Roaming charges being near the U.S. and never leaving Canada

[mema]

Wondering how other people who either live near the border or drive close to the border and Bell charges you for your phone accidently pinging a USA tower. They wont reverse the $10 charge when it accidently picks up a tower on the other side of the border. All they could suggest is to cancel my better roaming.  This still wont solve the issue of my phone pinging a tower not inside Canada.  Any other solutions and how do I make Bell reverse this $10 charge ?

[CoopCoop]

Unfortunately Bell customers don’t seem to benefit. We were visiting some of the beaches (China beach, Sombrio beach, etc) last month and I was charged $100 in roaming fees. I’m actually not sure how because I hadn’t been using my phone because the cell service was so spotty. I got the notification but thought it was an error because I wasn’t actually using my phone. Something must have been running in the background. My husband is also with Bell and we were using his phone for Google maps, but for whatever reason, he didn’t get any roaming charges. I called customer service today to ask if the charge could possibly be retracted since I never left Canada and she just kept repeating their policy that we’re responsible for charges incurred when in the US or “near the border”. She said she couldn’t waive the charge because it’s a “valid charge” given the policy. I’m normally pretty patient and level-headed, but her response (which wasn’t at all empathetic and involved repeatedly telling me I was wrong and talking over me to echo the policy) has left me surprisingly upset. Maybe because I’ve been a customer for so many years. So ya, currently cancelling my plan on principle. 

[WelshTerrier]

Good Day & Welcome to the Bell Community Forum

@CoopCoop Thank you for reaching out and posting your question. There are a few things you can do to avoid Roaming charges when travelling near the border.:

1. Have the Bell representative permanently remove the roaming feature from your account.
2. Have the Bell representative place a partial restriction on the roaming feature that can be removed when you are travelling in the U.S. or any other country.
3. You can turn off Roaming on your device in settings & use Airplane mode.
4. If you wish to avoid all charges if you are going to the U.S.A., you will need to power your device completely off and / or remove your SIM card. You can still connect to a Wi-Fi network. You will not be able to access Google Maps from your car unless of course you choose to leave everything as it is today.

If you'd like to unsubscribe from Roaming to avoid future charges, 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.

To contact Bell Mobility call: 1 800 667-0123 or dial *611 from any Bell mobile device.

Unknowingly, you may not of been using your cell phone. While outside of Canada, making and receiving calls, sending text messages, checking your voicemail, using Apple Live Voicemail and using data (including Instagram, WhatsApp, or TikTok, and sharing or receiving a picture via text) all count as roaming usage. Keeping your device data turned on may also trigger roaming usage, as most applications on your device refresh content in the background, resulting in roaming charges.

You indicated that your husband's phone was used for Google maps yet he was not charged. I can only speculate that your husband 's device was Hotspotting to your mobile device.

Hotspotting is a process of turning a device with a cellular data connection, like a smartphone, into a mobile Wi-Fi hotspot that other devices can connect to. It allows you to share your mobile internet access with a laptop, tablet, or other phones, often used when public Wi-Fi isn't available. The connection can be made wirelessly via Wi-Fi. Both of you may wish to check your Wi-Fi settings and adjust accordingly.

Unfortunately, there is little else that can be done beyond what I have suggested that will solve this problem.

Take care.

[Randy1]

Hello Bell Community,

I am reaching out to ask whether other customers have experienced roaming fees while not actually roaming. In my case, I receive 2–4 roaming notifications a week about roaming in the U.S. when my phone is with me in my home in Toronto. This issue has caused me direct financial loss for overpayments, or the cost of unnecessary roaming plans, as well as time and frustration in dealing with Bell to correct the issue when I do see it on my bill.  More recently, their "solution" left me stranded in a foreign country with no cell service at all. I would like to know if others have faced similar situations.

If you have had similar experiences or thoughts on this matter, I would appreciate hearing from you.

Thank you,

[dks]

Thank you for your concern. If you look at the helpful replies with the green checkmark, you will see the best advice that can be offered in this peer-to-peer forum. 

[Username325]

Has anyone else had issues with Bell Mobility charging roaming fees while just driving within BC near the U.S. border?

I recently got charged multiple $50+ daily roaming fees simply from my phone automatically connecting to a nearby U.S. tower while passing through. I didn’t make calls, send texts, or intentionally use data—just normal driving.

Bell did reimburse me, but the “fix” was to block roaming entirely on my account. Now I have to call back in if I actually travel and want to use a feature that’s already part of my plan.

What’s frustrating isn’t just the charge—it’s the time spent resolving it and the fact that this seems to be a known issue.

Curious if others have experienced this and how you handled it. Feels like something that shouldn’t keep happening to people.

[WelshTerrier]

Good Day & Welcome to the Bell Community Forum

@Username325, thank you for reaching out and posting your question.

