Roaming charges are hard to figure
If you leave the US, just getting voice mail can add up
Carolyn Y. Johnson, Boston Globe, 3/24/2008
Philip Greenspun never used his T-Mobile cellphone during his February trip to the Bahamas, but the retired open-source software developer from Cambridge found himself slammed with $144 in international roaming fees anyway.
As cellphones have become more capable, able to make and receive calls abroad, they offer the convenience of connectivity in a foreign country. But with the convenience comes a whole new tangle of expensive roaming fees and confusion about how people are charged.
For example, depending on the carrier and plan, people who answer no phone calls, but simply keep their phones on, may find themselves incurring exorbitant fees every time someone leaves a voice mail - even if the cellphone user never makes a call or checks messages. This summer, iPhone customers who incurred hundreds of dollars worth of data roaming charges while abroad made headlines. Some did not understand roaming policies or were unaware that even though they used the service minimally, their phone would continue to automatically check e-mails.
But even people with an ordinary cellphone must be vigilant. All four major wireless carriers allow people to make and receive calls abroad. Coverage may vary depending on the companies' roaming agreements with international partners, and require a compatible phone. Some, like T-Mobile, require the customer to specifically call and activate world service, and have special roaming rates that apply in other countries.
Greenspun discovered the hard way, however, that even not using his phone could cost him. Greenspun turned his phone off in the Bahamas when he saw that his hotel was out of the range of a cell tower, because he didn't plan to use his phone at all.
Still, every incoming call was billed at $2.99 a minute - even though he didn't check his messages until he was back in the United States. The calls also seemed to be double-billed as they were forwarded to his voice-mail account. For every person that called his phone while he was away, a $5.98 charge appeared on his bill.
A spokeswoman for T-Mobile said that each call that goes to voice mail should have been billed only once. But customers who activate international service and leave their phones on are, in effect, charged for not using their phones. People who leave their phones on in a foreign country will be charged the standard international roaming rate for the country when people leave messages on their voice mail - unless they set their phone to forward calls automatically.
Similarly, AT&T customers who leave their phones on but do not pick up their phones will be charged international roaming minutes when people leave messages for them.
Verizon Wireless and Sprint Nextel said customers are not charged for voice mail and do not incur roaming fees unless they use their phones.
Still, that doesn't explain why Greenspun - who says he turned his phone off - racked up the international roaming fees on calls that went straight to voice mail. After more than a half-dozen calls to customer support, Greenspun said, he finally got the charges taken off his account.