Is Fido Roam a scam ?

[Skyguy]

I called Fido cutomer care today to tell them that my data roaming wouldn't work when i was travelling to countries where they claim to have a roaming agreement. After 1 hour of explaining the situation to an intellectually challenged employee, I was told that Fido can't guarantee services when using other network providers towers although they do gurantee to charge you the roaming fee whether you get the full service or not. How on earth is this fair and/or ethical Fido ? 

[Phuongm]

It totally is.

Once you land on other countries, turn off the airplane mode, you will receive a message from Fido says you’ll be charged $12/day for Roaming.

Seriously what the that?!!!

Isn't it supposed to be our choice?

Why is that ”included in the plan” without customers’ notice?

How could you auto turn on the roaming but don't give us a convenient way to turn it off?

After talking to your customer's service representative, all you guys can say is we have to pay.!!!!!!

STOP THIS FIDO!!!

[patrickchan]

all canadian carriers are similar for roaming.

the easiest way is the following (peace with carrier and your health)

i.e , when i goto to Hong Kong

step 1: i goto to airport in Vancouver, please my mobile on airplane mode,

step 2: land in Hong Kong airport, , turn of wifi only and connect to Hong Kong airport wifi, then run towards the 7-11 and get an Hong Kong local sim prepaid card

step 3: eject Fido sim card, replace with Hong Kong sim card, and turn off airplane mode

step 4: update facebook/twitter, and tell others my new number in area.

step 5: install google voice to check Fido voicemail everyday for messages. most people use wechat/whatsapp to message me.

[Cawtau · Accepted solution]

Hello Skyguy,

  Welcome to the community!

  I'm sorry to hear you were not able to use your data services when you were travelling. However, no provider can guarantee services on a foreign network. Whether your phone or device is able to connect to a foreign network depends on its bands/frequencies matching those used by the foreign network. Much of the World uses different bands/frequencies for their networks than in North America (see here and here). If your phone or device does not have compatible bands or frequencies required for access to the network at your travel destinations, it won't be able to access those services. Had you verified your phone/device had the necessary compatible bands/frequencies before you left on your travels?

  In addition, had you verified there was adequate coverage at your destination(s). No provider can offer roaming services beyond what is available from the local infrastructure at your destination. You can get an idea of loca coverage with Open Signal.

  Just to be sure, had you verified you had roaming data enabled (and data enabled) on your phone or device? Basic, I know, but sometimes it's the simpliest things we forget...

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@Skyguy wrote:...whether you get the full service or not.. .

---

  Fido Roam is charged when you use any of your services -- using your device to make or receive a call, send a text message or use data while abroad -- will trigger the Fido Roam charge (see here). If you did not use any of your services, then you shouldn't have been charged for Fido Roam. However, if you used some of your other services, the Fido Roam would have been charged, even though you were not able to use data.

Hope this helps

Cheers

[Skyguy]

Thank you for your view; I've been travelling extensively for a long time and understand the technical aspects of network sharing and hardware settings; I haven't had any issues until recently and others travelling with me who are in the Fido network had no issue; It seems that there was something technical that Fido had to do on my account to rectify this issue which apparently is known to them; I am deeply disappointed with Fido and will now make arrangements to move to Telus. 

[Original_Lucy]

Hi skyguy, not a scam at all. I can tell you that I have used Fido roaming in Italy, Turkey, Croatia, England, the US, etc. You get my drift. I can personally vouch for the service. Maybe you could ty working with one of the mods here on the forums. I can offer a checklist for you : make sure you're signed up for Fido RoamMake sure data roaming is turned on
If you don't connect right away with a provider, do a manual network scan to see if you have more choices.

Most important is making sure your device is compatible with the country's mobile band networks. Hope this gives you something to try. Luck to you

[Skyguy]

Thanks for your advice. I apprecaite it.  I travel the world extensively and it seems that the possible issue lay with Fido on the technical side which one of their employees advised has now been fixed; so let's see. 

On another note, I was very disturbed to hear from Fido that they will charge you whether you get the roaming service or not; which basically means that they guarantee to charge you no matter whether the service works or not. Very disappointing.

Keep well.

[FidoRachel]

Thank you for your input @Original_Lucy & @Cawtau, it's always appreciated! 

To your point @Skyguy, charges will only be generated if there was usage, whether intentional or not. For example, if your data was enabled it's very possible a connection occurred, even if you were actively using the device. 

I'll send you a PM so we can go over this with you!