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:
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....
Hey jrdunno, this is definitely not the type of experience that we aim for, we do recommend to turn off all data roaming if you're not planning on using the Data Bytes service in order to avoid unwanted usage.
Airplane mode is also a good alternative although some devices make it easy to remove it which could cause additional fees if the data roaming option is activated.
In regards to the price of the service, we all have different perspectives in regards to what we perceive to be great value. It is unfortunate that some of my colleagues were not sensitive to that fact when addressing the situation with you.
Our goal is to be as transparent as possible when it comes to roaming which is why you receive a text message as soon as we're able to find out that you're outside of the country. We appreciate any feedback that would help make that process more enjoyable.
In regards to our pay-per-use option, we do have options if you wish to be billed by the text or by the minute for your phone calls and daily rates do not apply to those services. If you do wish to use your data while abroad on pay-per-use I would not recommend it since it can get quite costly and the pay-per-use service is mostly meant for those looking to talk and text.
As for shutting down all roaming, it is your choice to decide whether or not you'd like the option to be activated or turned off. Sadly we're not able to be selective with the networks that we're able to turn off on your device, either it's all of them or none of them. Then again these are options that you can easily manage from your own phone if you wish to proceed that way.
If you do have other questions, please contact us here and we'd be glad to help you with your inquiries.
Hello FaridGM,
@FaridGM wrote:... Days when I do not plan to use the phone, I switch the data off, and Fido does not charge me. Rejecting calls never costed me a penny...
For those who are not aware, disabling data and/or roaming data does not prevent roaming for voice and messaging. Making/receiving calls or sending messages with that setting disabled will still incur the Fido Roam charge.
Thank you for verifying that rejecting calls no longer incurs roaming charges.
Hope this helps 😀
Cheers
Hey @Fredyo!
Thanks for your feedback! That's certainly a lot of points to cover and I promise not to copy/paste anything. 
I just have a few points to clarify there:
1. We extended Fido Roam to everyone so all our customers can take advantage of it while traveling. In general, there's more value in using Fido Roam then pay-per-use. Hence why we went with the opt-out model rather than the opt-in one.
2. Although we extended this to everyone, you do have the options to opt-out anytime to use our pay-per-use rates. Those rates and Fido Roam information can be found here.
3. Usage that triggers Fido Roam includes making or receiving a phone call, retrieving voicemails, sending a text (receiving is free), sending/receiving a picture message or using data. Rejecting a call will not trigger Fido Roam.
That all being said, I completely understand if Fido Roam doesn't meet your particular needs. We will certainly take all your other suggestions in consideration.
If you would like to discuss you billing, you can reach out to us using these methods and we'll be happy to look into it
Let me know.
Hey @davidfabbro,
We understand unwanted charges are never fun and we don't want you to have any such surprises on the bill either, especially being in Canada. We have measures in place to prevent any accidental roaming though. It's also good to know that connecting to an American tower will not incur he charge, but only if a usage is made while connected.
You can contact us through these channels if you wish to opt-out of Fido Roam.
@FidoPhilippe wrote:
Hey @Fredyo!
Thanks for your feedback! That's certainly a lot of points to cover and I promise not to copy/paste anything.
I could hardly tell.....
1. We extended Fido Roam to everyone so all our customers can take advantage of it while traveling. In general, there's more value in using Fido Roam then pay-per-use. Hence why we went with the opt-out model rather than the opt-in one.
You people made an opt-in model that included everyone including those who didn't and wouldn't have wanted to be and if they didn't bother to check the fine print (because why would they if they had no intention of ever using it) they would have never known that even if you tried to avoid roaming charges by switching off their data roaming (which used to work just fine) they now had to put their phone into airplane mode to be completely safe! THIS alone tells you just how aggressive and utterly absurd this policy is!
2. Although we extended this to everyone, you do have the options to opt-out anytime to use our pay-per-use rates. Those rates and Fido Roam information can be found here.
Copy-Paste In Effect!
Oh sure you can opt-out anytime. Of course this would imply that you were fully aware of how many different ways it could be enabled! I'm sure there aren't many people who would think that just recieving a call OR sending a text message OR recieving a picture message would, despite their data roaming being disabled, still end up activating the service for a full 24 hours! They'd probably opt out when they'd return home from vacation, get their bill and blow a gasket when they've realized that despite their best efforts they've been taken to the cleaners!
And you can't even disable it from your customer account portal or a simple text message. No you need contact a customer service representative! Absolutely ridiculous!!
3. Usage that triggers Fido Roam includes making or receiving a phone call, retrieving voicemails, sending a text (receiving is free), sending/receiving a picture message or using data. Rejecting a call will not trigger Fido Roam.
