PLEASE read if you have a data-capable phone & are traveling abroad

Parent Cafe
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<p>And learn from my lesson…</p>

<p>When I bought my Blackjack last summer, I had no immediate plans to leave the country, but knew eventually D2 would be studying abroad and I would be visiting her. So I asked what I thought were all the ‘right’ questions when buying… is this phone international capable… do I need to call to activate certain services before I travel abroad (as I had had to do with a previous cell phone)? Can’t tell you how many times, when I asked various questions, I was told, “Your phone is all set to go; you don’t need to do anything when you travel.”</p>

<p>Except… CALL AND GET A DATA PACKAGE BEFORE YOU GO!</p>

<p>We were in Mexico for a week last month, and not knowing this, I was in absolute shock when my wireless bill this month was $800 more than usual. And even more furious to learn that, had I purchased a monthly international data package for $59.99 from AT&T, it would have covered 50MBs (I used 41 while in Mexico). </p>

<p>So I spent an hour on the phone with various AT&T people, only to be offered a $200 credit. I told them it was unacceptable and headed out to our local AT&T retail store, where I’m now making headway. The manager of the store is only authorized to issue $350 credits, so they have written an email to the person who needs to authorize credit for over $350. All I want is the ability to retroactively purchase the $59.99 plan for the month of March, and then they can readjust the bill. They did sort of insinuate that it’s not necessarily clear, in the brochure, that the international package available in the brochure does not include data, so it’s easy for someone not to realize they have to purchase this separately.</p>

<p>So, please, if you have a data capable phone, and plan to leave the country in the near future, check on your plan to see what you need to do before you leave.</p>

<p>Oh, by the way, when we were in Mexico, I got two text messages from AT&T, basically warning me that my international data usage was high and to contact them, but, of course, I couldn’t call them at the 800 number I had (another thread from which I’ve learned how to do that now).</p>

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<p>This is similar to a story I recently heard from a friend who was visiting relatives in Canada over Christmas and the son used his iPhone while there and unknowingly racked up $800 in roaming fees. They were able to eventually talk customer service into charging them (actually it was the son who paid) $200. I imagine this is happening to a lot of people.</p>

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<p>blackeyedsusan - I think you’re right. People just don’t know they’re racking up these charges. Who, in their right mind, would turn down a chance to buy a $59.99 data package (which was worth it, because we didn’t have any wireless internet in our room - had to go to the lobby), in order to not pay an extra $800?</p>

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<p>Ah, but now skype works on iphones…Now that is fantastic!</p>

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<p>overseas - you just threw a huge wrench into my already-made plans for D2’s study abroad in the fall, as she has an IPhone. We were going turn her phone off while gone, but I guess I’ll have to follow up with our options before she leaves in September.</p>

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<p>For a student, the ATT data package is NOTHING (she might use of that much data in 3-5 days) and I would recommend she not take it to study abroad. When she gets there, she can purchase a cheap local phone and buy sim cards with minutes, and use skype, etc. Or Magic Jack. I took my Magic Jack to Europe and talked for free, my teen talked for free. Or turn data OFF while she is there, and use it as an phone for emergencies and use skype on the iphone ONLY in wireless areas. But there are not as many free/open wireless points abroad.</p>

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<p>we all left our iphones at home before traveling abroad. just didn’t want to risk the data fees for 4 phones!</p>

<p>my youngest rented a phone from his study abroad program and bought minutes as needed. He was abroad for 10 weeks, so it was nice that he did have a phone. </p>

<p>the rest of us somehow managed to survive a 10 day trip without iphones. </p>

<p>i think buying or renting a phone and buying minutes as needed is probably the best option. we could NOT get an answer from anyone at AT&T about any packages or rate plans for international calls on the iphone. let me clarify, we couldn’t get a similar or specific answer from anyone. we did not want to unlock our iphones, either.</p>

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<p>Yipes Teri- hope you get more satisfaction. Thanks so much for the warning.</p>

<p>My D left her cellphone here, and rented one for the time she is abroad. Her study abroad office at the school she is attending recommended a local company and they delivered the phone to the study abroad office for her to pick up.</p>

<p>When we were abroad recently I ordered a phone to use in Australia from Verizon. They sent it to me without the simcard, so I wasn’t able to use it there. I find every time I call them they try to be very helpful, but the left hand does not know what the right one is doing. They did credit me ack the shipping charges for that phone, and it wasn’t a real issue, but just a pain in the backside.</p>

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<p>Hope you get satisfaction. </p>

<p>But I have to say that I called ahead before I went to Mexico (we go for several months each year) and learned that all Internet/email (ie, data package) would be roaming charges. This, of course, means that I would be paying for every unimportant email that someone sent me (not knowing I was out-of-country) even if I didn’t use the data package myself.</p>

<p>So I have the data package turned off all of the time that I am in Mexico; I don’t need that type of instant communication since I have wifi in our Mexico home.</p>

