Posted on 04/17/2024 8:42:40 AM PDT by simpson96
TAMPA, Fla. — Floridian Rene Remund and his wife toured Switzerland last September. But when they got home, their cell phone bill had jumped higher than the Swiss Alps.
Remund and his wife said they travel frequently and always notify their cell phone carrier before they leave the United States. In this case, Rene said he visited a T-Mobile store to share his travel plan. He's also been a T-Mobile customer for nearly 30 years.
“They said you’re covered. Whatever that meant. You're covered,” Rene said.
The couple took a trip that they described as magical. As they toured the countryside and spent time with family and friends, Rene said he never gave a second thought to the pictures and messages he was sending during their time away.
Shortly after returning home to Dunedin, Remund said he received his T-Mobile bill. He looked at it and thought it said $143. It wasn't until days later that he discovered the actual amount he owed.
T-Mobile charged him over $143,000 for using 9.5 gigabytes of data while overseas. Five to ten gigabytes is considered average for one month. But in this case, it was all roaming data which cost thousands of dollars each day of his trip.
Remund said he immediately called T-Mobile and waited on hold while a representative reviewed the charges.
“She gets back. 'No, this is a good bill," the representative told Remund.
"What do you mean it's a good bill?," Remund asked.
"Well, this is what you owe," the representative said, to which Remund replied, "You’re kidding me?”
Rene then hired an attorney who wrote letters to the president of T-Mobile but got no response. That’s when the attorney called ABC Action News for help.
We contacted T-Mobile’s corporate offices. Days later, someone from the carrier called Remund and offered to credit his account for the entire amount.
“Rene said he never gave a second thought to the pictures and messages he was sending during their time away.”
I think I have spotted the problem.
Never go by verbal assurances. Check the terms in your written sales purchase or contract. Get specifics just what does “You’re covered.” mean. GET IT IN WRITING!
“I think I have spotted the problem.”
Most T-Mobile plans include free texts from most countries including Switzerland. When we are overseas my wife texts dozens of photos each day.
I contacted Verizon, got a one month international plan with unlimited calls and texts for $100/30 days...and was good. The TMobile person probably just meant their phone would WORK overseas. It took me 30 seconds to find TMobile’s page offering plans...
Shoot, I paid $10 more on a monthly basis to extend my service of unlimited everything while overseas with Verizon.
“I contacted Verizon, got a one month international plan with unlimited calls and texts for $100/30 days...and was good. The TMobile person probably just meant their phone would WORK overseas. It took me 30 seconds to find TMobile’s page offering plans...”
On one trip I got the T-Mobile 30 day $50 plan. While touring I would set up a WiFi hot spot for my companions to use.
T-Mobile is the scumbag in this situation.
Period. The end.
Oh roaming is expensive!
It is a commodity.
Guess T Mobile will be lowering rates if they can over bill by several digits while selling a commodity.
“Shoot, I paid $10 more on a monthly basis to extend my service of unlimited everything while overseas with Verizon.”
Verizon has a $100 monthly international plan , 250 minutes limit on calls.
T-Mobile has great international benefits.
“The weird thing is when I go to Europe, I have to buy a European SIM card—my phone won’t allow my regular sim card to work there.”
Mine works fine.
Bttt
.
The Bay of Funday.highest tides in the world,Peggy’s cove , and The Keltic Lodge .
…..
“Indeed. And how about a good (old fashioned?) digital camera with an SD card. No data charges with that.”
Just put your phone in airplane mode. No data charges. Plus, you can then turn on WiFi.
You will probably laugh. This is my story of that.
I travelled up to Canada in the late Winter, just by myself, going on a road trip. I had vacation time and was going to lose it because I had so much of it, a nice “First World Problem”. But it was early in March, and my wife could not take any time off. So I just picked it out of a hat, so to speak, and thought it might be interesting scenery if nothing else.
I was a middle aged, white, short hair, glasses, wearing a military Navy veteran hat.
I had been driving for several hours straight (through northern Maine) when I hit the border. I figured I would stop and use a men’s room at the border crossing facility, which was good, because at that point, I had to go pretty badly.
