Hi guys,
I am another victim of these Fido Roam Charges while I was in Mexico from Jan 10 to Jan 18. I was conscious about turning off my Cellular Data as well as ensuring the Roaming Data is also off on my phone prior to boarding the flight to Mexico.
When I return and saw the Fido bill, I was surprised by these roaming charges. So I start googling and calling up Fido customer support.
From googling, I found out that this is a very common issue for iPhone users where there are still "leakage" of data usage when the phone has Cellular Data turned off.
The data usage was as follows (the 5M data usage on Jan 10 was prior to boarding the flight):
And I was charged with the following:
So I called customer support and tried to dispute these charges but end up unsuccessful.
My argument is as follows:
1. My Cellular Data as well as Roaming Data was switched off.
2. From the small data usage, it prove that I have no intention to use data at all during my trip and these are somehow glitches in the phone or system that I am not aware about.
3. I have not consented that I wish to use Fido Roam or activate Fido Roam
4. I was not informed that I have activated Fido Roam for each of the days I was charged
Below is their argument saying the charges are valid:
1. There was roaming data usage, it doesn't matter how much so I was charged for the full day
2. They have sent a text message explaining the charges and that Fido Roam was available if I were to use
3. I should have switch on airplane mode or pull out my sim card instead of just turning off cellular data and roaming data
The best they could do is to refund one day worth of charges ($12) and offer me extra data and free long distance call in the next cycle.
I just find this to be ridiculous how they can charge a full day for a 15kb usage (Jan 14th). Also by them sending you a text saying Fido Roam is available you automatically opted-in on the service and they can charge you the moment they detect any usage. They don't even tell you Fido Roam is activated for the full day.
After calling them and speaking to multiple reps with the same result, I now decided to switch to a different carrier and I will be filing a complaint to the Business Bureau and CRTC.
Hello Petesz,
Welcome to the community!
Sorry to hear you might have incurred unexpected roaming charges. However, had you actually received roaming charges or had you just received the Welcome Abroad text notification? Merely receiving that Welcome Abroad message does not necessarily mean that your device had used services. I was able to confirm that merely receiving that message does not incur roaming fees (see here). However, if you did incur roaming charges, it's likely your device used other services when it connected to the foreign network.
The Fido Roam charges will only incur if your phone uses services -- make or receive a call, send a text message or use data abroad. While receiving SMS would not incur the roaming charge, it's worth mentioning that the data contained within MMS (incoming or outgoing) would be considered roaming data and charged accordingly. You should note that MMS are not solely restricted to pictures or video messages. Messages with subject headers or group messages etc are also considered MMS. It should also be noted that RCS messages are sent (and received) as data and not as text messages (SMS). Even if a received text message is SMS, if your device is configured to provide Delivery and/or Read receipts, those would be sent as SMS or data and considered roaming usage.
I understand you had disabled roaming data. However, it should be noted that disabling data and roaming data does not prevent roaming for calls and messages. In addition, it should also be noted that some phones might consider certain system data differently from user data and continue to allow the former usage despite data and roaming data settings disabled. For example, while disabling data and roaming data should prevent data usage on foreign networks, some mobile manufacturers (ie Apple) does seem to allow some data usage despite those settings disabled. That's why in order to prevent roaming charges, it is usually recommended to keep Airplane or Flight modes enabled for the duration of trips. Customers could manually enable Wifi when required.
@Petesz wrote:
...I have never had such issue while I was using my pay-as-you-go plan before the acquisition...
To which acquisition are you referring? Fido was purchased by Rogers in 2004. Before they were acquired, Fido was only a GSM (2G) provider. Data (GPRS or EDGE) was rather slow back then and I imagine roaming data was also limited. In fact, iPhones weren't released until 2007 so it couldn't have been an issue at that time.
As well, you should note that roaming is different for pre-paid and post-paid services:
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.
Since pre-paid services require funds before access to services, that could be a reason you had not previously incurred roaming charges for that usage.
@Petesz wrote:
....This could only happen in Canada. In any other market, they would be quickly pushed out of business. I have used 10+ different world renown mobile providers in 10+ countries with my iphone. None of them incurred roaming charges if I choose to turn off data roaming on while traveling abroad...
I understand that is your personal experience. Unfortunately, our own personal experiences do not necessarily reflect the situations of all consumers. I am aware some people have referenced other providers not charging for such data usage. However, while they may have previously forgiven an initial instance of such roaming data, they appear to also be charging for data usage even with those settings disabled (see here, here, and here). The issue is not limited to Fido (or Rogers).
And no, it doesn't only happen in Canada. The issue appears to also affect customers in the United States (see here and here). Their plans and roaming features may be slightly different than on this side of the border, yet people also note data roaming charges despite data settings disabled. In addition, the issue appears to also affect European Countries (see here)...
There are numerous examples showing that this issue seemingly affects customers outside of Canada as well. The issue is some devices are letting the data usage despite data and roaming data settings disabled. There are people who have suggested it's due to a network handshake or phones pinging the cellular towers. All mobile phones ping and conduct handshakes with cellular towers. However, the issue does not affect all cellular devices. As illustrated by this member on another forum, only some devices have this issue (see here). Apple has apparently acknowedged that their devices do allow 'SIM data' with data and roaming data settings disabled (see forum thread above). Unfortunately, no one is holding the manufacturers accountable.
The technical issue is all Apple's. Mobile providers only know usage. I believe the issue stems Apple and their protected ecosystem. The reason I heard a long time ago (unfortunately unable to locate reference) was that Apple devices need to connect to their servers in order to operate correctly. That connection is not a simple cellular tower handshake or ping and not related to mobile providers. That data exchange abroad would be considered roaming usage.
