Fido overcharging

[NotaFidoFanatal]

I recently went to the U.S. to take care of my mother due to surgery for stomach cancer.  For three days I used Fido US roam. For the next 12 days my phone was on airplane mode and I just use wifi. Now, imagine my surprise when I received a bill for over $300 from Fido.  I checked and sure enough I was being charged everyday for roaming even though my phone was in airplane mode. Even when I was physically in Canada I was still being charged roaming fees.  I contacted Fido to get this looked into and resolved. I was told they will not be doing any adjustments even for roaming charges that incurred when I was already in an airplane returning to Canada. As a Fido customer for the last 13 years I am very disappointed with the service.  Why am I being charged for network usage while in airplane mode? I've logged a complaint with BBB as even though I have my airplane ticket as proof of my return to Canada, Fido still wants me to pay regardless.  So much for caring for their customers.   I'll be switching to a more upstanding company 

[FidoVan]

Hi @NotaFidoFanatal,

In order to see why you were billed for raoming services, you can download your bill to review all the usage that may have triggered the roaming fees. If you need assistance with that, you can also reach us out in private on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram and we'll be happy to look into that with you.

[Cawtau]

Hello NotaFidoFanatal,

Welcome to the community!

  Sorry to hear you've incurred unexpected roaming charges. The Fido Roam charge incurs when your device uses Fido Services abroad. That is, the charge will incur when you make/receive calls, send text messages or your device uses data outside of Canada (see here). The mobile providers only know usage. If a device is using services when its settings are set not to use them, that's an issue with the device. The mobile providers have no access to a device's settings to know what settings are enabled/disabled.

  It is generally recommended to enable Airplane and/or Flight modes to prevent unintended roaming usage. I understand you did have that mode enabled on your device. I also understand you used Wifi. However,  had you used Wifi-calling? 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. 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).

  If the Airplane or Flight mode is working as intended, that setting should disable the phone's antennas and prevent the device from connecting to the local foreign networks. A mobile provider would not even know you were out of the Country unless your device connected to a foreign network. If your device was able to connect to a foreign network despite Airplane mode enabled, that would be an issue with the functioning of your device. As mentioned, the mobile providers only know usage.

Hope this helps 😀

Cheers