Huge Global Roaming charges and no alerts!!

Recently traveled to London for a week and was wary of making sure the iPhone would work and not have crazy fees. Talked to VZW customer service before leaving and they assured that the phone was set up to work fine and would provide text message alerts for data usage that exceeded $25,$50,etc.
Got to London, phone did not work at all. Spent a very frustrating 1st two days there trying to get it to work with VZW telling me it should work fine.
Finally got a service rep on the phone and he went through and made some 'changes' on VZW's end which made the iPhone work in London. Had a great trip after that but then I got the bill--> $837 in data roaming charges for 41Mb of data! Did not get a single data use $ alert message on this the whole trip.
I could not be more unhappy at this bait and switch.
-Mike.

MikeP111
What exactly was the bait? Where did they switch? Did you verify that a global data plan was added to your account? If not, the $837 in data makes sense as it's over $20 per MB.
Global Plans and Pricing - Verizon Wireless

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Can I use my iPhone 5S in Europe with the global services? Am I exposed to extra roaming charges?

I am also traveling in the middle of a billing cycle. Can I change my billing cycle to avoid this?

Yes you can use the 5S in Europe. It is all roaming charges and expensive. You can't change your billing cycle, though I am not sure why you want to Change it. Check out Verizon global information to know rates in each country you are visiting. Just so you are clear WARNING WARNING. If you do not know what you are doing and use your phone in foreign countries, including all the countries of Europe, you can rack up tens of thousands (YES greater than $10,000) with very little effort. Unless you know what you are doing, put the phone in airplane mode, and only then turn wifi on only.

Sudden data roaming charge to phone with data roaming disabled on Motorola droid

I have used a droid for the 2 years plus that I have been with Verizon. I work for a cruise line on a ship. I am in port every 8 days and use my phone on that day. I leave my data roaming TURNED OFF at ALL times because I am aware that charges for this are very high when roaming on a ship (I have worked on cruise ships for over 12 years).
For two years I have used my phone in the US port that serves as my home port (Ft Lauderdale this year) and when I get back on board I put the phone in my pocket, forget about it until I get to my room at which time I put it on my desk and it stays there until I either turn it off or until the battery dies. I have NEVER been charged data roaming fees in the past two years until the past month. I have made NO CHANGE whatsoever in the way my phone is set up.
This month I received over 500 dollars in data roaming charges which I am being told are 'legitimate charges' because apparently data was pushed to my phone while it was on the ship sailing out of Ft. Lauderdale with data roaming DISABLED. This happened every 8 days (the debark/embark day for my ship) for an entire month billing period. Customer Service reps have looked and determined that the data is being pushed to my phone late in the day as my ship sails out of Ft. Lauderdale.
I initially called Verizon on Nov 30th (after receiving messages on the 29th warning me that I was being charged higher than normal data roaming charges) and was told that I was indeed setting my phone up correctly to prevent Data Roaming charges and an investigation was started. I was not told to change anything about the way my phone was set up, as long as in fact Data Roaming was disabled. On December 4th my phone again had data pushed to it as the ship sailed away from Florida. I called on the 5th of December and was told to turn ALL DATA off on my phone when getting on a ship. By this time the entire 500 plus dollar amount of data had somehow been pushed to my phone. (I have no idea what the heck it is...I didn't use it for anything).
Since this has happened I have called multiple customer service reps, all of whom have been very nice on the phone and promised to look into the matter and call me back. No one has ever called back. Twice supervisors have submitted my data roaming charges to be removed only to be turned down by someone saying the charges are correct and that data was sent to my phone and thus the charges are legitimate. The point that I make over and over again is that I wasn't told by anyone from Verizon to turn ALL DATA off when going on a ship until December 5th, and further that my usage pattern with the phone during the past month is EXACTLY the same as it has been over the past two plus years when I WAS NOT being charged for data roaming. By December 5th all the charges had already accrued so following directions to TURN ALL DATA OFF when on the ship didn't affect my outstanding charges. (Further, I called Motorola and a tech there told me that having data roaming disabled on the phone should be sufficient to prevent ANY data from being received by the phone while it is roaming...this, he told me, is exactly why the phone has that option as well as the ability using a completely different button to turn on and off ALL data.
I did speak with another Customer Service rep today who told me that she had resolved the issue and that an adjustment would be made to my bill within the next 48 hours. I asked her if this was contingent on approval from somewhere up the line and she said no, that she understood what I was saying and plead my case successfully to a supervisor and the adjustment was being made.
If the adjustment is in fact made I will repost here stating that. If it isn't made then it will be the 6th phone call I have made to Customer Service that hasn't resulted in taking care of an issue that is in NO WAY my fault nor is it my responsibility in my opinion. I set my phone up NOT to receive data while roaming and after there was a problem I followed the instructions that Verizon Customer Service personnel gave me to the letter.
Just to clarify, if this had happened the first month I had been on ships (over two years ago) when using Verizon or this phone then I would be more inclined to believe that I had made some mistake and just pay and turn the darned thing off carefully every time I walked up the gangway of the ship, but since I have had Data Roaming disabled the ENTIRE time I have owned the phone and have never been charged before then I feel I was justified in thinking that disabling Data Roaming on the phone would successfully.....well....disable the phones ability to receive DATA while ROAMING.

