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Got charged Fido Roam even when iPhones' Data Roaming was off

vlasmarias
I'm a contributor level 1
I'm a contributor level 1

My family of 4 is in Japan we didn't want to data Roam while in Japan but still wanted the option of making a call on emegencies. So we turned off Data Roaming on our iPhones. We connected to a free Wifi upon arrival, but the Wifi's flakey so one of us noticed that we had all of a sudden connected to SoftBank. How can it roam to SoftBank with the iPhone Data Roaming turned off? In any event, at that point, we turned off all Data - i.e., not just Data Roaming. When we got our bill today, sure enough, 3 of us got charged for 1 day of Fido Roaming (total roaming data usage of 50 MB). I contacted Fido support to see if they would rescind all the Fido Roaming charges as the usage was clearly minimal, but they refused to do so. I'm not sure whether they even agreed that Data Roaming being turned off doesn't work on iPhones when roaming in Japan (and I suspect other countries where Fido has Roaming contracts). So watch out about the iPhone data roaming feature as Fido will not warn you about that one and they will not refund those accidental 1-day of "usage".

8 REPLIES 8

Cawtau
Senior MVP Senior MVP
Senior MVP

Hello Vlasmarias,

 

  Welcome to the community!

 

  Firstly, I'm glad to hear you were able to get your issue resolved.

 


@vlasmarias wrote:

...How can it roam to SoftBank with the iPhone Data Roaming turned off? ...


  To clarify, disabling roaming data on phones does not prevent roaming for voice and messaging. It is only meant to prevent data from being used when connected to a foreign network. That's why the device was still able to connect to the local network.

 

  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). Mobile providers can only know whether usage had occurred. They cannot know what settings may or may not be disabled on a particular device. If data is used when roaming data is disabled, that is an issue with the manufacturer, not the mobile providers. It would be up to customers to know how their devices behave under those circumstances.

 

  In order to prevent unintentional roaming, it would be recommended to enable Airplane or Flight mode for the duration of your trips. You could manually enable Wifi when required. I do understand doing so would not allow for receiving emergency calls. However, as already mentioned, customers need to know how their devices behave when abroad.

 

Hope this helps 😀

 

Cheers


vlasmarias
I'm a contributor level 1
I'm a contributor level 1

Btw, when I google how to turn off data roaming on iPhone, it shows the exact same steps that we followed. So clearly it seems to be working for most others. In any event, here are the test results:

  1. Cellular Data is On. Set Data Roaming to Off. Result: Soft Bank appears on the top left.
  2. Set Cellular Data to Off. Soft Bank disappears.

vlasmarias
I'm a contributor level 1
I'm a contributor level 1

Thanks for the explanation, Cawtau. The problem with enabling Airplane Mode is that I believe it will prevent me from receiving text messages. I actually wanted to receive incoming text messages while here (the phone's used for technical support emergency alerts). My plan was to rent a Pocket Wifi to take care of the data, but if the Pocket Wifi ends up losing power, then I don't want my phone to accidentally roam. After talking with Fido Support, it seems that the best way would have been for me to phone Fido to do a Roam block? I'm not sure if doing that would have prevented me from receiving text messages though. I really need to just turn off Data Roaming only.

Hello again,

 

  Happy New Year!

 

  You are correct in that Airplane or Flight mode will prevent the phone from connecting to the networks and therefore you would not be able to receive text messages. I do understand what you are trying to do and I understand you followed the steps to disable roaming data. However, for some reason, Apple has decided to let some data usage occur despite data and roaming data disabled. That's how they designed their devices to function. From what I can gather, Apple devices need to connect data when connecting to the networks to operate properly. There have been many discussions online about the issue, though Apple does not seem to think it's an issue. Unfortunately, while the data is not necessarily user-data, to the mobile providers, it's still data usage. As previously mentioned, mobile providers do not know what settings may or may not be enabled on devices. They only know whether usage had occurred. 

 

  Placing a roaming block on your line would also prevent you from receiving text messages. Unfortunately, if you wish to keep your line available for receiving text messages, you will run the risk of unintended roaming charges. The mobile providers might be willing to forgive the initial unintended roaming charges. However, I don't think mobile providers would be willing to overlook recurring occurrences, given customers now know the charges are a possibility.

 

  I understand from a customer's point of view that they shouldn't have to suffer due to circumstances beyond their control. I don't have an adequate response. If people continue to use iOS devices abroad but don't hold Apple accountable, the issue is likely to continue. People are more likely to accept and praise Apple and blame the mobile providers. Bottom-line though, Apple's data and roaming data settings apparently do not do what their customers think they should -- they still allow some data usage to occur despite data being disabled.

 

Hope this helps 😀

 

Cheers

 


vlasmarias
I'm a contributor level 1
I'm a contributor level 1

So we followed the suggestion of the Rep I talked to and turned off Data on our phones. Lo and behold, for my January bill, one phone that got the $15 credit got charged $15 for 0.01 MB of data roaming (yes, that low); the other phone that got $15 credit got charged $15 for 0.17 MB of data roaming. This can't just be an Apple problem any more - Data is OFF on the phones. I contacted Fido Support, and as always, they blame me - even though we followed the Rep's advice. 

vlasmarias
I'm a contributor level 1
I'm a contributor level 1

Fido phone support was great. The Rep saw that the usage was minimal and was willing to give us credit.

Glad to know that! Thanks for sharing it with us.



vlasmarias
I'm a contributor level 1
I'm a contributor level 1

Update: finally found a reasonable Fido support specialist who rescinded the charges.