Texting from Canada

[underfed]

I have a Family Select plan, which includes unlimited text messages. Is there somewhere on the Verizon site that states how much (if anything) it will cost to send texts to the US or receive texts from the US while I am in Canada? This would include texts to/from another phone on my own family plan while that phone is in Canada. I'm not interested in sending texts to, or receiving texts from, any country other than the US (except for the family member who will be in Canada with their US-based Version phone). I've looked through other forum threads on this topic, I have searched through the Verizon website, and I've even talked with customer support, but keep hearing about fees for texts to/from other countries, not texts to/from the US while I am in Canada. I can't settle for an answer here in the forums, as that will be worthless if I come home and find I've been charged hundreds of dollars for texting in Canada.

[freedomsearcher]

txt messaging rates availability domestic rates apply or deduct from your text messaging bundle while in: US, Canada, US Virgin Islands, or Puerto Rico I found this info on vzw.com/international

[underfed]

Well, that seemed to state pretty clearly that texting from Canada would be the same as if I were in the US. I just got off the phone with Verizon, and they told me it would cost $.20 to receive a message and $.50 to send one. I could temporarily go on a Canada plan but that doesn't include texting. There's no way for me to block incoming texts. My only choice is to turn my phone off.

[budone]

They were wrong..... not surprised.

While traveling in the U.S.,Canada, U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico text messages sent to non-U.S. phone numbers of participating carriers will not be applied against any monthly text messaging allowance and are charged the following:

• $0.25/address sent
• $0.20/message received

Text messages sent to phone numbers in Canada, Mexico and Puerto Rico are charged domestic rates per your plan.

[arichard21]

i can say with 100% certainty that you WILL NOT get charged for either texting to or from canada, nor will you get charged if you go to canada and text to a us or canadian number. i live on the canadian border, and we have an office in montreal. i text my co workers every day and they text me. i travel there once a week and text from there. never once have i been charged for anything.

[underfed]

I'm in Canada now with my family. If we turn on our phones, I expect a couple hundred text messages will come pouring in. I don't doubt your honesty or intelligence (my whole point in starting this thread is that I doubt Verizon's honesty and intelligence), but If I get billed for those messages, my only defense is your post and a poorly worded page on Verizon's website, while Verizon will likely be able to produce a recording of a CSR telling me that text messages received in Canada WILL be billed. I'm not willing to take that chance. I have no option of deciding if/when I want to use the phone under roaming rates. The moment I turn it on, text messages come in whether I want them or not, and I have to pay for them. I explained to them that my main concern was text messages, and they tried to get me to switch temporarily to a Canada plan, but after they went through the whole sales pitch about voice, I finally pulled them back on topic and they admitted that I would still have to pay extra for texts. My original grip still stands - it's impossible to get a straight answer from these people about anything.

[bosslady85]

While traveling in the U.S.,Canada, U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico text messages sent to non-U.S. phone numbers of participating carriers will not be applied against any monthly text messaging allowance and are charged the following:

• $0.25/address sent
• $0.20/message received

Text messages sent to phone numbers in Canada, Mexico and Puerto Rico are charged domestic rates per your plan.

While traveling outside the U.S., Canada, U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico the text messaging rates are:

• $0.50/address sent
• $0.05/message received

*These text messages are not applied against any monthly text messaging allowance.

[GreenMonk]

Not sure if its the right thing to do to resurrect this, but I'm not quite clear on this.

"While traveling in the U.S.,Canada, U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico text messages sent to non-U.S. phone numbers of participating carriers will not be applied against any monthly text messaging allowance and are charged the following:

• $0.25/address sent
• $0.20/message received

OK, so this is telling me that if I'm traveling in the U.S., Canada, USVI, or PR, I can expect that I'll pay the above rates for texting with non-U.S. phone numbers--Got it.

"Text messages sent to phone numbers in Canada, Mexico and Puerto Rico are charged domestic rates per your plan."

This is where I get lost - it seems to contradict the above statements about Canada, as it seems to say that messages sent to phone numbers in Canada are charged via my plan. Is this supposed to say "messages sent to U.S. phone numbers in Canada, Mexico, and PR will be charged domestic rates per my plan?

Sorry for being a bit thick-headed on this, but I'm leaving for Montreal on Thursday and would like to get it cleared up before I go up there and accidentally rack up $50 in text charges.

[acraftylady]

We have unlimited texting and I was just in Canada on Wednesday and had to text my son at home who is on our plan and I looked at my text details and it says domestic mobile to mobile just like when I text him at home.  I think I have texted from there before and don't remember seeing any separate charges outside our unlimited texting and I thought I would.  I was just over the border though from Buffalo NY so not way up.    New bill is not online yet to see if it went up as I think I sent about 6 texts.  I also had to call voicemail a few times too that day as this is our main phone.

Now when I was on prepaid I had to make a few calls from there once back to U.S and it hardly took any minutes off.  I also think I had to call from the family plan we have now back to the U.S. but I can't remember how much I was charged but I keep thinking at the store they told me 60 cents a minute or for some reason I have that stuck in my head that someone told me that.   Sorry not much help.   Mary

[nmchileman]

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underfed wrote:

I have a Family Select plan, which includes unlimited text messages. Is there somewhere on the Verizon site that states how much (if anything) it will cost to send texts to the US or receive texts from the US while I am in Canada? This would include texts to/from another phone on my own family plan while that phone is in Canada. I'm not interested in sending texts to, or receiving texts from, any country other than the US (except for the family member who will be in Canada with their US-based Version phone). I've looked through other forum threads on this topic, I have searched through the Verizon website, and I've even talked with customer support, but keep hearing about fees for texts to/from other countries, not texts to/from the US while I am in Canada. I can't settle for an answer here in the forums, as that will be worthless if I come home and find I've been charged hundreds of dollars for texting in Canada.

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The Canada question is definitely one of the most common messaging questions in this forum and one of the most commonly misunderstood by customers and VZW reps. 

Funny that you mentioned you did a search and didn't find anything. There are countless posts about this topic, a few of them are signified as solved. But if you can't settle for an answer here in the forums...then why did you post a question? Seems like a waste of time to me since all of our answers are worthless. 

There is no additional charge for text messages sent while roaming in Canada. They will count as a normal domestic text - so they will be deducted from your allowance if you have one, or charged at .20/message if you have no text package.

Calls, by the way, are .69/minute. Just in case you butt dial someone.