Thanks for that information. I read a lot of posts here before I posted mine and based on what I have seen from others I tried to be as detailed as possible. If I send anything to a VZW account I will leave my cell number and contact information as you suggest. I'm still hopeful that the last customer service rep I talked to was honest and accurate when she told me the situation had been resolved in my favor.
I saw many posts from folks that seemed to be asking for adjustments to bills for mistakes that they themselves had made but I honestly don't think I'm in that postion.
On the other hand I am in the position of having to deal with Customer Service reps who have probably heard pretty much everything in the book from folks to try to get charges reduced, so upper level supervisors who can actually approve my bill adjustment are probably not even reading the entire text from my multiple phone calls and explanations, thus simply declining the two supervisors who understood my situation and made the request for the billing adjustment.
The way it works (from what I can tell) is that the customer contact level person has a supervisor that they have to report to who then has to send any bill adjustment request (or perhaps any request over a certain amount) to another supervisor (one who is NOT ever in direct contact with customers) who makes the final call on whether or not a bill adjustment request goes through.
My main frustration comes from the fact that you can never request to speak with the last representative that you spoke with on the phone (according to all the reps I spoke with) and they can't even call each other...all of their communication is done via email. This tends to ...from what I have experienced....create situations where a rep will tell a customer whatever they want to hear, knowing that there is almost NO CHANCE that they will ever have to speak to that customer again. It also creates a situation where if the last rep didn't leave detailed or accurate notes then you have to go over every detail of your situation with the next rep you speak with.
My converstation with the Customer Service person who told me the issue was resolved took place yesterday morning so if things are actually taken care of then tomorrow should be the day the adjustment comes in at the latest.
Thanks again for your suggestion. I wouldn't have known how to contact anyone directly from Verizon here without your post.