<p>I do have the $59.99 voice package, which is still not a great deal; each phone minute costs $.59 instead of $.99. So I try to almost never use my cell phone either. Use Skype/email/IM instead.</p>

<p>This is a good warning, though. But I would expect anyone travelling out of their “covered area” would ask their provider about both voice and data implications for their cell/PDA.</p>

<p>wbow, I find the international pkgs for AT&T pretty well described on their website, and have also always been able to discuss the fine points with a real live person. So not sure why you had that problem; they have a special team for this. 800-335-4685 (may be out of date as I haven’t had occasion to use it in a long time).</p>

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<p>When my D went to Sicily last month I went down to ATT and turned off text and data from her iphone and bought the euro/world/whatever (still expensive per minute). D racked up about $20 in charges for 15 1 minute calls (several to me on travel days). I thought it was well worth it for the peace of mind since she was traveling alone with a couple stops each way and some tight connections in unfamiliar airports. She used wi-fi from her hosts computer. It worked great.</p>

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<p>When family was abroad in Amsterdam in the fall, husband bought data plan for the month for his AT&T Blackberry so we could communicate with family in USA. He also brought a cheap phone he bought in England and bought local SIM card for it. These worked great. Son studying in Amsterdam did not use his cell phone at all; bought phone there and local SIM card. Son in China did likewise; he is there now for 3 week visit and did not want to buy data plan for his Iphone.</p>

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<p>My kids are great, as soon as they get on a plane they all turn their phone to airplane mode where they couldn’t get calls (over sea you could get charged for calls even if you don’t answer) or any data. As soon as we get to our hotel, I would set up Apple’s Airport to make the room wireless (we pay for one internet connection and we could all use it), then everyone turns their wireless on. When we are walking around in Europe, we also find a lot of wireless hot spot where we could get connected for free. </p>

<p>I have been over charged once too often. I have trained my kids well - don’t turn the phone until I tell you, NEVER, EVER open a bottled water in a hotel room ($10), if they even think about opening up the mini bar…</p>

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<p>I’ve heard a lot of stories like this. A co-worker had a wireless bill for $2,000 from AT&T on their iPhone after spending a week in Europe. </p>

<p>Although technically this is all in that fine print that we all technically acknowledge we understand and agree to adhere to when signing the contract this sort of thing certainly doesn’t constitute reasonable business practice. For someone who’s not researched everything prior to traveling abroad it’s nothing to rack up a four figured bill (especially if there is heavy data usage… which is usually ‘unlimited’ in the US). </p>

<p>The obvious thing they should do is send the phone a text message just as a “hey we noticed you’ve spend 2x your normal monthly charges on international data/calls this month…” to give people a heads up as the charges start piling up. </p>

<p>If enough people file complaints with your state’s attorney general’s office they might due something to force wireless companies to exercise some common sense in this department.</p>

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<p>rocketman08 - I think you’ve hit the nail on the head. Who in their right mind would turn down the option to purchase a $59.99 data package plan for a month if they knew their data usage was going to exceed that amount? Especially by hundreds and thousands of dollars. </p>

<p>And if they DO text you with an alert (as they did with me), provide a number that can be dialed from the country you are calling from.</p>

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<p>related question…
Can you text for free in other countries with US cell phone plans with unlimited texting? I asked our local provider, and they said yes, but others have said no. Can’t find anything written.</p>

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<p>Here’s the information on AT&T: [International</a> Text, Picture & Video Messaging | Wireless from AT&T, formerly Cingular](<a href=“http://www.wireless.att.com/learn/messaging-internet/messaging/international.jsp]International”>http://www.wireless.att.com/learn/messaging-internet/messaging/international.jsp)</p>

<p>When I was at the AT&T store last night, I brought home their international services brochure, and it refers to this website.</p>

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<p>Oh, and I would definitely get the first and last name of anyone who tells you it’s free so that you have someone to go back to if they do charge you.</p>

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<p>I would recommend jailbreaking and unlocking the iPhone and buying a cheap sim card in the country you will be studying abroad.</p>

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<p>the at&t info is probably accurate for phones other than iphones. it’s easy to get international information, then when you mention iphone, well, it becomes a whole 'nother story–and no one seems to know. </p>

<p>i keep hearing the horror stories of huge phone bills when iphones are not unlocked and then used in international areas, so we just left them at home. </p>

<p>i know you can unlock the iphone, but with 4 of them, i didn’t want to risk the expense of replacing 4 phones no longer under warranty!</p>

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<p>Just wanted to update everyone on the resolution to my problem. Yesterday I got two text messages from AT&T letting me know that an adjustment had been made to my bill. The young man from the AT&T store that I went to called this morning to tell me exactly what the adjustment was. They have retroactively charged me for the data plan for the month of March, then adjusted my bill for that month to reflect usage with a data plan… so basically they removed about $800 worth of charges.</p>

<p>I owe AT&T the courtesy of following up with this story on CC to let people know that they were very responsive.</p>