There are a few things you can do to avoid Roaming charges when travelling near the border.:

1. Have the Bell representative permanently remove the roaming feature from your account.
2. Have the Bell representative place a partial restriction on the roaming feature that can be removed when you are travelling in the U.S. or any other country.
3. You can turn off Roaming on your device in settings & use Airplane mode.
4. If you wish to avoid all charges if you are going to the U.S.A., you will need to power your device completely off and / or remove your SIM card. You can still manually connect to a Wi-Fi network and Bluetooth device. You will not be able to access Google Maps from your car unless of course you choose to leave everything as it is today.

If you'd like to unsubscribe from Roaming to avoid future charges, please call BELL Mobility. Taking this feature off via online or using text messaging is not available. The service representative can remove this feature immediately or place a partial restriction while you are on the call.

To contact Bell Mobility call: 1 800 667-0123 or dial *611 from any Bell mobile device.

Unfortunately, there is little else that can be done beyond what I have suggested that will solve this problem.

Take care.

[dks]

Thank you for your concern. You will fine more information about solutions to your issue in this thread with helpful replies indicated with a green check mark ✔️.  

[Username325]

Bell Mobility has advised that the only ways to avoid these charges include disabling roaming entirely, placing partial restrictions that require manual removal, turning off roaming in device settings, using airplane mode, or even powering off the device or removing the SIM card.

These suggested workarounds significantly limit normal phone functionality and place the responsibility on the customer to prevent system-triggered charges. This is not a reasonable expectation for a service that is included in my plan, nor is it a practical solution in modern mobile usage.

This further reinforces that there is no adequate system-level safeguard in place, and that the burden of managing this issue has been shifted entirely onto the customer.

[WelshTerrier]

Good Day.

Thank you for your feedback.

If and when this occurs, Bell also sends a notification on the phone right away via SMS to advise you of the change to a USA network and usage cost. 

Unfortunately, there is little else that can be done beyond what I have suggested to you previously that will solve this problem.

Take care.

[Username325]

Bell Mobility has indicated that SMS notifications are sent when a device connects to a U.S. network. However, these notifications occur after the connection has already been made and do not prevent the associated roaming charge.

In my case, these connections occurred while driving within British Columbia near the border, where it is neither practical nor safe to monitor and respond to SMS messages in real time.

The presence of a notification does not constitute meaningful consent to the charge, nor does it provide an effective safeguard against unintended billing. The charge is triggered automatically regardless of whether the customer has intentionally used the service.

This reinforces my concern that the current system lacks appropriate protections for customers travelling within Canada near border regions.

[Unhappy once again]

Left Bell previously for the continued increase and the constant roaming charges. Live on St Lawrence River, haven’t been to the USA since the 90’s, called, took an hour to get it removed, had actually threatened to shut all my services off because they were willing to take 50% off the charge, I NEVER LEFT THE COUNTRY. had to waste just a little over one hour on the phone to deal with it, then had asked to have it removed, and was told that it was so there would be no roaming charges, have roaming turned off on the cell phones, another $30 charge this bill. I’m not going to start having to pay them with my time to fight about a service charge that is not valid nor is it my responsibility for them to figure out how to know that I have not left my country.

[Username325]

I’m seeing a consistent pattern here that’s really concerning — recurring roaming charges despite not leaving the country, ongoing price increases, and declining service quality.

Like others, I’ve had to spend significant time resolving charges that should never have occurred in the first place. Turning off roaming, requesting it be removed, and still being billed again is not acceptable. This isn’t a one-time error — it’s repeated.

When customers are paying hundreds of dollars each month, there should be a baseline of accuracy, transparency, and reliability. Right now, that trust is being eroded.

I would appreciate a clear explanation of how these charges continue to occur, and what concrete steps are being taken to prevent this from happening again — not just for me, but for other customers experiencing the same issue.

[BellAntonie · Accepted solution]

Hey there @Username325 and @Unhappy once again  , 

Welcome to the community and thanks for your posts. 

We can understand your frustration and wanted to jump in and shed some light on why your phones may connect to a U.S. tower when traveling near the boarders. 

Your phones may connect to a U.S. tower because mobile signals are radio waves that do not stop at man-made borders. If a U.S. tower's signal is stronger than your home network's signal at your specific location, your phone—which is typically set to Automatic Network Selection—will latch onto it to maintain a stable connection. 

Why this happens

• Signal Strength: Your device prioritizes the strongest available signal to provide the best service.
• Geography and Terrain: Signals travel further over open water (like lakes or bays) and from higher elevations, often allowing U.S. signals to reach deep into border communities.
• Tower Placement: In some areas, a U.S. tower may simply be geographically closer to you than your nearest Canadian tower. 

How to prevent accidental roaming

• Manual Network Selection: Go to your phone's Settings > Mobile Networks/Cellular > Network Selection and switch from "Automatic" to manually selecting your specific Canadian provider.
• Disable Data Roaming: Turn off "Data Roaming" in your cellular settings to prevent your phone from using data while connected to a foreign tower.

Let the community know if you have more questions.