hello,
currently, I am out of Canada, I want to know how I can stop fido roaming,
when I left Canada I activated wifi calling and put my phone on the airplane phone.
but after coming to my home country I switched my sim card with a local card and put my fido sim in another phone (iPhone 7 plus).
after turning on the phone I got a local network on my fido card(international roaming activated automatically). and I got a text from fido that roaming is activated and 15 cads plus tax charge will be applicable. but quickly I activated wifi calling and put my phone again on airplane mode. now I am using fido with wifi calling only.
so my question is will fido charge me 15 cads for all days I am staying in my country? or I will be only charged If I use a roaming network? and if yes how can I disable roaming?
please see the following screenshot
Hello Unhappy_User,
Welcome to the community!
Sorry to hear you've incurred unexpected charges. However, the details are not hidden away somewhere obscure. As mentioned below, the mobile providers only know usage. Customers would need to ensure their devices are not using services. With some devices, that might mean disabling roaming data and not making/answering calls or sending text messages. In other cases, removing the SIM card or enabling Airplane or Flight mode might be necessary to prevent usage. The mobile providers are not responsible for how customers' devices behave. No usage abroad; no roaming charges.
I'm not sure whether you use Wifi-calling or not. It should be noted, though, 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 and may incur roaming charges. 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).
I assume your reference to privllege tax refers to Fido Roam? While it's true Telus are offering a plan which might include usage in US and Mexico, their travel option (Easy Roam) is rather similar to Fido Roam. In fact, their option is actually more expensive than Fido Roam.
You are certainly able to choose the service which suits you best. However, the roaming options are not that different.
Hope this helps 😀
Cheers
Hello MDioquino,
Welcome to the community!
Sorry to hear your daughter's phone was charged erroneously for roaming. Unfortunately, it can happen when close to the border. However, there are supposed to be measures in place to prevent such instances. When you contacted customer service, had you informed them of the location it happened so they might take note of the problematic cellular tower? Your daughters should have received the Welcome to the US text message when connected to the US tower.
I understand you had asked to opt-out of roaming. However, had you requested to opt-out of Fido Roam or all roaming? If they had opted your daughter out of Fido Roam, any roaming usage would be on a pay-per-use basis. You might consider specifying opting-out of roaming altogether.
You might also consider having your daughters manually select the network in their devices to be Fido. The automatic network selection option would connect to the strongest signal available. Manually selecting the Fido network should prevent connecting to other networks if they happen to be stronger than the Fido signal.
Hope this helps 😀
Cheers
Hello Amanda78,
Welcome to the community!
Sorry to hear you've incurred unexpected roaming charges.
For future trips, you can certainly opt-out of Fido Roam. If you choose to opt out, any usage would be on a pay-per-use basis. You can view the pay-per-view rates here. You can also request a roaming block on your line(s). However, in doing so, you would not be able to use any Fido services.
@Amanda78 wrote:
... we turned off our data and used WIFI only ...
...We had our kids turn off their data at the border and minutes after crossing over we got notifications again "Welcome Abroad!". ..
To clarify disabling data and roaming data does not prevent roaming for voice and messaging. There hasn't been a setting to entirely disable roaming on smartphones since circa Android Kitkat??. If your devices are iOS, I don't think they ever had a setting to disable roaming completely. With regards to iPhones, Apple apparently allows some data transfer to occur despite data and roaming data settings disabled (see here). That said, it is generally recommended to enable Airplane or Flight modes to prevent unintended roaming. You can then manually enable Wifi when required.
I understand some people wish to keep their lines available for emergencies. The mobile providers only know usage. If a device is using services when its settings are set not to use them, that's an issue with the device. The mobile providers have no access to a device's settings to know what settings are enabled/disabled. If you wish to receive calls or text messages, there is unfortunately no 100% guarantee your device won't use other services and trigger roaming charges.
Since disabling data alone does not prevent roaming for voice or messages, that would be the reason your devices received the Welcome Abroad notification. However, as mentioned in the solution, I was able to verify that merely receiving that message does not necessarily incur roaming charges. If your devices used services in addition to receiving that notification, that usage would have initiated the roaming charges.
You should note this forum is community-driven and not intend as a venue for customer services. We would not have access to your account. 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 Facebook, or Twitter. Those methods can be accessed via the contact page posted above.
Hope this helps 😀
Cheers
Hello Krushna_modi,
Welcome to the community!
Firstly, 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.
You might consider disabling any MMS auto-retrieve settings on your phone. You would then receive a SMS notifying of a MMS (no charge) but the data contained would not download automatically. You could then choose whether or not to download the associated data contents. You should also note that, with the exception of Wifi-calling, MMS does not generally get transmitted via Wifi. Downloading MMS while connected to Wifi would likely incur roaming charges. That said, if your device is supported for Wifi-calling, some types of usage would be considered roaming.
That Welcome message is a notification that your device had connected to a foreign network. Receiving that text message does not necessarily mean that your device had used services.
There has been misconception circulating regarding automatically incurring roaming charges for simply receiving that text message. I can attest that simply is not the case. I was fortunate to have been able to travel to the US as well as the UK recently. When my device connected to the foreign networks, I received the Fido Welcom messages:
Neither instance registered roaming usage nor incurred any Fido Roam charges:
To be sure, I verified my bill corresponding those travel dates and there were no Fido Roam charges:
So, merely receiving those Welcome messages does not incur Fido Roam charges. I understand people have incurred roaming charges seemingly upon receipt of those messages. However, it's likely their phones also used data to update their systems and/or apps when connected to the networks. I understand some people have had their data and/or roaming data disabled. However, people need to know how their devices behave with those settings disabled. As mentioned in some of my previous posts, some phone manufacturers might consider system data differently from user data and allow the former usage despite those settings.
For myself, I kept Airplane mode enabled for the duration of my time away (except for intentionally disabling to connect to the local networks). As with yourself, I also used Wifi-calling while abroad. It is important to note that some Wifi-calling usage is considered roaming and would incur roaming charges. Again, I can attest that using Wifi-calling to make and receive calls to Canadian phone numbers while abroad does not incur Fido Roam charges.
Apologies for the lengthy reply, however, it was the perfect opportunity to clarify that Welcome message and alleged automatic roaming charges. So, provided your phone does not use services on the foreign network (keep Airplane mode enabled) and your Wifi-calling usage abroad is not considered roaming usage, you should not incur Fido Roam charges when abroad.
Hope this helps 😀
Cheers
