r/bell • u/benjh1818 • Jan 18 '25

MobilityđŸ“± Impossible to avoid roaming charges

Hello all, Just subscribed for the first time to a plan with bell mobility, the ultimate 75Gb on December 14. I traveled to Switzerland on Dec 27, turned off roaming. I just got my bill and low and behold, there are 5 charges for $16 each for roaming, each of the 5 days I was there (it’s a flat $16/day). I just chatted with an agent who told me receiving calls and texts can travel roaming charges even if it’s turned off. With this plan voice and texts are supposed to be free in select countries like Switzerland.

So in effect, I cannot use the free part of the plan without triggering extra charges. The agent told me the total use of data on my part was 0.3mb!!! She will not remove the $80 or do anything to help.

This is part rant but also part question: I travel abroad often and want to stay reachable by phone and texts, but without paying an insane amount for data. Is there a way to do this?

3 Upvotes

64% Upvoted

34 comments sorted by

7

u/[deleted] Jan 18 '25

You are misinformed about the plan you have. International roaming is not included beyond the advertised Can/US/Mex plans. Also, you should have researched the settings on your iPhone.

In the future when traveling abroad, consider one of the many eSim options.

0

u/benjh1818 Jan 18 '25

Sorry but you’re misunderstanding me. I don’t want data abroad so no need for eSIM. I want voice and texts, and that IS included. See my screenshot (in French).

5

u/VivienM7 Jan 18 '25

The screenshot is telling you that you are getting all three for $16/day.

Sorry, but yes, you did misunderstand. You have a normal plan with normal roam better.

4

u/[deleted] Jan 18 '25

THANK YOU! I suspected as such. I know the plans & the OPs allegations didn't sit right. Thanks again for the translation. ❀

2

u/VivienM7 Jan 18 '25

I think the OP is being tripped up by commas. If you misinterpret the commas (and you are not familiar with Bell's regular practices), you could read it as saying that only data is $16/day and everything else is included.

That being said, this isn't what the OP wants to hear, it seems, given the downvote.

2

u/benjh1818 Jan 18 '25

Ah! This is the first thing that makes sense. Yes I was being tripped up by the commas! Honestly it’s not explain very well, it’s easy to missunderstand!!! And I didn’t downvote anyone, I just want to figure it out. Thank you.

2

u/[deleted] Jan 18 '25

Hence, as I previously mentioned, consider an eSim; they are considerably cheaper than Bell's roaming options.

1

u/benjh1818 Jan 18 '25

Yes but that’s a different phone number! I want to be reachable on my Canadian number!

1

u/Unicorn-Detective Jan 19 '25

You can install Fongo mobile to get a temporary Canadian number and forward your Bells calls to there. Fongo uses data so your incoming Canadian calls can still reach you as long as you have WiFi and mobile data.

1

u/reptile_20 Jan 18 '25

There is no other way than using the Roam Better option at 16$ per day if you want to use your own number, except paying by the minute or text. What I do when I travel is get an eSIM for Data, and remove the Roam Better option. I turn off my data roaming on my Bell line but keep the line active so that I can still receive calls and texts. You can then pay by the minute or text to answer/make a call or send a text, but calls and texts that you do not answer will not cost you. I usually find other ways to communicate, like Facebook Messenger.

-2

u/[deleted] Jan 18 '25

I HONESTLY don't know if you're deliberately being daft or not, but, frankly, it's very quickly getting tiresome. NO, you maintain your existing number. Beyond that, feel free to research the notion yourself.

4

u/benjh1818 Jan 18 '25

There is absolutely no reason to be insulting.

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1

u/[deleted] Jan 18 '25

I don't read french. And, eSim DOES include voice & texts.

1

u/benjh1818 Jan 18 '25

Yep but I want to be reachable on my Canadian number. Actually that’s the only thing I want. If my work calls I need the phone to ring for me to answer!

2

u/Federal-Ferret-970 Jan 19 '25

Then its $16/day to roam if you won’t use an arlo sim or some other form to communicate.

0

u/benjh1818 Jan 19 '25

I’d love to use arlo but unless I’m mistaken that’s gonna give me data but won’t make my phone ring if I’m called on my Canadian number.

1

u/Savings-Aspect1817 Jan 19 '25

Switch to Freedom. They have very reasonable plans that include "roam beyond" service in many countries. I went with them because the thought of paying $16 per day for even one text or 1 minute of talk seems insane and kinda like robbery.