Hope this helps 😀
Cheers
Hello again,
More evidence that it doesn't only happen in Canada (see here). That one thread has people experiencing the same issue from Singapore, China, and Australia. Also note that post thread was from 2014 so it's known a long-standing issue. The OP's provider in this thread is in the United Kingdom. Interestingly, the author of that post suggested that, at least in their case, the data transfer could be from an automatic text message reply. The poster of this thread is from European Union...
Google iPhone using data with roaming data disabled and search out the Apple Community for more. There may be other insights from the Apple community as to the cause...
Cheers
Hey @Shelley1224 
Sorry to hear you were surprised by roaming charges on your bill.
Please reach out to us through any of the channels listed here so we can look into it with you!
Hello Anneh247,
Welcome to the community!
Firstly, you should note that merely receiving the Welcome Abroad message does not necessarily mean you have incurred roaming charges. Those Welcome messages are a notification that your device had connected to a foreign network. I was able to confirm that to be true here. The Fido Roam charges will only incur if your phone uses services -- make or receive a call, send a text message or use data abroad.
@anneh247 wrote:
....My Android phone has roaming off by default so no idea how this is happening. ....
You should also note that, other than Airplane or Flight modes, most modern phones do not have a setting to disable roaming entirely. While most phones have settings to disable roaming data, that setting does not prevent roaming for voice and messaging -- nor prevent the device from connecting to a foreign network.
That said, Fido is supposed to have an accidental roaming solution in place for those who live or travel to areas near the US border (see here and here). It's possible that particular US cellular tower has not yet been identified as problematic.
You might consider manually selecting your network to Fido. That should prevent your phone from switching to a US tower.
You should note these forums are community-driven and not intended as a venue for customer services. If you wish assistance with your matter, you would need to contact customer service again. In addition, they can also be contacted via Live Chat, Facebook, or Twitter. Those methods can be accessed via the contact page posted above.
Hope this helps 😀
Cheers
Hello Teresajeanie,
Welcome to the community!
Sorry to hear you've incurred unexpected roaming charges.
@teresajeanie wrote:
...fido insists sometimes when using whatsapp if the wifi signal is not strong enough your phone will automatically switch to using data....
There is an apparent bug with the app. While it's not mentioned on their website, it appears as though the app will automatically switch to using mobile airtime minutes (within the app) if it deems the internet connection is insufficient for voice calls. Unfortunately, it has happened to many people across Countries and even Continents (see here). One suggestion to prevent the switch would be to enable Airplane or Flight mode and manually enabling Wifi prior to making the call(s). Doing so should prevent the app from switching to mobile minutes if the Wifi internet connection is not sufficient. However, it also means that you wouldn't be able to make WhatsApp calls using a mobile data connection. Since your phone had Airplane mode enabled, it should not have been able to switch to mobile airtime minutes, though.
I understand you requested a roaming block on your line. However, is it possible they helped you opt-out of Fido Roam rather than blocking roaming? If they only opted-out of Fido Roam, usage would have been on a pay-per-use basis.
Alternatively, had you also used Wifi-calling? It should be noted that while using Wifi for regular internet access will not incur Fido Roam charges, there seems to be some misunderstanding regarding Wifi-calling. I'm not sure how people have gotten the impression that Wifi-calling does not use the networks. However, that is not true. While the calls and messages do not transmit via cellular towers, they still use the networks via the internet gateway (see image here). The cellular towers and Wifi are merely alternate means of accessing the networks. Calls and messages would not be able to complete or get sent/received without the networks. As such, using Wifi-calling is technically using Fido services and may incur roaming charges. However, they have allowed certain usage to be free from additional charges. All the messages and calls you receive (from anywhere in the world) will be taken from your plan's voice minutes and messaging limits. As well, all Wifi-calling messages and calls you make to a Canadian phone number while abroad won't incur long-distance or roaming charges (see link above).
Is it possible your roaming charges were for using Wifi-calling abroad to non-Canadian phone numbers? It could explain the roaming charges despite Airplane mode enabled. It could also account for usage with the roaming block as I'm not sure whether Wifi-calling would be affected.
Hope this helps 😀
Cheers
Hello @Jcb1 and thank you for sharing this with us here on the Community.
I'm really sorry to hear about your experience, it's defnitely not what we want for your. In order to get this looked into, it will be important to take contact with our customer service.
You can find all the ways to reach our team here.
Hey @Rebecca23,
We're sorry to learn about this incident with your latest trip!
When it comes to Fido Roam, it is an option that can indeed be enabled and disabled at any time by contacting us.
To avoid any charges, we do suggest to leave the phone on airplane mode, turn off data roaming or even remove the sim card from the phone during the trip.
If you're planning on using your phone, depending on what you need it for, keeping Fido Roam's daily rate or switching to a Pay-Per-Use rates could be best for you.
You can always compare the cost of Pay-Per-Use Roaming and Fido Roam Daily fee here.
That said, if you had any unresolved concerns with your Fido services, please contact us here and we'll be more than happy to go over this situation.
Hello again,
I replied to your other post here. As mentioned, there is unfortunately no 100% guarantee your device won't use other services and trigger roaming charges. Customers would need to ensure their devices do not use services.
@Rebecca23 wrote:
.... can I be assured that there will be no other roaming charge than texts sent or phone calls made, ...
It should also be noted that answered incoming calls would also be considered roaming usage and incur roaming charges.
As also mentioned, the issue is device related and if it is using data with those settings disabled, it is entirely possible you would incur data roaming charges with the other providers as well.
Hope this helps 😀
Cheers
