Unable to make calls while roaming in US

[Buhjf]

I recently traveled to the US with my family (NYC) with our Fido mobiles. After turning on roaming in US, we realized quickly that my device cannot make any voice calls. (It simply disconnects after we try to make a call, and says network isn't available). Data and text messaging were working, however.  This happened repeatedly as we tried to make phone calls each day during the 7 day trip, but none of them were working, regardless of it's to a local call or call back to Canada. 

During the trip, we did encounter an emergency and needed to make a call fairly urgently. We ended up turning on roaming for my wife's phone as well (Fido too) but also did not work either. Same error and just disconnects right away. 

After coming back to Canada, I called Fido customer service multiple times. They all insisted that we need to pay for all of the roaming charges on my mobile, even though we couldn't make any calls. We've been with Fido since...2010, and this really just feels like we need to change to a different service provider. 

[Buhjf]

Thanks for the reply. But yes, we tried a variety of things: rebooting device a number of times, turning data roaming on/off (even though this shouldn't impact anything), turning on/off Airplane mode, etc. And yes, in fact we did try to call 611, but same thing, we cannot make any call connected to another carrier in US. As soon as I pressed call/dial, it disconnects. And of course, it happened to my wife's phone too. 

I also called technical support when I came back to Toronto - they said they would look into it. 

I do think we deserve some credits back, but Fido customer service wouldn't agree to that.

[Tan07]

Was there any resolution to this issue ? I face the same and I often travel to the states

[FidoNajat]

Hey @Tan07! Did you get any help since your post? If not, please, feel free to contact us so we can identify the root cause of your situation.

[Cawtau]

Hello Buhjf,

  Welcome to the community!

   Sorry to hear you had issues making calls in the US. What phones and plans do you have? From what  you note, it sounds like your devices might have been impacted by the '3G' newtork shutdown in the US (see here and here). If your devices and/or plans were not voice-over-LTE (voLTE) compatible, they would not have been able to access any '3G' networks for calls. That could explain why your data worked (LTE), but voice calls did not. In the absence of voLTE, voice calls would necessarily need to fall-back to a '3G' network. Unfortunately, the US does not have any '3G' networks in operation anymore.

  I understand it's frustrating not being able to use your devices for calls, however, roaming usage is more than just calls. From what you note, it appears your devices were able to use data. The Fido Roam charge incurs when you use Fido services (Talk, Text or Data). While you might not have intended on using data, your device(s) might have.

  In order to prevent roaming charges, it is usually recommended to keep Airplane or Flight modes enabled for the duration of trips. You could manually enable Wifi when required. I understand doing so would also prevent incoming SMS or emergency calls. However, people need to know how their devices behave if they intend on keeping their devices available for those services.

Hope this helps 😀

Cheers

[Original_Lucy]

Hi @Buhjf , sorry you had a disappointing experience roaming while in the US. Did you try restarting your device or selecting a different carrier? It's a unique experience from when I travel. I'm not sure what may have occurred for you, but you could contact technical support to discuss your concerns. Best way is to call *611 from your device and when prompted, select technical support. I do hope you get it sorted out and will be able to make use of roaming in the future. All the best