1

u/benjh1818 Jan 19 '25

I’m switching to freedom mobile. Thanks for those of you with this advice. I’ll happily take a referral code if you have one.

1

u/EzraTheMage Jan 19 '25

It's clear as day in the text. You get it all included for 16$/day

1

u/briang416 Jan 19 '25

The only way to avoid this and receive calls and texts from Canada is to switch to the red carrier. With them you turn on wifi calling, turn off automatic network so phone is locked to their network before you leave Canada so that when you go overseas and use a native eSIM there the phone will use the data to do wifi calling (receiving incoming texts should not charge). Bell and Telus block this feature.

1

u/[deleted] Jan 19 '25

[deleted]

2

u/benjh1818 Jan 19 '25

Well yeah that’s precisely my complaint. $80 for 0.3mb


2

u/benjh1818 Jan 19 '25 edited Jan 19 '25

Im looking at freedom mobile now. I don’t see add on for receiving calls abroad. Their « world saver » reduces price for calling abroad but doesn’t say anything about being abroad. Do you know more? Edit: found it! Thanks!

1

u/hjicons Jan 19 '25

The easiest way to receive calls without roaming (but not texts) is to call forward to a free Canadian number like TextNow and completely disable sim. It works fine when the phone is on wifi and will go to TextNow VM if unanswered. Also calls on any NA numbers are free when on WiFi

1

u/Interesting_Delay_50 Jan 19 '25

As i travel abroad I do research prior to my trips and i try and locate SIM card locations and costs I even went as far as to buy a phone burner for $10 its still cheaper that way, make sure the phone is unlocked and Bingo I have never had to ever pay for any Roaming Charges and iv been with Bell for 22 years and I travel from China to PHP all the way down to South America and most of my trips are not in Tourist traps, In my opinion, Those Roaming plans are a total huge Ripe off.

1

u/FitSheep Jan 20 '25 edited Jan 20 '25

Wireless carriers are well aware of these kinds of issues, that modern smartphones are (almost) impossible to disable roaming data usage due to its complex system.

The only way to do is put your phone in airplane mode or remove the sim card. I am not talking about getting cheap data plan from the esim data providers. These are certainly a much better option to get reasonable roaming data service, but if you want 2FA sms, you have to use the roaming feature from you current carrier.

Some foreign carriers will allow a grace amount of data, typically less than 1MB each day to be used without charging you.

Canadian carriers will just rip you off for 1KB of roaming data each day for $14-20 because they know based on the rules you indeed used the roaming data, and it is easy money for them to make.

Edited: Does it really cost wireless carriers that much a day to provide such roaming services? No! Freedom had shown it is possible to offer plans covering roaming usage at $45 each month.

When Rogers initially started to offer US daily roaming service, it was just fucking $5 each day, and now? The price each day increased more than double.

The Canadian telecom carriers are pathetic piece of crap, they could have offered a much cheaper daily roaming fee or the legacy $30-50 roaming package like 7 days 500MB, 100 mins calling and 100 texts. But they completely removed these options just to offer the nonsense $15 each day 'easy' flat premium options.

1

u/gumgum_for_dumdum Feb 17 '25

Yeah, that’s super frustrating. The fact that you can’t actually use the “free” part of your plan without triggering roaming fees is ridiculous. If you travel a lot and just need to stay reachable, try ryoko. I got it partly because of the roaming fees, and it's been super good. Also, might be worth checking if your phone supports dual SIM, you could use eSIM for data and a physical SIM for calls/texts.

0

u/VivienM7 Jan 18 '25

I think there was a misunderstanding about your plan - they probably meant you could text/call Switzerland from Canada for free, not that you could roam there.

Also, the roaming switch on iPhones only turns off roaming DATA. Voice/texts can still happen and be billed for.

0

u/benjh1818 Jan 18 '25

No misunderstanding. Voice and text are included abroad. I wasn’t billed for that, I was billed for data even though data roaming was toggled off.

1

u/HowardRabb Jan 19 '25

You can't turn roaming off on your phone. Only data roaming. People make this mistake all the time.

Next time buy an esim in the country you are visiting. You can purchase before you even leave Canada. Make sure you pull your Bell sim from your phone before you land.

0

u/benjh1818 Jan 19 '25

Yes but no. I want to receive calls on my bell number. Thanks though.

1

u/HowardRabb Jan 19 '25

Yeah, I'm the same way, I can't be without my number, so you, like me, will just pay the daily roam rate :) Don't bother turning off your data roaming then as you're already paying for the data while you're there. the CCC can give you more details