Hello LouMarie,
Welcome to the community!
The Fido Roam charges will only incur if your Fido SIM uses services -- make or receive a call, send a text message or use data abroad. As far as I am aware, having calls go to voicemail and/or rejecting calls to send them to voicemail should not incur roaming charges (see here). However, checking your voicemail would be considered roaming as one must call the voicemail service.
You should note that Fido Roam is automatically enabled on Data, Talk & Text and Talk & Text plans. If you did not wish to use the feature, you would need to opt-out of Fido Roam. In doing so, your usage would be on a pay-per-use basis. You can view those rates here.
I understand you may have used an alternate eSIM on your previous trip. There are unfortunately no regulations regarding how manufacturers implement the functionality of the settings in their devices. There have been instances where device settings do not behave as customers expect.
For example, it is generally recommended to disable data and roaming data in order to prevent unintended roaming charges. However, some manufacturers might allow some data usage to occur despite those settings (see here). One would believe that disabling data and roaming data should prevent the device from using any data. Yet, some manufacturers seemingly allow some data usage despite those settings disabled.
There have also been instances where some manufacturers don't completely disable a secondary SIM in devices with dual-SIM functionality....
The mobile providers only know usage. They do not know what settings may or may not have been enabled on a customer's device. If there is usage occurring when customers do not believe their devices should be able to do so, that usage would still incur charges. Customers would need to know how their devices behave abroad.
The only way to be certain your Fido SIM does not use services would be to remove the SIM. If you choose to remove the SIM cards, it would be recommended to keep them in a safe place as replacements would likely incur charges. If you wish to keep your Fido SIM active while abroad, there is unfortunately no 100% guarantee your device won't use other services and trigger roaming charges.
For the sake of completeness, 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).
In addition, 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).
Hope this helps 😀
Cheers
Hello again,
I understand you were told the charges were due to incoming calls. However, had you checked the details of those charges on your bill. It should list the usage which incurred the roaming charges.
I understand you did not answer any of the calls. However, how did you know the calls were all SPAM? Was it just by not recognising the phone number displayed? Or did they leave voicemail?
As far as I am aware, having calls go to voicemail and/or rejecting calls to send them to voicemail should not incur roaming charges (see here). However, checking your voicemail would be considered roaming as one must call the voicemail service.
Alternatively, if you have Visual Voicemail or Voicemail-to-text notifications, those would be sent as data or MMS.
If you did not answer the calls nor accessed your voicemail, it's possible the roaming charges was not for incoming calls, but rather, unintentional data usage.
I understand your travel companion did not incur any charges with apparently the same set-up of dual-SIMs. Do they have the same phone you were using? Different devices may vary in their dual-SIM functionality.
Hope this helps 😀
Cheers
