Hello Rpuri1396,
Welcome to the community!
Firstly, you should note these forums are community-driven and not intended as a venue for customer services. We do not have access to customers' accounts nor would we necessarily be fully apprised of all policies.
Unfortunately, I'm not aware if the temporary suspension has changed since it was possible to pause services via My Account. That said, the temporary suspension had traditionally started on your next billing cycle (see here). As mentioned in those links, if you are financing a device, those monthly financing payments would continue as per usual. It should also be noted that pausing Fido services also pauses Device Protection for the device.
If your phone still shows that it is roaming (ie showing R symbol), it's likely the temporary suspension has not yet been activated.
You are not necessarily incurring roaming charges, though. The Fido Roam charges will incur if your phone uses services -- make or receive a call, send a text message or use data abroad.
Yes, you could remove your SIM card to ensure no roaming charges. In order to prevent unintended roaming charges, it is generally recommended to disable data and roaming data. However, you should note that disabling data and roaming data does not prevent roaming for voice and text 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. Customers could then manually enabled Wifi when required.
While receiving SMS would not incur the roaming charge, it's worth mentioning that the 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. Disabling MMS should prevent that data transfer. Though, it should further be noted that iMessages and RCS messages are sent (and received) as data and not as text messages (SMS). Even if the text message received is SMS, if your device is configured to provide Delivery and/or Read receipts, those would be sent as SMS or data and considered roaming usage.
Unanswered incoming calls and having them go to voicemail should also not incur roaming charges (see here and here). However, it should be noted that checking your voicemail would be considered roaming as one must call the voicemail service. In addition, it should also be mentioned that the Voicemail-to-text feature notifications would be sent as MMS (roaming data). Similarly, I believe iPhone's Visual Voicemail would use data (roaming, if abroad).
For completeness sake, 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).
Fido Roam is enabled by default on most current post-paid plans. If you did not wish to avail of the feature, you would have to opt-out of Fido Roam. In doing so, any usage would be on a pay-per-use basis. Those rates can be found here. Alternatively, if you did not wish to use any services, you would could request to have roaming blocked on your account. Though, a roaming block would also limit access to extended coverage in Canada (Fido-EXT). You would need to verify which option is applied to your account as some customers had assumed they requested a total roaming block only to find pay-per-use usage abroad (opt-out Fido Roam).
It should be noted that once the temporary suspension is active, you would not be able to use any Fido services, including receiving SMS nor Wifi-calling.
If you wished to verify your temporary suspension status and/or opt-out of Fido Roam (or apply roaming block), you would need to contact customer service. I understand you are currently outside of Canda. They do offer a number to call From Abroad.
Hope this helps 😀
Cheers
Hello again,
Thank you for the additional information.
@Rpuri1396 wrote:
.... I just got Fido service in my phone....
How recently did you get Fido service? As far as I am aware, the temporary suspension is only available on lines which have been active for at least 30 days (see link above).
@Rpuri1396 wrote:
... Earlier, it was showing "R" symbol, but now it's is normal...
Does your phone show any cellular signal? If there is no cellular signal showing or no service, that could indicate the temporary suspension is active as the device is not connecting to the local cellular towers.
You can certainly remove the SIM card if you are concerned about roaming charges. However, you should be mindful of where you keep the SIM card. People have previously lost their SIMs in similar situations.
It is not mandatory to temporarily suspend services when abroad. It is possible to not incur roaming charges with an active line (ie enable Airplane and/or Flight mode for the duration away). However, it would depend on how you intend on using your device while outside of Canada.
When you have been trying to contact customer service, which number had you tried? You should note that the 1-888 or other toll-free numbers won't likely work outside of Canada. That's why they provide their From Abroad number. When dialling that number, you would need to use the International dialling prefix for the Country where you are located (see here). Note that if you use your cellular phone to make the call, that would likely incur roaming charges. You might consider using an alternate phone to call them. At one point, I believe it was possible to call the From Abroad number collect. However, if the system is automated now, I'm not sure that is possible anymore.
Unfortunately, I don't think there is any other way to contact customer service. They do not offer customer service via email and they apparently removed their social media contact options.
Hope this helps 😀
Cheers
