Long Distance Calls/Texts I Didn't Make

[ProudDharmaDogs]

I'm on Disability and very careful about my phone usage.  I have NEVER made an international, long-distance call on my cell phone.  But this month's bill indicates that someone texted and called a number in Simi Valley, California and talked for over an hour.  I don't know anyone in California let alone Simi Valley so I called to dispute the charges.  The first rep told me that, after consulting with her manager, that the charges were, indeed, made from my phone.  In other words, Rogers is, in effect, calling me a liar or an idiot.  So I asked her to block all outgoing international calls from my phone.  She said that Rogers didn't offer that feature.  When I asked to speak to a manager, I was disconnected.

I called back and spoke to another rep who refused to put me through to a manager and told me that the charges were legitimate.

I called back a third time and, after yet another request to speak to a manager was granted my request.  I recorded the conversation.  He said that the charges were legitimate - despite the fact that just a cursory Google search indicates that there are a whole plethora of cell phone users who are being defrauded by ghost users who are somehow hijacking their cell phone data.  It's a phenomenon that Rogers, Fido and Bell are all experiencing yet not addressing.  So I asked to block all outgoing international calls.  He said that Rogers didn't offer that feature and that, if I wanted to block long distance calls then it would be ALL long distance calls, even the ones here in Canada.

So I called back yet again - and recorded it - and spoke to tech support.  I was prepared to block all long distance calls and use a burner phone for long distance in Canada (I have a calling card for international calls).  But the tech rep said that ROGERS DOES OFFER A BLOCK OF ALL OUTGOING INTERNATIONAL LONG DISTANCE calls, which is a direct contradiction to the previous reps information.  So I requested that feature be added to my phone.

Rogers is a mess.  An absolute mess.  But I don't know that any other cellphone provider is any better.  Glad I recorded everyting.  

*** Edited Labels ***

[Pauly]

you know what? it is a good idea to Review your line and see what features you can add when you first get your line, then you could have added the call block back then, instead of having to have surprise charges. This is what I did, more people should think like me and be proactive.

anyways do u use any apps on your smart phone? sometimes apps have permission to the phone dialer and to android message app and can send messages and make calls on your be half.  

[Juliean03]

This happened to me a couple of bills ago and they said they same thing….the rep was so rude and then hung up the phone on me. I let it slide and then this morning I got my new bill for the month and they charged me $11 in long distance calls stating that the last call was made from Seattle Washington I have no one in that state and all these calls were like 1min, 3min calls adding up to $11 in charges I told the rep to TAKE THESE CHARGES OFF MY BILL!!! And the guys offered me international call block my new balance will be out in 3-4 business days. However my question is does this interfere with my relatives that I do have in certain States? Although I ONLY use WhatsApp to communicate with them…I didn’t want to ask the rep cause he may then accuse me of lying about the Seattle chargers….but it’s like what do you want me to do I have family in the States just not in the States that are fraudulently calling me.

[RogersCorey]

Good morning @Juliean03!

If you're using WhatsApp to communicate with your relative in the USA, then this International call block won't impact your ability to make calls using WhatsApp.

This block will only stop you from making international calls, dialed out from your phone normally, so that we can ensure you can't accidentally make an international call and rack up any unwanted charges.

Since WhatsApp uses data to send texts or calls, you won't experience any interruption in your ability to use that app. 

I hope that clears it up for you. 🙂 If you have any other questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to reach back out.

Regards,

RogersCorey

[Lolaspeed]

Doesn’t matter if you record it, they don’t care.  I was quoted a price plan to switch to Roger’s from competitor.  When all set up my next month bill is 50$ more. Funny enough, they admit to the original quoted price, they admit it was their error, and even apologized BUT outright refused to honour it, even spoke with management. Told them this is illegal, it’s called “bait and switch” in legal terms, they still didn’t care.  Basically I would have to sue them to get them to honour it. That is disgusting…

[LordDrakkon]

WhatsApp has the ability to hand calls off to cellular. This is usually the reason behind people beingnbilled for calls they think are free, but are billable when WhatsApp hands the call off to cellular. There is no way to disable this functionality in WhatsApp and there are a lot of complaints about it on all carrier forums and especially I'm the WhatsApp forums.