Mexico Roaming Data Charges and MiFi Hotspot Wireless

Hi,
I've been a Verizon customer for many years. I've used their PC Card and the unlimited data plan for my computer. I often travel near the border, Detroit, MI ... Niagara Falls, NY ... Laredo, TX ... Del Rio, TX ... El Paso, TX ... Nogales, AZ ... Calexico, CA ... San Diego, CA ... often. In the VZAccess Manager, the software used by the computer to connect, I have roaming disabled. Recently I upgraded to the MiFi and love the ability to have my laptop and my wife's connected at the same time. Recently near the Mexico border, the first time since having the MiFi, I checked my online Verizon usage and didn't see any mention of Mexico. There's nothing in any user manual about how to disable roaming specific to the MiFi, so I took that to mean that since the VZAccess Manager's settings controlled the MiFi while connected via USB, the settings also applied while wireless. They don't. I have since logged into the MiFi itself the way you would any WiFi router and there are no settings for roaming. I called Customer Service. They said there is no way to disable roaming when using it as a wireless hotspot ... and for me to "remember" to connect to just one computer with the USB cable. I intend to do that, but some people do forget ... traveling in an RV through El Paso ... just driving through ... you're close to the border. Be sure and remember to change your habits and stop using the MiFi as a wireless hotspot. I have charges for roaming in Mexico when I did not go to Mexico ... and did not know I was roaming.
My billing cycle isn't for two more days. They couldn't assure me today that all charges would be reversed ... not until the billing cycle. I would certainly hope they reverse all charges ... even if in the hundreds ... and they ought to have better safeguards rather than charge you for roaming in Mexico when you're not in Mexico. There should be a pop-up, a warning, something a user has to do to authorize the connection ... when you're not even in Mexico, but instead you are in a US city with a strong Verizon signal. If it already has a good US signal, why would it switch to a roaming signal anyway, even if that roaming signal is slightly stronger? Why roam if a strong "home" signal is available anyway?
I haven't been told that all my charges will be reversed ..., but at least I can alert you, if you use the MiFi as a HotSpot, it could switch to roaming even if you have a strong "home" signal and even if you have not crossed the US border. There is no way to stop this when using it as a HotSpot ... and you are not alerted at all unless you notice the light ... and have been told that a solid blue means roaming ... and you "remember" to check. I never noticed the blue light ... can only assume since the manual says so, that the light was blue at some point. But I never noticed it. I know now that light should be checked ... and I know now that the USB connection should be used anytime close to the border. I know that now. But people do forget. There should be some safeguard. VZAccess Manager has the ability to disable roaming and then you don't need to remember. The MiFi should should also have that ability. And actually, they shouldn't allow roaming when a home signal is available ... and even if you have roaming enabled and you cross a border, there should be a pop-up, flag, or alert of some kind where the user has to authorize the connection.
Hope this helps someone avoid this. And I hope they reverse all the charges ... even if in the hundreds.
Thank you,
Tony McCanless

Yep, I've been charged for it. They still claim that with roaming turned off, apps will bypass this and use data anyway.
"Some data applications and data functions including email updates will
still work in the background even if the iPhone data roaming is switched
off but not in direct physical use by you and this data roaming usage
would appear as it is working on the device without any warning.
The device could be using data that you don't necessarily know is being
used, for example, embedded rich content in emails can generate
significant volumes of data both ways. The email application is a likely
source of most of that data usage."
So it would seem that the "data roaming off" facility is a bit misleading, as it's not actually turning data roaming off. Apparently.
Thanks for the info Meg.

Global data charges with data roaming OFF

I have an issue with both my iPhone 4 and 4S getting incoming global data "leakage" I will call it.
Both are running iOS 6.1.3, which is the latest software update. Both phones are used fairly regulary along the San Diego border with Mexico, and often times on the Mexican side within 2-3 miles of the border. My phones are always set as follows: "Cellular Data -> On" Roaming = "Voice Roaming -> On" and "Data Roaming -> Off" with the iPhone 4S also having "International CDMA -> On"
However, both phones consistently receive incoming global data hits in very minor amounts (0.1 KB to 5.5. KB) when they are in an area where the signal is switching between my USA carrier (Verizon) and the Mexican cellphone towers. I know this because almost every time it happens it is when we are crossing the border or close to the border where the towers are competing for the signal to my phones. In one case I watched as my iPhone 4 switched from Verizon 3G to Extended network and shortly thereafter I received a push notification (message) from my WhatsApp application. The next day it showed the hit on my daily usage as a 6.9 KB hit even though data roaming was set to OFF.
Please don't respond to tell me that the solution is to switch Cellular Data -> Off when I am near the border. I already know this will solve the problem, but the issue is that we want to use the full functionality of our phones in this area as our employment and our residence is right along the border and we don't want to have to suspend data completely every single time we cross the border, which is nearly every day.
The data hits have thus far been in the range of less than 500 KB per month total (almost no impact at $5 per MB) so my concern is not so much with the minimal expenses incurred, it is more the principal of the issue and the problem.
I want to know if there are other users experiencing the same issue so I can have some more evidence to get Verizon to push Apple for a fix. Apple iPhones have consistently had "Data/WiFi/Roaming" issues on its phones since 2008 (or more as far as I can tell) and I believe this is a related issue that has never fully been fixed.
Thanks in advance for your replies of similar situations, regardless of what country this happened in.

