topic Re: Roaming in My account

Data roaming charges while Cellular Data is off

SomeScreenName — Mon, 08 May 2023 22:01:47 GMT

One of the phones on my plan went to the US for a month. They turned Cellular Data off in Canada and didn't turn it back on until they got back. They were charged for 4 days of roaming for data events while there, and no one can explain why. One customer service rep said it was because WiFi assist was turned on, but apple says that WiFi assist won't switch to cellular if you are roaming. How do I know what really happened so it doesn't happen again for the other travel to the US we have planned?

Re: Data roaming charges while Cellular Data is off

BellKris — Sat, 30 Mar 2024 15:43:14 GMT

Hi there, @SomeScreenName. Welcome to the Community.

Unfortunately, as a matter of privacy no representative is going to be able to see what is using the data on your phone; only the amount used, a rough time stamp, and any associated charges. It is also worth noting that iOS in particular can supersede Data Roaming being disabled for certain system level functions, however this can happen with Android as well.

We'd recommend making sure Data Roaming is off in your phone settings. You can check out this Apple support page on mobile data roaming optionsfor more info.

Otherwise, you can also check out this Apple support page on How to view how much data you're usingto narrow down what may or may not be using the data while roaming.

Unnoticed roaming service charge & outgoing call service unavailable

2023Jeru — Sat, 13 May 2023 18:06:02 GMT

I'd registered abroad roaming service from April 24-May 8, 2023. The service would charge $16 CAD before tax for only used day. As I recount that I only made a 2 minutes outgoing call on May 1, 2023 and end up with $128 CAD of 8 events in 8 days. The 8 events were the posts on Facebook where I was with Wi-Fi on bus and in the hotel. Bell representative informed me that Bell charged the roaming because the "Data Assist" in my setting on my phone was on and Bell had assisted the local internet to transfer out data. I was shocked, when I registered the roaming, Bell neither noticed nor advised me about the data assisting. More, when I was left behind by my group in Jerusalem, I failed to call/contact the tour guide and bus driver because the outgoing call service wasn't available.

Re: Data roaming charges while Cellular Data is off

Mando — Tue, 16 May 2023 13:06:16 GMT

I went to Asia for a month and I turned off cellular data and also turned off Data Roaming for Bell line. When I got back, Bell had still charged me 8 roaming days. Tracked it down to tiny data use ages caused by the visual voice mail service. Visual voicemail used data even with roaming off, which should not have happened.
So, your culprit might be visual voicemail, and I don’t know how to stop it from using data while roaming.

How do I stop visual voicemail from using data when roaming with data roaming turned off.

Mando — Wed, 24 May 2023 15:08:59 GMT

I went traveling for an extended amount of time and turned off data roaming to avoid Roam Better charges. The Roam Better FAQ says:

"If you’ve added Roam Better but don’t want to be charged when arriving at your Roam Better destination, make sure data roaming is turned off on your device, don't make or answer any calls, and don't send any text messages."

I did all these things, but still got charged by Roam Better for a few days. I went through my bill and found small amounts of data usage that look to be caused by Visual Voicemail. Total usage It seems to have bypassed the "data roaming OFF" setting and used data anyway.

How do I prevent this in the future? How do I stop visual voicemail from using roaming cellular data? Can I disable visual voicemail temporarily?

Thanks

Negative Option billing for ROAM Better when you don't even leave Canada and US cell sites pinged

Travelher — Thu, 10 Aug 2023 16:58:58 GMT

I was recently travelling in Prince Edward County, Ontario, Canada and I received the Free Bell msg that I have arrived in the USA and because I have Roam Better, I will be charged $13! Fortunately I told my partner in time to turn his phone to Airplane mode so they didn't get this charge. So, now the bill as arrived and I have to call in to get this reversed off my bill. I have been successful doing that once before when I was in southern British Columbia. This is like negative option billing. You would think that subscribers be allowed to respond to that Free Bell msg with a 'CANCEL' so as not to incur this charge, or have an easier way to dispute this ROAM event. The problem is, it is so unpredictable to know when this might happen when just touring around Ontario or hiking in BC and there is no way to turn it off while on Canada. Of course we have our phones ON for GPS, trail maps, photos, driving instructions, emergencies etc. The responses to these posts from BELL are extremely weak.

Re: Data roaming charges while Cellular Data is off

User09 — Mon, 02 Oct 2023 14:39:01 GMT

Yup, I'm in Europe. Turned off Data Roaming on my phone even before I left Canada and have an e-sim. Last bill, 4 data "incidents". This bill, the same. Get charged $16/day. I feel like it might be text messages or something triggering this, but no one at Bell can explain how this happens, which makes the think they know, they just don't want to tell you. I asked them to turn Roam Better off, as paying for individual data incidents would be cheaper. They said they did but it still says "activated" in my account, and you can't turn it off yourself (you should be able to), which again, makes me think they don't want you to and hope you will just eat the charges.

Re: Data roaming charges while Cellular Data is off

WelshTerrier — Sat, 30 Sep 2023 10:55:06 GMT

Unfortunately, as a matter of privacy no representative is going to be able to see what is using the data on your phone; only the amount used, a rough time stamp, and any associated charges.

If you'd like to unsubscribe, please call BELL Mobility. Taking this feature off via online or using text messaging is not available. The service representative will remove this feature immediately while you are on the call.

You can contact Bell while travelling abroad using the following: Via Chat . From a Bell mobile phone: +1 514 420-7748.

You can avoid data roaming charges on your device by disabling the function altogether and using Wi-Fi instead. To turn off data roaming, select Settings > Cellular > and move the Data Roaming slider to off.