Apparently it does according to other things I've read. Moot point ... unless you remove your SIM chip or disable it, you are getting pooched and you will have NO idea until you've recieved your bill at the end of the month! THIS IS MY POINT!
That all being said, I completely understand if Fido Roam doesn't meet your particular needs. We will certainly take all your other suggestions in consideration.
It doesn't. It never did. That's why I simple kept my data off so as to not enable it (as per what the initial text message inferred).
If you would like to discuss you billing, I would be quite happy to send you a PM to discuss it further with you.
Sure you can PM me all you want but unless you are willing to refund my $84 swindled dollars and instead charge me for just the texts I've sent (should be no more than 15) at the default pay-per-use rates, we have nothing to talk about.
I've emailed the complaints department yesterday and if I don't hear from them by tomorrow I will escalate and go to the telecommunications ombudsman. I will also continue spreading the word to anyone that will listen... this includes CBC Go Public.
Hey @kpreville
If you want to opt-out from Fido Roam, you just need to contact us using any of the options you'll find here.
Keep in mind that, if you opt-out, pay per use rates will apply for your usage and you would need to contact us to opt back in if you change your mind.
Hey @rho88,
Thank you for your feedback. While we totally understand that unexpected charges are no fun, we make sure to advise our customers about any chargers that may incur when they use Fido roam in a covered destination via a free incoming text message. When you receive the text message, you have the option to put your phone on airplane mode or just take out your sim card to avoid any such usage. You can also contact us to opt-out.
The $10 fee only applies to a few specific transactions that are easily available through self-serve options. Opting-out of Fido roam in not included in that. We also offer many ways to contact us to accommodate our customers, calling in is not the only option. That said, if you use your Fido sim, you are billed a flat rate of either $7 in US or $12 internationally that gives you access to what your plan offers for a full 24 hours.
To clarify, if you have a spare phone with a local sim, there should be no fee. As you might have read in this thread, the roaming fee is only triggered when an outgoing usage is detected and validated through your Fido sim card. There's no way for us to see any usage made on any other sim, but our own.
You can check if you are currently enrolled to Fido Roam by simply texting ROAM to 222.
Hey @ rho88!
Rest assured that our replies are genuine and all the information we provided was accurate.
The last thing we want is to mislead anyone.
You really have nothing to lose by keeping it active on your account. You're only charged if you use the service and if you do remove it, you’ll be charged full price for every minute, SMS/MMS and all of the data you use while roaming.
It is still entirely possible by contacting us though. Please note that we have many channels available for customer service including calling from abroad, Live Chat, or Social Media on Facebook and Twitter.
While it is not possible at the moment to do it from MyAccount, once again we definitely appreciate the feedback on the matter as we always wish to improve our app and self-serve tools.
If you prefer to still use a non-Fido SIM, it's entirely up to you.
If you still wish to use your SIM and avoid Fido Roam fees, you have to make sure that your mobile/roaming data is turned off, to not send texts and to not make/receive phone calls.
Hello Fredyo,
@Fredyo wrote:...they would have never known that even if you tried to avoid roaming charges by switching off their data roaming (which used to work just fine) they now had to put their phone into airplane mode to be completely safe! THIS alone tells you just how aggressive and utterly absurd this policy is!...
... I'm sure there aren't many people who would think that just recieving a call OR sending a text message OR recieving a picture message would, despite their data roaming being disabled, still end up activating the service for a full 24 hours!...
It's unfortunate you misunderstood the term data roaming. However that is not a Fido issue. It is a fact of newer cellular phones. Older cellular phones used to have a roaming setting as well as a separate data roaming setting. Disabling roaming would prevent all roaming while disabling data roaming would only disable roaming data, but allow for voice and message roaming. However, that separate roaming setting was removed from Android a while back (I'm thinking circa Jelly bean or Kitkat...). I'm not sure if iOS ever had a separate roaming setting, but I'm pretty sure they currently only have a data roaming setting.
That means, newer phones automatically roam. With data roaming disabled, it is still possible to roam with voice and messaging. The only way to prevent voice and messaging roaming is to enable a phone's Flight or Airplane mode. That's for all newer phones, regardless mobile provider.
Fido was not trying to trap anyone with Fido Roam. Within that Fido Roam message you provided, it clearly states:
...use your data, talk and text from your plan in the U.S. for just $7/day.
There's no ambiguity there -- data, talk and text -- for the stated amount (+ taxes, even!). The last statement to enable data roaming is to remind people it needs to be enabled to use data. Since phones now automatically roam, the use of talk and text is inherent because there is no other setting.
I'll admit, perhaps Fido could provide better options to opt-out of Fido Roam. I personally preferred being able to purchase a Travel Pack (I have a non-Pulse plan).
Hope this helps
Cheers