Thanks for clarifying. I do hope you had a wonderful trip! You mentioned you were turning the cellular data on occasionally to use a little data. When your data is turned on, even for just a few minutes, your phone sees that connection as a window to look through your applications for any notifications that you've missed and download email and other messages, occasionally resulting in a significant amount of data usage. What were the countries that you visited? When you log in to view your statement on http://bit.ly/xB4iTc, does it show you had a $25 Global Data or $29.99 Global Value plan for any part of your trip?
Thank you
JenniferH_VZW
Please follow us on Twitter @vzwsupport

I have an unlocked iphone (Australia) and am traveling to Korea. Am I able ot use global roaming there, or does anyone know if I can buy a prepaid SIM and put it in my iphone 4S? Thanks!

I have an unlocked iphone (Australia) and am traveling to Korea. Am I able ot use global roaming there, or does anyone know if I can buy a prepaid SIM and put it in my iphone 4S? Thanks!

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I am going to the usa this week. although I have a Rogers sim card inserted into my ipad I have not activated it. I don't want to incur roaming charges by activating it and taking it to the usa. any advise,

I am travelling to the usa for 10 days soon, I wish to take my ipad, my hotel doesn't have free wireless. I have a Rogers sim card inserted by the Apple store, but I have not activated it. I don't wish to activate it to use in the states because of roaming charges. any suggestions.

If available in the USA, get a pre-paid micro-SIM card for the iPad and use the cellular network there.
It might be enough for 10 days (check what is available and connection rates) and could serve you again for a future trip to the USA.

Iphone5: In Europe can't upload pictures to mac from iphone5. I have turned off cellular and notifications to avoid roaming charges. What do i need to turn on?

I'm in Europe but can't upload pictures from iphone5C to mac. I have turned off cellular and notifications to avoid roaming charges. What do I need to do?

Hello lisafaith129yahoo.com,
The article linked below details how to import photos from your iPhone to your Mac.
iOS: Import personal photos and videos from iOS devices to your computer
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4083
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European travel and roaming charges, etc.

I am going to Italy and although won't use my phone for calling as Verizon doesn't work there, I would like to check email, listen to podcasts, and use apps. Does anyone know if that will trigger roaming charges? Any advice on this? I will call Verizon to discuss as well, but I don't trust their competence on the other end of the phone....

You can only use your Verizon phone over WiFi in Italy. Your Verizon iPhone is a CDMA phone. Italy uses GSM. You will not incur any roaming charges. Whether you will be required to pay anything for the WiFi depends on the WiFi provider.

To avoid roaming charges when traveling internationally, do i put my iphone on airplane mode only or do i also need to turn off data and voice roaming

I have an iphone 4 with sprint which can't take a sim card. To avoid roaming charges while traveling internationally, do i put my phone on airplane mode.
I read you need to turn off cellular and voice data roaming as well but when I turn on airplane mode, it seems like roaming is automatically turned off.
Is this true?

Turning on Airplane Mode will prevent the phone from getting roaming charges as it cant connect to a cell tower.
P.S you can have WiFi on and still be in Airplan Mode. Just turn Airplane Mode on first, then turn the WiFi on

I live in the US, but am traveling in Mexico. If I take a picture with my iPhone, can I transfer it to my ipad without paying a roaming charge or something?

