Hello Apoo1_,
Welcome to the community!
I understand it may have been surprising to receive calls abroad when you hadn't activated roaming. However, you should note that most post-paid plans (except for Basic Plans) have Fido Roam enabled. There is no need to contact Fido to activate the service. 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 line above). As Original_Lucy noted below, you would not incur roaming charges if you didn't answer the calls or check your voicemail.
To clarify, however, 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).
In order to prevent unintended roaming charges, it is generally recommended to disable data and roaming data. However, you should note that disabling those settings does not prevent roaming for voice and messaging. In addition, some manufacturers might allow some data usage to occur despite those settings (see here). That's why it is also generally recommended to enable Airplane and/or Flight modes in order to prevent unintended roaming usage as mentioned below. You could then manually enable Wifi when required. Alternatively, people have also removed their Fido SIMs card entirely, However, enabling Airplane / Flight mode or removing the SIM card would also prevent your device from making and/or receiving calls or sending and/or receiving SMS using the local cellular networks.
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 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.
Hope this helps 😀
Cheers
Hello @Apoo1_ , if you are out of country, your device should be in airplane mode so that calls and messages don't come through. If you did not answer your calls and did not check voice mails, you shouldn't be charged. Only if you make and take calls you will be charged roaming. Any sms or mms received would also trigger roaming charges. The best option is airplane mode and turn on Wi-Fi if you want to access the internet. Better yet, remove your Sim card and put it somewhere safe. You can still use the internet without a Sim card in your phone over wifi.