When I got there, they asked me questions at the window, then told me to pull my car to the side and come inside the building. When I came in (this was around 20:00) there was one person in this big room with benches, and when I asked him if I could use the men’s room, he said no. I had to wait.
I had to urinate pretty badly at this time, but felt like I had no option, so I paced back and forth, getting more and more uncomfortable.
After about five minutes, two border guards came out (male and female) and walked me to my car, asking me questions about whether I owned guns, etc. and then proceeded to take the entire car apart. Took my luggage out and completely emptied it, pulled out floor mats, emptied my glove compartment, emptied my trunk, searched the engine compartment, etc
The female Canadian border guard pulls my container of prescription pills out (to save space when going on short trips, I just take what I need and throw them all into one container) and asks what they were, so I explain each one, and she admonishes me and says “You shouldn’t put them together in one container” which starts to REALLY piss me off. They are pulling other stuff out saying “What’s this? Why do you have this?”, etc.
Then, they pull my secured gun safe from under my seat, and ask if I had a gun in it. I said no, I already told them about a half dozen times I did not have a gun with me. They asked me to open it, and for some reason, the key didn’t work. At this point, I had to go so badly I said “Look. Why don’t you get a crowbar and force it open, I really have to go to the men’s room!” But I did finally get the blamed thing open.
All this took about 30-45 minutes, and by the end of it, as anyone who has ever had to go that badly knows, you almost begin to salivate from the discomfort.
I was pretty pissed, and not from the “chipping of the porcelain” that took place when I got to go, either.
Anyway, I found a hotel, and stayed there the night. The next day, I drove up to Prince Edward Island, and it was pretty dead, as anyone who travels up there in the winter knows. But I was just driving around smoking my pipe, and listening to music. No agenda. No destination. I went to the “Ann of Green Gables” house, but it was closed. It was at this time, as I was leaving the closed grounds, that I got the notice that I my phone was being inactivated due to non-payment or something stupid like that. So I called ATT, and found that somehow, I had roaming on. I ended up only paying a few hundred dollars instead of a few thousand, and was glad for it.
I stopped that evening at a Chinese restaurant in PEI, and it was the most gawd-awful, worst Chinese food swill I ever had in my life, and I had ordered a lot of it because I was really hungry. I usually have a wide latitude for what I will eat and even enjoy for Chinese food, and this fell outside those boundaries. I ate very little of it, it was that bad.
I found out that to serve Chinese food up there, you have to have some kind of “special” license. Figures.
So I stayed overnight and drove back the next day. I was still steaming about the Border crossing the day before, and as I drove South past St. John, Nova Scotia, it was a beautiful, sunny day. There was absolutely NOBODY on this major (for them) highway, but I was tooling along, listening to music.
I passed a police car parked off the road, it was sitting there facing the road, and as I went by, I reflexively looked down at my speedometer, spot on the speed limit as I was using cruise control when driving through localities I am unfamiliar with. I absolutely do not speed in those areas.
I looked in my rearview mirror, and to my surprise, saw the police vehicle pull onto the road and accelerate after me, turning on its lights. Puzzled, I pulled over.
The police officer approached my car as I watched him in the side mirror, and asked to see my license and registration. I am past the point in my life where I ask “Why am I being stopped?” I figure at this point, I should just let them do their thing, and go passively along, so I handed them over. The Canadian police officer asked if I had any firearms in the vehicle, and when I gritted my teeth, I forced myself to answer politely in the negative.
He walked back to his vehicle.
As I sat there on the side of this wide, sunny, deserted highway waiting for them to run my plate or whatever it is they do up in Canada when they stop someone, I saw another police car come zooming up, lights on, and pull up behind the first police car.
Great. Now I have two police cars behind me, as I sat on the side of this deserted highway.
The female Canadian cop saw fit to walk up to my car, and asked if I had any weapons in the vehicle. Now, I am really starting to get pissed, but again, politely answered negatively. I almost blurted out “What the Hell is it with you people up here and guns?” but the vision of having a cavity search performed in a cold cell by an enthusiastic non-binary police officer compelled me to just shut my mouth.
The other cop eventually comes back and says “Do you know why we pulled you over?” I answered no, and he said “We got a call from a gas station about forty miles north of here who said you filled your car with gas but didn’t pay for it.”
