Mentor
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61 Messages
When theft becomes legal, they call it 'roaming'
I'll cut to the chase - my wife & I both are iPhone users, every generation since release.
She went to Toronto for 4 days recently, hardly used her iPhone at all. I purchased AT&T's Canada Calling discount plan + $20 for 20 MB of data usage.
This was MORE than enough for her; she just needed it for a few emails & voicemails.
Anyways, you probably know where this is going.
AT&T sent her a text when she returned home that her data access has been suspended due to international heavy usage.
I figured that this was just a precaution, so I called them, all to find that they tell me I owe them $1,500.
After HOURS & HOURS of challenging them, I asked when the data was used. They said hardly none was used at all aside from a 20 minute spur at 3:40 AM the night before she returned. Apparently 200mb was downloaded all in that small window of time.
Not only does my wife have no clue what that was about, she was sleeping hours before & AT&T confirmed that she's NEVER used even near 200 MB on any given MONTH, let alone one night.
The conclusion to this sad but true tale:
Finally, someone who tried to be the slightest bit helpful suggested to put the 200MB roaming data plan on her account, just to at least get the $1500 charge down to only a few hundred bucks.
Still, even after that, I felt it was only right to pay what I originally agreed upon, the $20 roaming data plan + $5 calling plan.
My wife finally took over against my will & without letting me know, she paid AT&T $500 ($187 for our monthly family plan + the difference in roaming plans, fees, etc.).
Her philosophy is that as devious as they are, it isn't worth getting a coronary over.
I still think that it's just pathetic that customers can't call into a Customer Service department anymore and get someone who actually demonstrates that they care about your business. Uch.
Accepted Solution
FireFish
Mentor
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61 Messages
13 years ago
You're missing the entire point - My point is that I know that it's expensive; which is why I pre-purchased the roaming plan & was okay paying the rates of the roaming plan.
My point was that it shouldn't have been expensive, since I did what they recommended.
Telling me to simply shut off data connectivity is almost as dumb as telling me to just leave my phone at home while I travel.
The point is - I wanted the international data; yet they still nailed me.
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johninsj
Professor
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3.1K Messages
13 years ago
International data is very very very expensive. I suggest in the future turning off data when internationally roaming, and relying on wifi. A week in germany on wifi was easy to pull off, and cost... er, nothing.
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BrianfromNO
Master
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4K Messages
13 years ago
You do know data usage doesn't always report at the EXACT minute it's being used, ESPECIALLY when roaming, right? That 3:40 "usage" of data might be an aggregation of an entire day or multiple days' usage. And there really is NO telling what's using data on the phone, especially once third-party apps are added to the mix. Even using it on wi-fi is NOT a guarantee that the phone won't default to the cellular signal if it enters sleep mode or it drops the wi-fi signal. With a very data-intensive phone like the iPhone, it's better to leave it in Airplane Mode when traveling abroad.
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satchev
Professor
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2.4K Messages
13 years ago
Or simply turn off cellular data in Settings > General > Network > Cellular Data.
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mightyjeeper
Guru
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604 Messages
13 years ago
Exactly right.
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