Hello GS464,
If you were not aware, you should note these forums are community-driven and not intended as a venue for customer services. We do not have access to customers' accounts nor know what had been previously discussed.
@GS464 wrote:
I got text that i am in roaming called customer service assured just disregard the message still charged Roaming charges in my bill. ...
It's true that merely receiving that Welcome Abroad message does not necessarily mean that your device had used services. It's an automatic notification to inform customers that the device connected to a foreign cellular tower, not that usage had occurred. 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 abroad.
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 a device is configured to provide Delivery and/or Read receipts, those would be sent as SMS or data and considered roaming usage.
In order to ensure there are no roaming charges, you would need to ensure your device does not use services abroad. The mobile providers only know usage, they do not know what settings may or may not have been enabled/disabled on a device. No usage abroad, no roaming charges.
In order to prevent unintended roaming charges it is generally recommended to disable data and 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 (see here). That's why in order to prevent roaming charges, it is also usually recommended to keep Airplane or Flight modes enabled for the duration of trips. Customers could manually enable Wifi when required.
For completeness sake, though, 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. Some Wifi-calling usage abroad is considered roaming. 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).
@GS464 wrote:
...Another big issue is free international minutes fido does not send text message that you have used your free minutes ....
I understand that you might not have been aware of your long-distance excess usage. However, it has always been the customers' responsibility to monitor their own usage and bills:
It is not necessary to cap voice or text messaging service charges since the use of these services is generally well understood and managed by consumers. ~ The Wireless Code; point 127
...it considers that a requirement to provide usage notifications or usage monitoring tools is not the best solution to prevent bill shock. ~ point 124
While Fido does not provide notifications for long-distance or additional long-distance usage, they do provide a means of monitoring call usage (ie My Account app). That said, I do understand you note the app was not working properly. There are some call timer apps you could consider for the future.
Hope this helps 😀
Cheers