I am sure I arched my eyebrows at this, as I am not the stealing type, and said “Yes, I filled up, but I definitely went inside and paid for it. Look, I would have no problem driving back and squaring it away with the gas station. There must be some kind of mistake, because I know I paid for it.”
The cop handed me back my documents, and suggested I go straight back and not take any detours. I agreed, and drove forty miles back.
When I parked and walked inside, the guy at the counter saw me, and his face exploded with all signs of happy familiar recognition, and before I could say anything, he said in a breathless torrent “I’m sorry-I told the police what happened, and that I was sure it was a complete misunderstanding and asked them to go easy on you...”
I turned out I had stopped for gas, filled up and gone inside to pay manually. The pump didn’t like my card for some reason, but told me I had to pay inside after I pumped, which I did. When I went inside, I grabbed a soda, and went up and paid for it with my credit card, which it happily accepted. However, I assumed I was paying for the gas as well, and as the guy behind the counter and I chatted amiably about the weather, non-Canadian credit car rejections, and the empty road, I did not get a receipt (Didn’t need one!) and jumped back in my car to drive away.
Needless to say, I wasn’t feeling any love from North of the Border. Don’t feel like going back up to Canada again. I probably never will.
Circa 1990 I did some work in Vermont and New hampshire The guy I was with left on Friday to see his mother in NY. I decided to go to Quebec City and Montreal I drove north from Laconia and spent the night this side of the border. It was saturday when I drove to the border crossing.
No cars on the road at 6:30 am There were two lanes to enter canada Go my right was a small building three canadian officers having coffee. The stop sign said stop and proceed. Which I did i even looked inside to see if someone was coming out, No one.
I started into canada and bells and whistles went off and the officers ran out and surrounded my car. I kept my hands on the wheel I wasn’t packin nor did I have drugs in the car, as I usually didn’t. I think I caught them off guard.
Sir you could have been shot. I said, I followed the instructions on the sign. We have to clear you. It never said that. (I thought get off your ass and one of you stay outside.” They had me pop the trunk and then et me go.
On the way back I took a side road to a little border town. I came around a curve downtown and there was a shack with a US flag. The officer said, where you been. He kept looking at his newspaper. I told him. Anything to declare no. He never got off his chair nor did he search my car. Go ahead,. welcome home.
Liked the french vibe in the old section of Quebec Stopped at a restaurant outside Montreal 20 seats around a bar and ordered spaghetti. Every one friendly and talking to each other and me. Got up to leave. someone had paid my check. Sales tax in Montreal 15% half for the feds, have for the province.
Had that happen at the border crossing near Jay Peak. When the found an old film can in the glove box and shook it I almost heard them say AH HA, but much to their chagrin, it was empty. I had more interaction than your typical illegal alien at our Southern border
Haha, you read my mind 😆😆😆. I have a somewhat similar story but I shall not speak of it here as it relates to myself, my at-the-time gf and her brother and a FULL inspection at the border crossing. Needless to say, Canada is much more like a grandmother’s attic to me, and one that I DON’T like much.
Meh, not enough for me to care to visit. Been there, done that, in a manner of speaking, and ZERO plans to do it again. Gordon Lightfoot was the only thing I would have gone there for and he’s checked out.
Even iCloud mail?
Oh, it looks like it depends on your plan. I don’t have a plan, just month-to-month.
I used to like going up there. My wife and I went to a place, Derby Line, Vermont, which has the only library in the world that sits right on top of the border.
Half the library is in English. The other half is in French. It was very cool...all the rooms in the library were built from different wood, etc.
But at the border crossing, they again asked me if I had firearms in the car and made us wait in the car for 45 minutes going into Canada.
My wife snickered at me steaming there. She is witness to this stuff. When we went to Europe, the customs people eyed me, looking at my passport, looking at me, and back at my passport, while my wife smirked at me.
When we go through airports, I get the royal treatment while she gets waved through.
Grr. I have very little sense of humor about this anymore.
Someone told me that my treatment was the retaliation that Canada takes against us because of the way we eyeball Canadians traveling to the USA. I don’t know, but could give a crap less.
Nobody has killed 3000 Canadians in one day yet.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.