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Hidden Roaming Charges $15 / Day Plan

Pratkuma111
I'm a participant level 1
I'm a participant level 1

I just joined Fido around Mid Nov. I have been traveling out of Canada since Dec 10th, 2022. I am still outside the country. In the last bill, to my horror, I found that roaming charges had been levied and a $15 / day plan was activated without my consent as soon as I left the country and I was charged for every single day from Dec 15th to Dec 26th.

Whatever usage was attributed to me was totally unintentional and I had no clue that I was getting charged. Whatever inadvertent usage happened was totally unknown to me. To illustrate the usage during the above-mentioned period was on some days only 0.01 MB, 0.04MB, 6.71 MB, 5.79 MB, and so on.

This is totally surreptitious and a hidden charge that a new consumer like me was totally unaware of. I had asked my son to make calls to your helpline and he has been trying unsuccessfully for the past two weeks. A number of calls later, the issue still stands unresolved, and no one has helped.

I have been using plans for the last couple of decades across the world and nowhere have I come across such a rip-off. I am posting here as no email support is provided. If someone from Fido support is reading this please advise how to resolve or escalate further.

4 REPLIES 4

FrustratedFido3
I'm a participant level 1
I'm a participant level 1

Wow, I am so sorry this happened to you, but also glad I found your post because I just got off the chat with a chat specialist from Fido trying to resolve the same issue!! Is there legal action that can be taken in these cases? 

 

I was also charged without my knowledge and I did deactivate my cellular data when I was outside the country. I checked this month's bill and I was very unplesantly surprised when I saw the charges!!! I contacted customer service via chat and spoke to Kirandeep from PEI. He was helpful with figuring out what happened, but did nothing to escalate the issue with a manager or to help fix the charges. Instead, he ended our chat when I asked him to transfer me to a Manager or Supervisor.  That is infuriating and unacceptable! 

 

Apparently you need to add a block to your roaming so you don't get charged???? Nobody tells you this when you sign up. I even toggled the cellular data to OFF from my settings and did my due diligence. I was on wifi the entire time of my vacation, but I still got charged?? 

 

Fido you need to do better. The worst thing is you can't even escalate your concerns anywhere. I am in the works of finding a new provider and make no mistake, Fido and Rogers are not on the list. 

Hello Pratkuma111 and FrustratedFido3,

 

  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.

 

  I understand you may have disabled data and/or roaming data. However, you should note that disabling data and roaming data does not prevent roaming for voice and messaging. In addition, some manufacturers might allow some data usage to occur despite those settings (see here). It is generally recommended to enable Airplane and/or Flight modes to prevent unintended roaming usage. You could then manually enable Wifi when required. Had you enabled Airplane or Flight mode on your devices?

 

  I also understand you might have been connected to Wifi. Generally using Wifi for regular internet access will not incur Fido Roam charges. However, 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).

 

  In addition, I also understand you might not have consented to roaming usage. However, Fido Roam is enabled by default on most current post-paid plans. You would need to ensure your device does not use services. If you did not wish to avail of the feature, you would have had to opt-out of it. In doing so, any usage would be on a pay-per-use basis. Alternatively, if you did not wish to use any services, you would have needed to request to have roaming blocked on your account. When your device connected to the foreign networks, you should have received the Welcome Abroad text notification outlining the details.

 

I also understand this is a difficult time and receiving such a bill even more distressing. If you're unable to make full payment on the bill, you might consider trying to arrange a payment schedule. To make an arrangement, you'll need to contact the credit operations department. It should also be mentioned that any arrangement would be at the discretion of the credit operations team.

 

  You should note that the forums are community-driven and not intended as a venue for customer services. If you wished to discuss your situations, you would need to contact customer service. 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

 


Brentsabourin
I'm a participant level 1
I'm a participant level 1

our phones have been off since we left Canada, and we still have a charge for data on our latest bill.  I will be getting to the bottom of this when I get back. Time to move to someone else.

Hello Brentsabourin,

 

  Welcome to the community!

 

  Sorry to hear you've incurred an unexpected roaming charge. I understand you said your phones have been off. However, as previously mentioned, the mobile providers can only know usage. Is it possible you had turned them off after you reached your destination?

 

  I don't know your situation. That said, a mobile provider would not even know you were out of the Country unless your device connected to a foreign network. I understand you are considering switching providers as a result of this experience. However, if your device did somehow connect to the local networks before you had shut them off, it's possible you would still have incurred their roaming charges.

 

  In any case, as previously mentioned, the forums are community-driven and not intended as a venue for customer services. If you wished to discuss your situations, you would need to contact customer service. 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