When this setting is turned OFF, you will no longer have access to data services (email, web browsing, etc.) over a mobile network and data roaming charges will not be incurred. This does not affect text or voice usage.

Data roaming charges will apply when you choose to manually check email or sync contacts and calendars over a mobile network.

You can use airplane mode to avoid roaming charges when travelling. You won't be able to send or receive text messages or phone calls, or use data services, but you could connect to a Wi-Fi network to check your email or browse the internet.

Re: Data roaming charges while Cellular Data is off

User09 — Mon, 02 Oct 2023 14:43:45 GMT

Not true. If you give permission, they can actually tell you. And I have done everything you've mentioned (read original post). Somehow tiny data packets are still being triggered — this should not be the case, and I am not the only person to comment on this. I've also asked them to remove Roam Better, which they said they would do, but they actually haven't — account says it's still activated and you can't do this yourself without contacting customer support.

Re: Data roaming charges while Cellular Data is off

Mando — Tue, 14 Nov 2023 14:41:37 GMT

Hi User09,

Does your device use "Visual Voicemail" for voicemails?

Roaming

Trickyrick — Fri, 22 Dec 2023 22:46:08 GMT

I go to florida 2 a year for 6 weeks. This year when I got my bill on returning there was 7 days of roaming.

Before I crossed into USA I turned Data off and it was still off when I returned to Canada. When I called Bell to inquire they told me that the only way was to remove sim card. I have being doing this for 30 years Y now. I cant belive that I have to remove the sim. Does turning off Data no longer work

Whats going on

Rick

Re: Roaming

WelshTerrier — Sat, 23 Dec 2023 13:08:57 GMT

To avoid roaming charges when outside of the country you can remove your SIM card. That is one method.

You can also turn off Data & Roaming in your device settings. This will avoid data roaming charges on your device by disabling the function altogether and using Wi-Fi instead. To turn off data roaming, select Settings > Cellular > and move the Data Roaming slider to off. When this setting is turned OFF, you will no longer have access to data services (email, web browsing, etc.) over a mobile network and data roaming charges will not be incurred. This does not affect text or voice usage. Keep in mind, that data roaming charges will apply when you choose to manually check email or sync contacts and calendars over a mobile network.

The easiest method to avoid all roaming charges is to turn on the Airplane mode setting on your device. You can also use airplane mode to avoid roaming charges when travelling. You won't be able to send or receive text messages or phone calls, or use data services, but you could connect to a Wi-Fi network to check your email or browse the internet. This by far is the safest method of avoiding all roaming charges. Wi-Fi and Bluetooth can also be enabled separately while the device is in airplane mode.

Hopefully this has been of assistance to you. Thank you for reaching out to the Bell Community Forum.

Take care.

Re: Roaming

Trickyrick — Sat, 23 Dec 2023 14:53:29 GMT

Your not understanding the problem. Several post have said thats what there doing as well as myself put the roaming charges still appear on the bill after turning Data Roaming off.

Can you explain Y

Why am i getting roaming charges of im not using my phone

AdelR — Sun, 07 Jan 2024 02:09:32 GMT

I am overseas and i havent used my phone but i am getting charged for roaming. I dont want to use my pgome while i am out of the country. Y am i being chatged i havent used any data or made calls or text

Re: Why am i getting roaming charges of im not using my phone

WelshTerrier — Sun, 07 Jan 2024 11:58:24 GMT

Although you may not be using Roaming, your device can access data unknowingly to you. If you do not completely power your device off and / or turn off roaming & data, your device can be doing updates, etc.

The surest method to avoid any further roaming charges is to turn your device Airplane mode to on. This will eliminate any potential future You will still be able to connect to a Wi-Fi network & use Bluetooth. You would just need to turn them on manually.

Take care.

Re: Roaming notification - scam?

Traveling — Sat, 30 Mar 2024 15:44:08 GMT

I received similar message for $16/day with roam better while i am in China. but I didn't turn on data roaming at all. it is always disabled. how is the roaming charge enabled? receiving message text (by the way, I haven't opened the message yet)?

Can you help to clarify it? can you also suggest how to avoid the roaming charges? i do need to receive message text randomly due to so many two-way authentication services.

Re: Roaming

Vantez — Wed, 10 Apr 2024 13:39:14 GMT

I have this issue right now and am on with a Bell rep that has no idea why. Small packets of data triggered roam better charges even though data roaming is always off. This is definitely a Bell issue that they can't figure out. I shouldn't have to turn my phone to airplane mode when data roaming is off. Bell get your act together

Re: Roaming

User09 — Wed, 10 Apr 2024 14:25:50 GMT

This isn’t an issue specific to Bell. If you Google this problem you will get threads from lots of customers with other providers.

Re: Why am i getting roaming charges of im not using my phone

Fmulder67 — Fri, 10 May 2024 23:28:27 GMT

Turning the phone into airplane mode turns off the cellular network and Wi-Fi. Is there something in the settings that allows AP mode to still use Wi-Fi?

Re: Roaming

Fmulder67 — Fri, 10 May 2024 23:35:27 GMT

My roaming data was turned off but it still charged me for roaming while I was using Denver and Ohara airport Wi-Fi. This is what everyone is saying here. They are being falsely charged for a service when the service was shut off. I even turned unchecked the "ask me first" and just turned it completely off. The answer I got from Bell was it automatically came on because the airport Wi-Fi may have been weak. How is that my fault? This should not happen and it's a way of cell phone companies charging you for stuff you don't want and have to complain to get the charges reversed. That's called fraud.