cancel
Showing results for 
Search instead for 
Did you mean: 

No affordable plan for frequent travellers to US?

dsheykhka
I'm a participant level 2
I'm a participant level 2

Hello, 

I have been a loyal Freedom Mobile customer for 14 years. I moved to Vancouver and switched to Fido last week because you guys offered me a good deal and potentially a better network. But now I am flabbergasted that you are forcing me to pay $12 for 50GB of data EVERY DAY in US? How does that make sense? After 3 days, that ends up being more expensive than my MONTHLY plan with unlimited calls/texts AND 50GB data... Freedom Mobile had affordable packages such as $15 for 5 days - seriously, WHO NEEDS 50GB OF DATA PER DAY???

Could you please do something about this? I really hope this was not intentional - I hope you did not intentionally make this unfair deal part of your business plan. I will be traveling to the US at least 3 times a year for short periods, if this stays like this I will HAVE to switch back, because otherwise, FIDO will end up being my most expensive bill!

Thank you for your time and consideration. 
Really hoping to hear back from you. 

Best, 
Dayag



3 REPLIES 3

Cawtau
Senior MVP Senior MVP
Senior MVP

Hello Dsheykhka,

 

  Welcome to the community!

 

  Firstly, you should note the forums are community-driven and not intended as a venue for customer services nor communication with anyone capable of making considerations on Fido's behalf. While there are are Fido staff monitoring the forums, we are mainly fellow customers wanting to help where we can.

 


@dsheykhka wrote:

.... $12 for 50GB of data EVERY DAY in US? ...


  To clarify, Fido Roam allows you to use your data, talk, and text from your existing Fido post-paid plan. Since most plans do not include daily data allotments, Fido Roam would not include a certain amount of data per day. If your regular post-paid plan includes 50 GB of data, Fido Roam would allow you to access that data abroad (as well as talk and text). You would only get another 50 GB of data when you begin another billing cycle. If you required additional data abroad, that data would be on a pay-per-use basis.

 

  The different providers have differ in their plans and travel options. Unfortunately, Fido no longer offers any Travel Packs. Their travel option is Fido Roam. If you did not wish to avail of that feature, you would need to opt-out of Fido Roam. In doing so, any usage abroad would be on a pay-per-use basis. You can view those rates here.

 

  If you wanted to discuss the issue, you would need to contact customer service. They may be able to forward your concern to the appropriate people. 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

 

 

 

 


dsheykhka
I'm a participant level 2
I'm a participant level 2

Thanks for the detailed response Cawtau! 

 

Just to clarify they would still charge me $12 per day for using the 50GB that I have within my plan, as long as I am in US? 

 

I did talk to customer service for hours and they sent me here - sorry for the confusion. I am just so surprised that this is acceptable within Fido community. Just make sure I get it right, if I am staying in US for a months and want to Roam with Fido, by bill will be $360? And the alternative that is pay per use, but the agen informed me that that doesnt apply to data! Ie. I have to pay $12 a day for every day I use data by roaming in US and days for me are calculated by Eastern zone. Just whole thing seems to be completely oblivious to customers needs.

 

Thanks again.

Hello again,

 

  The Fido Roam charge would incur every day you used services. On days your device did not use services, there would be no roaming charges.

 


@dsheykhka wrote:

...if I am staying in US for a months and want to Roam with Fido, by bill will be $360?...


  Not necessarily. The Fido Roam charge is for a maximum of 20 days ($240) per billing cycle (see Fido Travel link above). Not that's per billing cycle. If your month's travel crosses two billing cycles, it is possible to incur more than 20 days of charges if usage occurs in a new billing cycle.

 


@dsheykhka wrote:

...And the alternative that is pay per use, but the agen informed me that that doesnt apply to data!...


  I have been under the assumption you have a post-paid plan since you referred to the Fido Roam charge. Unfortunately, since the US had shut-down their '3G' networks, roaming data had not been available on pre-paid accounts. It should be noted that it appears  roaming in the US is now not available for pre-paid accounts at all. Perhaps that is to what the representative misspoke? That said, as far as I am aware, pay-per-use roaming data should be available for post-paid plans (see Fido Travel page above).

 

  Yes, the usage is calculated based on Eastern Time (ET).

 

   For the sake of completeness, 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).

 

  I understand Fido's roaming options are not appealing for everybody. It appears to be more geared towards more short-term travellers.

 

Hope this helps 😀

 

Cheers