I live in the US, but am vacationing in Mexico. Is it possible to take pictures with my iPhone, and download them to my iPad without paying roaming charges or some other fee?

Phil0124 wrote:
The only way you are going to get roaming charges is if you use your the celluler network in Mexico.
And believe me, the roaming charges are truly frightening!
But in those spots where 4G/LTE works ok, speed is outstanding. So they can stick you with a HUGE roaming charge in a jiffy.....

Can I gift my unlocked iPhone 4S to my dad abroad without roaming charges?

I have a new iPhone 4S that I recently got SIM-unlocked by Verizon in preparation for my trip to Dubai (to visit my dad - he lives there). I don't quite fancy the phone as much as my earlier Droid X, so I want to give it to my Dad instead.
Two questions:
1. When I return from Dubai, I will activate the Droid X on my line in place of the iPhone 4S. Will this impact his ability to continue using the iPhone with his GSM carrier? I am guessing it shouldn't - I don't see how Verizon would be able to disable the phone?
2. He travels to India fairly frequently, and since India has both GSM and CDMA (he will be using a GSM carrier there) I run a risk of roaming charges if the phone automatically connects to CDMA when the GSM signal is poor. Can I be hit by such charges from Verizon even when the phone is no longer on my line?
I guess I will find out these answers in a month or so myself, so if no one else knows, I can post the answer here when I find out for myself.

Hello riggedveda,
Congrats on your trip to Dubai! I always wanted to go to Dubai! I hope that you have a wonderful time while you are there! Feel free to post pictures so the community members can see! I'm sure that you are aware of the many benefits of having an unlocked global device like the iPhone! May I ask does you dad have a Verizon Wireless mobile number? If he does then he can use your unlocked iPhone 4S on his number! Also, the great news is that once the iPhone 4S is unlocked, it can be used on an international carrier, even if it is not active on the line that it was unlocked on. So if you decide to let your dad use your iPhone while in India with an international carrier then he is free to do so. Since the Verizon Wireless SIM card is not in the phone, he will not incur any roaming charges from us. Below are a few recommendations that I would like to make prior to giving the device to your dad.
Sync all of your current information from your iPhone to your computer using iTunes.
Sign out of iTunes on the device and on the computer that the iPhone syncs with.
Perform a factory reset on the iPhone so your information won't be mixed with your dad's.
Verify that the device is deactivated from your mobile number before he leaves to Dubai.
Insert the international SIM card in the iPhone when he arrives in Dubai.
Activate/unbrick the iPhone using either wi-fi or a computer with iTunes and a data connection. (See link below)
http://support.verizonwireless.com/how_to_use/activating_iphone_4.html
Even though the steps provided in the link are for activating Verizon Wireless service in the US, the steps are the same with an international SIM card while traveling abroad. If you have any additional questions or concerns then feel free to reply to this posting for more help.
Thank you & happy traveling!...
ArnettH_VZW
Follow us on Twitter @vzwsupport

3G UM150 modem keeps insisting on doing Global Roaming. I'm in suburban Phoenix

I don't understand why my 3G modem insists it can only connect as a Global Roaming connection that will cost me more than $20/MB for service. I'm in Buckeye, Arizona, outside of Phoenix. It is neither remote, rural, nor in a foreign country. I don't understand why it keeps showing a Global Roaming indicator on screen with a warning saying data service will be charged at $20+ per megabyte. What's going on???

Sharon55612,
That certainly does seem quite odd for that area. I've been there and you aer correct, it is none of the above mentioned. When did this start happening? Has there been any recent updates done on the device?
ErinW_VZW
Follow us on Twitter @VZWSupport
If my response answered your question please click the "Correct Answer" button under my response. This ensures others can benefit from our conversation. Thanks in advance for your help with this!!

After updating to ios 7.1 my iPhone 5s battery *****. It takes longer to charge and shorter to finish.

