Easyroam Billing Problem

[arthbull]

My question is this.

I am currently travelling in Asia fro the month of Feb and Mar. before I left I contacted Telus about Easyroam, and they said that I did not need to worry about roaming charges when I am connected to wifi. I have been careful to turn off my Cellular Data whenever I dd not have access to wifi, and yet I got a roaming bill fro $300 for one month ($15/ day, the maximum). I was not notified that this was happening get the time. When I finally contacted Telus Support online I was told that sometimes roaming charges do apply when you have wifi, if the connection is poor. But the connection was always strong the hotels where I was staying. The solution, I was told was to turn off cellular data and Wifi Assist and leave it off all the the time. I was not told this when I talked to Telus before I left.So much fro Easyroam. There i nothing 'easy' about it. So, my question is this:  where do I raise this complaint? It is not all clear from their website. Needless to say, I will be quitting Telus for another service when I return home. In the meantime , I wanted to alert other users to this problem with Easyroam. I will also be contacting CBC Marketplace about this.

[Fabylous]

Hi @arthbull 

Sorry to hear about what happened with the roaming fees.  When you travel overseas and you block your data is not the only feature related to Easy Roam.  I suggest you visit this link to find out a little bit more.  https://bit.ly/41z39uJ   If you want to place a complaint you would have to contact our care team using this number while you're overseas 

1-416-940-5995 they mainly attend to technical support.  If it is the care, you would have to wait for your return.  

[arthbull]

Dear Fabylous,

Here's what it says on the website page you referred me to: " Data usage does not apply when using Wi-Fi or if data roaming is turned off."That is also what your colleague told me, when I called to check about Easyroam before I left. Now you are telling me something completely different. Really? Are you making up new rules as you go, or is Telus using this change of rules to systematically bilk its customers? I don't actually care which.To put it simply: I cannot do business with Telus, because I cannot trust Telus. I'll be cancelling my service when I return to Canada in April.

Arthur

[Fabylous]

Hi @arthbull, what I meant to say is that data is not the only thing that will charge the Easy Roam.  

[xray]

This is a known problem with Easy Roam and similar features from other carriers. It's highly dependent on how your particular phone manages the data settings and the phone's interaction with the mobile connections. Some phones ignore the data roaming setting for certain things and at certain times and will use a small amount of data. That's enough to trigger Easy Roam.

https://forum.telus.com/t5/Mobility-Services/Easy-Roam-triggered-without-any-usage/m-p/95667

The only reliable way to disable data usage is to use airplane mode and then turn on just WiFi.

https://forum.telus.com/t5/Mobility/Roaming-with-Easy-Roam/ta-p/132916

[arthbull]

Hi Fabylous

OK, that's helpful. Thanks. That makes more sense to me now.

Arthur

[arthbull]

HI xray,

Sorry...that thank you was meant for you.

My issue with Telus is that they didn't inform me of this, but instead said categorically, on the phone and on their website that "Data usage does not apply when using Wi-Fi or if data roaming is turned off.". If you know that this is not necessarily the case it seems highly unlikely that they don't know this too. In other words, it  is downright misleading. I want to give them the benefit of the doubt on this, but on the face of it, problematic.

Arthur

[xray]

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@arthbull wrote:

HI xray,

Sorry...that thank you was meant for you.

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No worries, I knew what you meant.

My issue with Telus is that they didn't inform me of this, but instead said categorically, on the phone and on their website that "Data usage does not apply when using Wi-Fi or if data roaming is turned off.". If you know that this is not necessarily the case it seems highly unlikely that they don't know this too. In other words, it  is downright misleading. I want to give them the benefit of the doubt on this, but on the face of it, problematic.

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I don't think it's strictly misleading because that's how it's supposed to work. It's definitely incomplete though because like many tech things the implementation is deficient and there are factors outside of TELUS's control like the device OS behavior and the roaming tower behavior.

[arthbull]

None of these responses addressed the fact that Telus said unequivocally, both on the phone  and on their website, "Data usage does not apply when using Wi-Fi or if data roaming is turned off". and this turned out to be not true.

[CJR]

When you were away did you make any phone calls or reply to any text messages at all as they would also trigger an Easy Roam charge.

[arthbull]

I didn't make any calls or send any texts, as far as I can remember.

[Syaoran]

Always keep your device in Airplane Mode when roaming and then turn WiFi on. Roaming is more than just data. Any incoming texts and calls also count as billable. If you use an iPhone. iMessage requires data to send and receive messages.

[arthbull]

Thank you. I understand this now. My problem is that Telus did not tell me that before I left for this trip. Telus told unequivocally, both on the phone and on their website, " Data usage does not apply when using Wi-Fi or if data roaming is turned off". and this turned out to be not true. I followed this instruction and in fact data usage did apply and I got a very big bill. Nothing was said about Airplane Mode. I have paid this bill and I'm not seeking a refund. I just want Telus to admit that it gave me incorrect information. In any case, when I return home I will be looking at other options for another cellular service.
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