Hello Jiri1,
Welcome to the community!
Sorry to hear you've incurred unexpected roaming charges. I understand you may not have intended on using services, however, the mobile providers only know usage. 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. It should be mentioned that while receiving SMS would not incur the roaming charge, any 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 further be noted that iMessages and RCS messages are sent (and received) as data and not as text messages (SMS).
I understand you might have disabled roaming data. However, some devices have been known to use data despite data and roaming data disabled (see here). I also understand you may have had Airplane mode enabled. If your device had connected to the cellular towers despite that setting, that is an issue with the device. It should not even connect to any cellular tower, let alone use services when Airplane or Flight mode is enabled.
@Jiri1 wrote:
.... I have been a Fido user for many years and in the past you had an option to turn the Roam On. What has changed?...
As far as I can remember, roaming had always been enabled by default. If customers did not purchase a Travel Pack, any usage would have been on a pay-per-use basis. Older mobile phones did have settings to disable roaming, though. Unfortunately, I don't think there is a setting to completely disable roaming on most newer smartphones.
Is it possible you were actually using Fido services without realising it was roaming (ie Wifi-calling)? 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. 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).
If you did not wish to use Fido Roam, you would need to opt-out of the service. In doing so, any usage abroad would be on a pay-per-use basis. You can view those rates here. You may also be able to disable roaming on your line. You should note that this forum is community-driven and not intended as a venue for customer services. If you would like to opt-out of Fido Roam, 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.
I understand wanting to change providers. However, if your device is using unintended services, it's possible it would also use services unintentionally with a different provider.
Hope this helps 😀
Cheers
Hello Kieren,
Welcome to the community!
@Kieren wrote:...Whatever happened to roaming pay per use? I'm not on the Fido roam anymore, why do I still get whacked for a minimum of $10?..
The charges you appeared to incur were for roaming pay-per-use data ($9.99/20MB; see here). You are not getting charged for Fido Roam ($12 per day for Europe).
I'm not sure why some phones still use data despite data and roaming data settings being disabled (see here and here, etc). Perhaps Google might have a better idea of what services are able to use data outside of those settings.
Another option to prevent roaming would be to enable Airplane or Flight mode on your device. You could then manually enable Wifi if required. However, I do understand that the Airplane mode would also prevent your being able to make/receive calls or text messages.
Hope this helps 
Cheers
Hey @Kieren ,
Thanks for sharing your concern with us .
I see that @KAPABLE-K and @Cawtau provided you with some valuable information. I understand where you're coming from, if you had turned off data as well as roaming, you wouldn't expect data to be used.
Just to clarify, opting out of Fido Roam does not prevent usage from being incurred, in many cases it ends up costing more than if you were using Fido Roam. The pay per use rate for data in the UK is $9.99/20MB so it can add up quickly. In your case I understand that data roaming was initially turned off thus you didn't expect any usage related to data.
I'd have two questions for you to get a better understanding of the situation:
1. Did you take a look at your Apps / Phone settings to see what the data was used for ?
2. Can you clarify what you meant by the message we send ends in a 404 ?
Let us know!
Thanks so much for confirming and for getting back to us @Kieren!
It definitely is an odd situation and if data is turned off and the phone continues to use it then things do seem to point towards this being software related.
That said, while running tests have you noticed if it happens while in Canada? Please let us know and we'll go from there!