3 months back I upgraded from iPhone 4s to 5s and realised 4s is a much better phone. It gave me longer battery life of around 8.30 hrs of usage on 2g and 7 hrs on 3G but 5s was giving me only 7 hours of usage on 2g and 5 hours on 3g but since I've updated it to ios 7.1 my battery ***** even more. It takes longer to charge and shorter to drain. Now I get only 4 hours usage on 2g and somewhat 3hrs roughly on 3G and it takes around 3 hours to charge where awe it used to take only 100 minutes perfectly. I don't know what's wrong with apple. I was a huge apple fan when I had my 4s but now I'm disappointed. But worst thing comes last night, I usually lose around 10% due to my network's pop up messages overnight but last night i lost 37%. When I got up and checked usage it shows me 6 hrs 30 minutes usage but I haven't used my phone since I was sleeping. Hope a new update releases soon to patch this but till that some advices on saving battery would be appreciated, thank you.

Please be more specific. What have you tried already? Please follow the below steps as described also in another topic by Nathan.
1. Hard reset hold both buttons until Apple logo appears.
2. Restore from an iTunes sync and backup. This made a difference for a lot of peopel, battery life got much better.
3. Limit push notifications (apps and e-mail accounts - set e.g. e-mail to fetch once an hour) to those you really need.
4. Limit location services to those you really need, and watch to see if the indicator comes up.
5. Get the app System Activity Monitor to look for a runaway process that is using a lot of CPU.
6. Suggestion by others to reset all settings.
7. Suggestion by others that iCloud may be involved, and to try to turn off some iCloud settings.
8. Limit or turn off 'background app refresh'.
9. Add apps back in carefully to identify an offending app that is causing CPU or network activity that kills battery life.
10 Also make sure that e-mail is fetched (e.g. every hour) or set to manual instead of pushed.
11 Do you have a good carrier reception? Have you tried to manual set your carrier within your iPhone instead of the 'automatic'?
12 Have you checked if the timezone is set to manual instead of automatic and see if this makes a difference in battery use?
In my case it was a bug with an app that caused the battery drain. I also noticed that the use and stand-by time were exactly the same which is ofcourse not correct. This was all caused by this app which was using GPS tracking all the time. Unfortunately an app such as System Activity Monitor did not indicate that in my case but someone posted this solution on a Dutch forum that the previous version of the app 'Scoupy' had a bug and caused this battery drain.
If you haven't tried every single one of these, please do not post that battery life is terrible.

Hi my I phone has just gone dead the battery would have been about 50% charged and it does not turn on or is taking a charge any ideas

Hi my I phone has just gone dead it has about 50% charge and wont turn on. It dont seem to take a charge either?
Any ideas my whole business revolves around this bloody thing with out it I am *********
Can some one help please??

Hello, gypsumspring.
Thank you for visiting Apple Support Communities.
Here are the best resources to go through when experiencing this issue.
Resolving issues
If your battery doesn't charge, or if your device shows a low-battery image, black screen, or "accessory not supported" alert, follow these steps.
Inspect the connector at the bottom of the phone:
Make sure that there are no bent pins in the connector.
Make sure that the connector is free from debris.
If there are bent pins or debris, please contact Apple Support.
Otherwise, continue troubleshooting.
Make sure that the outlet you're using works.
Make sure that the Apple USB cable and Apple USB power adapter work.
Plug the device in to power and let it charge for up to 30 minutes. If you don't have an Apple USB power adapter, try connecting to a computer's high-power USB 2.0 port (not a keyboard). The computer must be on.
If the device still exhibits an issue, try turning your device off and then on again while connected to power.
If the issue is persists, please contact Apple Support.
iPhone and iPod touch: Charging the battery
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1476
iOS: Not responding or does not turn on
http://support.apple.com/kb/ts3281
Cheers,
Jason H.

Huge Global Roaming charges and no alerts!!

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