I live in San Diego and I have been charged $43 in global roaming fees, but have not left the US. The roaming is off on the phone, verizon says its our fault due to being close to Mexico towers that pick up signals and will not credit any portion of it. Has this happened to anyone?
It happens to me in El Paso, TX and it happens to others as well when driving along Hyway 10 which in places is very near some of the towers in Juarez, MEX. We have to be very careful when we get near the border with Mexico here in El Paso, TX.
I work for the Border Patrol and switched to Verizon because most of my coworkers have Verizon and constantly praise it. That was until this year, right after I switched. Now they all hate it and are leaving as soon as possible. The problem deals directly with these charges. Verizon is basically running a scam to force customers near the border to either get the Mexico add-on for $15 or pay high overages.
I have the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 which has no option to turn off roaming for calls or texts, only data. The exact same phone on Sprint has the option to block roaming both domestic and internationally and you can specify either calls, texts, or both. Why would the same phone have the option to block international roaming on Sprint, but not on Verizon?
I had Verizon put a US ONLY block on my account so that it would only connect to US towers but that option failed to work. I was told by a technical support representative that I would not be charged, that it is verizon's fault, and that they would have someone go out and physically repair the towers. The very next day I was told that they still wanted me to pay the charges or get on the Mexico plan. I was also told that if a person with a U.S. number calls me while they are in Mexico then I would be charged for international roaming.
I want you to enjoy being a part of the best family in wireless gadd3000! We understand that your needs may change based on work or personal reasons. You definitely have the option to turn off data roaming to prevent international charges. In addition, we recommend power cycling the phone at least once a day, which will update the preferred roaming list in your handset. http://tiny.cc/ajudxw
Your phone is designed to pick up the strongest tower available. If you find you are still connecting to international towers for voice calls, our Share Everything with Mexico plans are recommended. http://tiny.cc/cnudxw
Sincerely,
JonathanK_VZW
VZW Support
Follow Us on Twitter@VZWSupport
Sounds more like share your wallet to me. We used to have a similar roaming problem between carriers in CA where I worked until Verizon bought CONTEL and combined the wireless operations and roaming sort of went out the window. It does sound like to me VZW needs to get better coverage along the Mexico border or make roaming agreement with those Mexico companies along the border. Like I said about about El Paso, TX we had to really watch what we were doing while driving along the 10 and we didn't answer calls at all. I always left my phone off until it got to work and would try to remember to turn it off when I left work until I got past this area. Good luck with your issue.
Well seems like the share everything mexico plan would be cheaper in the long run $15 for the plan or different roaming charges. You'll have a much more consistent bill. Unfortunately this does happen all of the time, the cell towers are just doing too good a job.
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