Over the summer I was in Germany for a couple of months. I purchased a Text & Talk plan from Rogers. I called them three times to confirm I was setting my phone correctly so as not to incur any roaming charges. I received a few texts from Rogers saying I was roaming but when I checked my settings, everything was disabled. I thought it was kind of weird they kept texting me that message. Then I got my bill. Not only was I charged for the T&T plan(s) I purchased, but they charged me a little over $900 in roaming fees!! When I called to complain, I was told that their records show I was in fact roaming, and when I asked to speak to someone else, the lady said 'Who do you want to speak to honey, nobody else is going to delete the amount owed for you either!' Unfortunately, I'm not much of a techy so I don't really know why I got charged and for what; their lingo is kind of over my head. >:/ So this time I plan on buying another T&T plan for my next trip, but does anyone have tips for me as to how not to have this happen again? I stay with a relative and hook up to their WiFi when at home and don't use my phone for anything other than pictures when out and about. Advice would be very much appreciated.

keep your phone in airplane mode - my husband is unlocking his phone for our upcoming trip to florida and purchasing a sim card from roam mobility - i wouldn't purchase a talk and text plan if you can use wifi for things

That's brutal and what terrible customer service. It's much cheaper to unlock your phone and just buy a SIM card for the country you'll be traveling in. If you're in a place for a fair amount of time you could always buy a pay as you go phone for cheap. Pretty much everywhere outside Canada has much cheaper phones and plans.

also wifi is very accessible between mcdonalds and starbucks in the states - we relied on that a lot in NYC

Thanks
Shelley, I did have it in airplane mode but the Rogers people said I must have been roaming while connected to WiFi?? That didn't make sense to me, but I think they could tell I got easily confused about it and just took me for a ride. I'm awesome at using programs, but the technical stuff--meh! I didn't realize at the time that the T&T didn't include 'data'.

Thanks Amanda and
Shelley, I had actually purchased a cheapy pay and talk when I was in England last year and it worked out ok. I guess I don't really need it, I just like to be able to keep in contact with my hubs.

Wayne! Thanks so much. I think that's what was happening! I was disabling and enabling, and WiFi-ing and whatnot..lol Perfect. Thank you. (light came on

Same happened to us when we flew to the UK. I fought with Rogers until they gave in and only invoiced me for the plan abroad and not for the roaming charges. I think we paid around $200 instead of $1300. I demanded to speak to a superviser/ manager and said I would report them to consumer protection unless they would change the charges.... Rogers have horrible customer service!

My husband just paid it because he didn't want Rogers to wreck our credit. I demanded too but that lady wouldn't transfer me. I called back and the guy I talked to was just like...Oh wow man, that's too bad, sorry to hear that, unfortunately nobody is there right now to transfer you to... We were always placed on eternal hold too. I can't wait to ditch Rogers.

Rogers charged two of my daughters outrages fees when they cancelled their phones (Rogers said they were owed but my daughters had both checked with Rogers for anything outstanding first). Long battle and credit ratings ruined but Rogers finally cancelled the bill. I will NEVER have anything to do with Rogers!!!

That's very good advice although I believe their contracts were up when they cancelled.

They will try and stonewall you because most will just pay the amount rather than fight it but if you have a plan that protects you from roaming you shouldn't be charged for roaming. I always say when you are adding a feature to protect against roaming ask to speak to a supervisor before you leave to insure it is the correct one added because if it is not then only a supervisor can refund the fees because of the amount.

Best way around that is too just purchase a cheap second phone then buy sim cards in the various countrie's your in.I did it in Vietnam,Costa Rica,& the U.S works like a charm!

My husband and I never got anything on contract before either, but when I wanted the iPhone, it was too expensive to pay upfront, so I did a contract. Hate it. Can't wait til it's over and I can move providers. I like the new legislation recently enacted that protects consumers when breaking a contract. It's a start, in the war against the cell phone providers that have complete control of that market. Would also like to see some new vendors come into Canada to help diminish the power these guys have over consumers.

When I was in Ukraine last year, I added Skype on my iPad and put $13.00 credit onto it. Phoned home every other day and I was gone for a month and when I got home, I still had over $7.00 credit. Just used the voice option, not the part with the web cam. Worked great and really cheap.

If you have an iPhone, just use wifi and "call" home with Facetime. The fees and t&t are just not worth the hassel. When I went to Italy, everything was shut off and was in airplane mode. I just turned on the wifi for Facetime, etc.

Thanks for the advice! I leave tomorrow morning and am so excited to be going back! Someone just told me that you can get some number from Rogers that you use at the beginning of your call--it's some kind of roaming number that your phone will automatically go back to instead of roaming more. Does that make sense or sound familiar to anyone? Thanks again...

I agree with Lyne. Don't do it. Just use wifi for Skype and FaceTime.

I'm not planning on doing that. I have an iPhone so I can use FaceTime or Viber. It's just that if you're not careful, your phone will apparently still roam even if you're on WiFi. I know better this time, it should all be ok now.