/MMS
  • Calls (making a call, responding to a call)
  • Using data on apps
  • Retrieving voicemails

~ taken from here.

 

Hope the helps 😀

 

Cheers

 

 

 


Fredyo
I'm helpful level 1
I'm helpful level 1

I sure as hell received no email or text! 

 

I know this because I would have terminated Fido Roam there and then! 

FidoNick
Former Moderator
Former Moderator

Hey @Fredyo!

 

A roaming text is sent as soon as your phone connects to a foreign network in order to let you know that you're roaming and of the possible charges.

 

If you've travelled recently and did not get this please let us know.

 

 



Fredyo
I'm helpful level 1
I'm helpful level 1

Yes you get welcoming text when you arrive in a new country but you don't get any sort of indication that Fido Roaming has been enabled for a given period.

Hello again,

 


@Fredyo wrote:

Yes you get welcoming text when you arrive in a new country but you don't get any sort of indication that Fido Roaming has been enabled for a given period.


  I think the issue is related to the likelihood that home networks do not necessarily get usage information in real-time:

 

  For post-paid roaming, when the user first switches their phone on, the visited network checks in real time whether the home network authenticates the customer and authorises its use abroad...  ~ taken from here.

 

  That would result in the Welcoming text message we receive when our phones connect to a foreign network.

 

  ...But the data records (CDRs) with the details on each SMS and data session are sent to the home operator with some delay (up to several days).. ~ also taken from link above.

 

  If home networks don't receive usage information in real-time, it's not possible for them to provide customers with notification that a roaming session has begun without a delay.

 

  The situation is different with pre-paid services where a real-time exchange is required to prevent the balance of the roaming customers' accounts from becoming overdrawn. That's likely the reason why pre-paid roaming often costs more than post-paid roaming.

 

Hope this helps 😀

 

Cheers