$990 Data roaming charges

[wolfiea]

Hey,
I just looked at my bill and I got $990 in data charges.
While I was away I did add the blackberry international add on.
I have done this in previous travels and never had a problem, even when I used the browser.
I called t-mobile and they did not seem to want to waive these charges.

Last time when I travelled I also got charged some roaming calls that I did not make - and they took those off, it was around $80.

What can I do now to get these charges taken off? there's no way I will pay $990.

Any advice is appreciated.

Thanks,

WA

[wolfiea]

PS: Has anyone had similar experiences, and if so, how did they get out of these charges?

[Splitz]

Yes, I had a $600 data bill after being told data was included...come to find out, only emails sent/received from the @tmo.blackberry.net address was included. But no attachements.

If this is your first bill with data roaming, they might discount it. I talked to 2 CSRs (1 Supervisor), and she discounted the data portion 50%. And told me how to avoid further charges. (By using tmo email only).

Otherwise, you are stuck with it.

Search around this T-Mobile portion of this forum...there are quite a few threads about it.

[wolfiea]

50% is still not acceptable. I plan on spending zero on this, since it was not explicitly made clear to me this change in policy.

Originally Posted by Splitz

Yes, I had a $600 data bill after being told data was included...come to find out, only emails sent/received from the @tmo.blackberry.net address was included. But no attachements.

If this is your first bill with data roaming, they might discount it. I talked to 2 CSRs (1 Supervisor), and she discounted the data portion 50%. And told me how to avoid further charges. (By using tmo email only).

Otherwise, you are stuck with it.

Search around this T-Mobile portion of this forum...there are quite a few threads about it.

[vincentnyc]

What don't u understand? Email is email. That's y the plan is called unlimited international blackberry EMAIL plan. Since u browse on ur bb and by that large amount u owe, u probably tether too. U mentioned in the past u didn't get charge when u used the browser, but the free lunch is over. U wanna play russian roulettes, be prepare to pay.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[wolfiea]

That's fine....but t-mobile did not notify me about this change in policy. I have always been using it and I have to admit when I enabled this service I was at the airport on the phone with the customer service rep, not paying attention to to the e-mail.

Originally Posted by vincentnyc

What don't u understand? Email is email. That's y the plan is called unlimited international blackberry EMAIL plan. Since u browse on ur bb and by that large amount u owe, u probably tether too. U mentioned in the past u didn't get charge when u used the browser, but the free lunch is over. U wanna play russian roulettes, be prepare to pay.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[wolfiea]

What about BBM? I was using that the whole time but I did not get charged for it every day. I only got charged on certain days where it says I used 15MB etc.
Our of my 11 days of travel I got charged with data for 5, even though I was using my phone the whole time.

Originally Posted by Splitz

Yes, I had a $600 data bill after being told data was included...come to find out, only emails sent/received from the @tmo.blackberry.net address was included. But no attachements.

If this is your first bill with data roaming, they might discount it. I talked to 2 CSRs (1 Supervisor), and she discounted the data portion 50%. And told me how to avoid further charges. (By using tmo email only).

Otherwise, you are stuck with it.

Search around this T-Mobile portion of this forum...there are quite a few threads about it.

[Splitz]

Originally Posted by wolfiea

That's fine....but t-mobile did not notify me about this change in policy. I have always been using it and I have to admit when I enabled this service I was at the airport on the phone with the customer service rep, not paying attention to to the e-mail.

There has been NO change in the policy. Read what international email states, email only. T-Mobile also has "deals" with carriers around the world, that you might not get charged data. For example, my wife was roaming on T-Mobile in the UK with her T-Mobile USA SIM card, and wasn't charged ANY data. Apparently, it is like this in Germany T-Mobile as well. These "Deals" aren't advertised to my knowledge. But we can attest to this.

Also, keep in mind, data is charged on the bill differently. Depending on the carrier that you are roaming on internationally, it could take up to THREE billing cycles to see the rest of the data that you've used. Last year, I was roaming on STC in Saudi Arabia (before I got a local SIM card), and I had data coming through on the bill when I was roaming over here. And I was told by a CSR, it could take up to 4 months to get the rest of it. Depends on how T-Mobile gets charged from the roaming carrier.

Originally Posted by wolfiea

What about BBM? I was using that the whole time but I did not get charged for it every day. I only got charged on certain days where it says I used 15MB etc.
Our of my 11 days of travel I got charged with data for 5, even though I was using my phone the whole time.

See above. All depends on carrier roaming.

[vincentnyc]

First total how many MB that u were charged oversea and then ask them what kinda rate for that amount of MB? I think for oversea, it is like $.05/Kb.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[wolfiea]

Travelled to Germany, Netherlands in 2008 and used the intl blackberry add on, no problem, cost $20 per month and was pro rated.
I did not get billed for data during this time, though I'm sure there was data.

Travelled to Germany in 2009, same thing, added the intl blackberry, but now I got charged....

Something has changed.

Originally Posted by Splitz

There has been NO change in the policy. Read what international email states, email only. T-Mobile also has "deals" with carriers around the world, that you might not get charged data. For example, my wife was roaming on T-Mobile in the UK with her T-Mobile USA SIM card, and wasn't charged ANY data. Apparently, it is like this in Germany T-Mobile as well. These "Deals" aren't advertised to my knowledge. But we can attest to this.

Also, keep in mind, data is charged on the bill differently. Depending on the carrier that you are roaming on internationally, it could take up to THREE billing cycles to see the rest of the data that you've used. Last year, I was roaming on STC in Saudi Arabia (before I got a local SIM card), and I had data coming through on the bill when I was roaming over here. And I was told by a CSR, it could take up to 4 months to get the rest of it. Depends on how T-Mobile gets charged from the roaming carrier.




See above. All depends on carrier roaming.

[vincentnyc]

Originally Posted by wolfiea

Travelled to Germany, Netherlands in 2008 and used the intl blackberry add on, no problem, cost $20 per month and was pro rated.
I did not get billed for data during this time, though I'm sure there was data.

Travelled to Germany in 2009, same thing, added the intl blackberry, but now I got charged....

Something has changed.

when u were in germany...did u use t-mobile network or did u roam to other network like vodaphone?

[wolfiea]

98% of the time with t-mobile.

Originally Posted by vincentnyc

when u were in germany...did u use t-mobile network or did u roam to other network like vodaphone?

[Artemis68]

Whether you were on the TMO network in Germany or not...it's still roaming either way.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[wolfiea]

From reading this forum today it's still not clear to me. Many other people have roamed with their phones and have only paid the $20 add on.
Seems like t-mobile is erratic in doing it, though we don't have any grounds for contesting it.

Originally Posted by Artemis68

Whether you were on the TMO network in Germany or not...it's still roaming either way.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[Artemis68]

Originally Posted by wolfiea

From reading this forum today it's still not clear to me. Many other people have roamed with their phones and have only paid the $20 add on.
Seems like t-mobile is erratic in doing it, though we don't have any grounds for contesting it.

The $20 plan never explicitly included data. It said "email only". It has always said this. However, T-Mobile didn't used to crack down on data usage. People go away with it. It was more lax.
It was cool while it lasted but now they are stricter.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com