Spent 10 days in Europe recently. Signed up for ATT international day pass–you get to use your regular data plan for $10 per day, only charged on day(s) when data is turned on.
I was assured by customer service beforehand that as long as data was kept turned off, we could use hotel wifi for texting and not be charged. Our intention was to have data available in case of emergency.
Well, we NEVER turned data on, yet were charged $60 for 6 days on the plan.
When I called to complain, I got a semantics runaround. The agent told me that texting always uses data, whether data is turned on or not. I added the information that I was given beforehand. HIs reply was something like “well, when we hear texting, we think of using apps, not messaging!” He basically said I was wrong to use the terms texting and messaging interchangeably. He kept repeating that “I didn’t ask the right question and didn’t use the right words.”
I feel screwed over and once the billing periods that cover the trip are paid for, you can be sure I’ll be looking for a new carrier. I am in my 60’s and try to understand this technology the best I can.
I just found the printed transcript of the conversation with customer service that assured me texting while on hotel wifi would not cost me–I will probably send a copy of this along with a letter of complaint.
If my understanding is way off, could someone knowledgeable explain how we messed up. In my mind, texting uses the “messaging” button on the phone. To reiterate, data was turned OFF for all 10 days on both our phones.
The first agent that told you about “free texting on wifi” was somewhat wrong. Texting - the old fashioned one - does use data. So if you don’t have any texting apps and your iPhone sends a green message - yup, that is a tiny chunk of data used. Did you keep the phones in airplane mode when you say you had data turned off?
I think you’re charged for any cell network usage (texting and calls). You have to make sure that all that is turned off before you leave the USA. Phones will “tap” the data network all the time in the background to look for notifications, updates, etc.
We did the day pass on all three of our phones during our European vacation this summer. We used it almost every day. The cost was small compared to the vacation as a whole and it was nice to not worry about phone settings, etc. If we wanted to use Google Maps or call each other, we did it without worrying about the cost.
Note: on one trip to England we had a whopper charge from D18’s phone from the flight home (several hundred $$$). I fought that one to the end.
You would need to turn on “Airplane mode”, which means no data or cellular (and have wifi on), in order not to incur any cost. If you didn’t turn cellular off, someone could call you and leave a message without you knowing.
I always have $10/day international on when I travel because I could make calls any where, text, email.
Check T-Mobile - free international 3G data and low cost phone (pennies). Probably a few countries where it doesn’t apply, but I’ve used it in Cambodia, Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand, England and other European countries in the last couple years. Never an extra charge, never a problem with connections, etc. Hard to believe that I’m a happy wireless consumer, but so far on this plan, no complaints. (Plan includes International with regular service and is competitive with other providers.)
I used ATT Passport on a recent trip. $40 for 30 days which included unlimited texts and a small amount of data – enough to check email and do some internet searching.
I also forwarded my incoming calls to a google voice number so I wouldn’t incur roaming charges for inbound calls that go to voicemail while in airplane mode.
Also when I complained there was some explanation that went over my head re: how iphones and android phones handle texting differently. FWIW, I have a droid phone. My limited understanding of texting apps, don’t both sender and recipient have to have the app for that to work? I couldn’t name a texting app if my life depended on it–again I feel that ATT took advantage of my status as a non-millennial old guy.
The agent tried to mollify my anger by looking for ways to reduce my service to lower my bill–my ability to pay the fee wasn’t the issue–treated me like I was too “poor” to afford their services. I will be glad to pay somebody else for cell phone service!
@MADad - How totally frustrating for you! I get crabby just thinking about online AT&T chat conversations.
Did they ever confirm to you how you used data? Perhaps you used the AT&T find wifi hotspot app which I am convinced is always taking control of my phone and looking for their hotspots.
I have traveled internationally dozens of times and I still get confused about what settings I should use. I turn off cellular roaming, seem to need cellular data turned on to send and receive texts…or maybe that is because I iMessage with my traveling companions. I like to see if they have read my messages.
My S2 studies in England and we have had many learnings and issues. Most were related to him not closing out apps, sending a data file in his wifi dorm room and then running out door before it actually sends, notification and push settings, email settings that are set to automatically open images, learning that iMessage is data and not texting, For us and for him we now have a text alert sent if approaching a certain level of usage.
If a person has an overage (on the passport plan) and catches it before the billing period ends, they will allow you to buy additional passport coverage
@10smomlc - interesting regarding google voice mail, I will be travel next month with S1 and his GF. They both have jobs where their cell phones are their livelihood.
That’s the point, OP didn’t want to receive or make calls because with the international day pass, as soon you make a call or use data you are charged 10 for that day. OP is trying to figure out if he had inadvertently used data/cellular when he thought he had it all turned off. The only way I know on iPhone that it is completely turned off is by turning on the Airplane mode (no more cellular or data) then turn on wifi.
If I were OP I would “fight” ATT on the charges. One time I thought I had international day pass, but for whatever reason it wasn’t on, so I kept on getting notification on my roaming usage. When I called ATT they told me I had a huge roaming bill. I asked them to fix it, so they back dated my international day pass. I got charged 10/day instead of 100+ for my calls.
Texting is somewhat of an odd duck. It uses the cellular data network for sending messages and that functionality is built into all smartphones.
iPhones are an exception. If you’re sending a “text” to another iPhone user then the message can go through the WiFi network (the Internet) instead of the cellular data network.
@kajon My children suggested it to me. It needs to be Unconditional Forwarding so it gets forwarded “at the switch” instead of at the phone. You can set up the google voice number to transcribe the message and text or email it to you. I don’t remember any “real” messages, but did get some sales calls that I would not have been happy paying roaming charges for a voicemail!
When the two billing cycles that covered this trip are concluded, I will definitely look into T-Mobile. I can save $50 per month on my bill with their 4 lines, $40 per month, unlimited plan. The devil will be in the details to be sure (do I have to buy new phones, etc). I have 1 iphone that has $300 left to pay off, so I’ll be looking for some sort of deal such as a gift card or credit toward paying off phones.
Since I have just entered the world of retirement, travel willl hopefully happen more often now.
Living in the densely populated northeast, their coverage maps look good, but I will do my homework.
Since I found my printed transcript of the discussion that led to choosing the international plan, I now have the “ammo” to file a written complaint.
Had to laugh–while I was complaining by phone, the agent had the chutzpah to try to sell me Direct TV–when I curtly replied that this was a very bad time to try to sell me new service, she apologized and said she was required to try!