Huge phone bill

[Sal-Al]

Hi there, I got a huge phone bill due to long distance. I had a family emergency and I had to do that then the situation escalated and I ended up leaving the country. I came back recently and phoned Fido to ask why I don't have service and they told me that my account was closed and transferred to a debit agency! The amout was $4309! And no one told me what was going on till I came home! How on earth could I pay that amount?! I mean I have been a fido customer for 5 years and yet the only help I got from Fido debit operations is to reduce it by 20% ?! First they don't tell you that your bill is building up then they transfer your file to a collecting agency?! It's so frustrating

[testing12333]

Same problem. In my case i have an esim with fido , i travelled internationally and got a local physical sim(just to avoid roaming charges) and have been using that, then i get a bill saying because i have an esim the charges are routed through my esim hence the roaming charges. This is ridiculoous given I do not have a contract phone and i bought a physical sim specifically for this purpose

[Cawtau · Accepted solution]

Hello Testing12333,

  Welcome to the community!

  Sorry to hear you've incurred unexpected charges on your bill. However, from what you note, your issue appears to be different from the others in this thread.

  I understand you got a local SIM during your travels and did not intend on using Fido Roam. However, you would only get charged for roaming if there is any usage on your eSIM card when abroad. In fact, Fido would not even know you were out of the Country unless the Fido eSIM connected to the local networks. Unfortunately, if the usage listed on your bill, your phone did connect the eSIM to the foreign networks and use services. The mobile providers have no control over how your device operates.

  What phone do you have? You note that it is not a contract phone. Had you disabled the eSIM? Do you know how it actually behaves under those conditions? Unfortunately, there is no standardised way a dual-SIM device should function. You may have disabled the eSIM so that no calls or messages are used on it. However, we don't know how your device manufacturer manages its dual-SIM functionality. It's possible the phone may still connect to the networks and allow system data to transmit even though the eSIM is user-disabled.

  I understand it's disappointing to incur roaming charges even though you thought your phone was only using the local SIM. You should note that if the phone is somehow connecting to the networks despite the eSIM being disabled, it's possible the same issue could arise with any of the other providers. They all determine roaming usage the same way.

  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 arranging a payment schedule. To make an arrangement, you'll need to contact the credit operations team. It should be mentioned that a payment arrangement might not be available in all situations.

  If you would like to discuss your bill, 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

[rajnitomer]

You're not the only one that's facing this issue. I am too!!! Msg me and let's see what we can do together because if we try to fight this alone, this is the response they will continue to give.

[FidoSaira]

Hello @rajnitomer

We understand that unwanted charges are never fun and we do not want this to be your experience at all. We're 100% transparent with out customers regarding our services. We send our customers monthly invoices will all the details regarding the monthly fee, discounts, promotions and informations about what is expiring etc. 

Did you get the chance to review your bills to see what the charges are for?

[rajnitomer]

Same thing as him, long distance. 1000 minutes long distance promotion ended these past couple of month s for customers and there has been tons of customers who have been overcharged thousands of long distance dollars. You can say to check your bill to 1 person but when 10 people are coming to you with the same issue, there's a problem.

[FidoSaira]

We hear you! We do not want any such surprises for our customers as well. However, checking one's usage and the bill remains the customer's responsability. You can reach out to us through these channels and we'd de happy to look into it with you.

[Sal-Al]

Thank you for your reply. No, they only offered to reduce the bill by 20% and I told them that I'm willing to do one payment if you they could get reduce the bill by more than 20%. Their answer was we couldn't do that while I have seen people with same issue like me getting up to 75% discount! That's why I'm feeling frustrated.

[FidoSaira]

I hear you @ Sal-Al! However, it would be best to reach out to them once again. What they offer as a settlement are the best options available for you. 

[FidoSaira]

Hey @Sal-Al,

Thank you for the details. I am very sorry to learn that you were billed a huge amount and your account was cancelled. It's definitely not the kind of experience we aim to offer and I can only imagine your surprise about the huge amount. 

Any calls made to a foreign country is considered a long distance charge from within the coverage zone and customers are be billed for if they don't have an add-on that offeres premium rates. It's also important to note that all overages are billed on the monthly invoice and it remains the customer's responsability to keep a track of their usage. We also send customers notifications before their account is assigned to a Collection Agency. Did you get the chance to review those?

Our Credit Operations team also offers payment arrangement options. Did you get the chance to discuss that with them?