Data roaming charges while Cellular Data is off

[SomeScreenName]

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?

[BellKris · Accepted solution]

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.

[2023Jeru]

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.   

[Mando]

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. 

[Mando]

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

[Travelher]

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. 

[User09]

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.

[WelshTerrier]

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.

[User09]

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.

[Mando]

Hi User09,

Does your device use "Visual Voicemail" for voicemails?