Disabling Roam Like Home

[nsarine1]

Hello!

What is the easiest way to (temporarily) disable Roam Like Home?  The reason being I will travel through Europe to Asia, where I will get a local SIM.  While in Europe, I may send one or two texts, but not $10 worth, so I would rather have the pay-per-use rate.

The only way to do this is by calling customer service?

Thanks!

***Edited Labels ****

[LouiseGiannocca]

Wow.... pretty cumbersome to "unenroll" from something from Rogers, but VERY easy to enroll.  I have found this same thing over the many years. 

This is not that "interesting" a question as it makes perfect sense for people who travel in couples or families and who keep all but one phone turned off, or on airplane mode for most of the trip, but briefly need turn it on to send or receive a quick text message and don't want to incur the daily amount RLH costs, as it can really add up.

How about this Rogers:  You can text RLH ON to to travel to turn it on, and then RLH OFF to travel to turn it off.  It would be the users responsibility to remember to turn it back on again if wanted - OR, preferably maybe Rogers could send a text message to remind someone that they are not enrolled when the enter a roaming area.  Just a suggestion to help your customers spend less money when travelling.....Hmmmmm.

[CoOlSlY]

Keep dreaming Louise... 😉

On a side note, for living I travel a lot (like every day or so outside Canada). I don't want if I send one sms to advise I'll be late to be billed rlh everytime so it's disabled but then, turning it back on didn't worked the 2 times I tried to do it because I was staying in the US for a few days and wanted RLH. So nothing is easy there, not made for the heavy traveller.

[57]

Are these texts so urgent that you can't wait until you're connected to WiFi?  I suppose it would be nice to have a quick way to turn RLH on/off depending on the situation, but if you subscribe and you access the cell network it's quite difficult for the provider to know your intention in advance. When you connect to cell, you pay, either RLH, or the outside Canada rate.  Your choice, but it needs to be made beforehand because the network can't read your mind in advance.

When I recently travelled to Spain, I had several options - a package from Rogers, a purchased SIM in Spain, or pay the roaming charges.  Since I didn't need to send many texts, I simply paid the roaming rate for a few texts, but I had to make that decision in advance.  There's no way to "time travel" and change a decision that you needed to make before you left home.

[57]

To add to my previous post, my guess is that Rogers doesn't make it easy to turn RLH on/off because they don't wish you to "cherry pick" every day you travel, turning the feature on/off all the time.  You appear to need to make your decision before you leave home and stick with it, unless you wish to go through the hassle of chat each time you wish to turn it off.

For people who travel frequently, my guess is it would be less costly to get a local SIM/phone since those are quite inexpensive, compared with several days of RLH charges.  Using my recent Spanish trip as an example, I could get a local SIM with "plenty of" voice, texts and data for less than 10 Euros.  I opted to pay roaming charges instead because I only sent/received a few texts and was charged a total of $3.

[CoOlSlY]

When i read a comment like yours, it's just "adding messages to a thread with no purpose."

It's not reading minds, it's being able to turn it on or off by yourself. In your world of travelling, it's 7 days each time. In another world, let's say you are a pilot, just imagine travelling outside the country 150 days/year. You want to pay on long trips by days other trip by usage so you are in Jamaica for a round trip in the same day, you plan to have a delay or got an sms you want to answer, do you wanna pay 0.75c or pay 10$. You want to pay 0.75c. If you go in Florida 2 days, do you want to pay per usage or 7$, you want to pay 7$.

So the answer to the question is the one I gave and I don't get it when you explain that Rogers can't read minds so: no you can't turn it on or off other than chatting/talking with Rogers, end of story

[57]

At least you have the option to turn it off/on via chat/phone.  For example, some PAYGo Talk/Text plans charge $X/month whether you send a single text or go "to the max or beyond".  It's like insurance.  You pay whether you use it or not?

I see/understand that people would like to be able to "cherry-pick", but that's not the way the plans are designed.  If everyone easily cherry-picked, then the RLH plans would probably be more expensive to compensate for the "lost revenue"?

[SMT101]

@ Resident Expert
You said: "Are these texts so urgent that you can't wait until you're connected to WiFi?"
Since when do text messages travel over WiFi/Internet?
You also suggested to purchase a local SIM card (Spanish in your example) when travelling.
How would a local SIM card help me or anyone else get texts and phone calls to my Canadian SIM card?

[57]

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@SMT101 wrote:
@ Resident Expert
1. Since when do text messages travel over WiFi/Internet?
2. How would a local SIM card help me or anyone else get texts and phone calls to my Canadian SIM card?

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1a. I have an iPhone 5S and I mostly use it for texting when connected to WiFi.  My texts to/from other iPhones are, of course, free via iMessage on WiFi, see link below.  iMessages via Cell are charged my usually PAYGo rate.  It's rare that I have an emergency text, but it does happen occasionally.  I've also sometimes iMessaged from Starbucks or McDonalds or many other locations with free WiFi.

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/5113727

1b. When I send/receive an SMS, I see my usual text charges whether I'm on Wifi or Cell.  (I have not used it much for SMS, so it is possible that I'm actually sending/receiving via Cell - it makes no difference to me since I see the same charge per text on my PAYGo plan).

My phone is usually off (standby) and I usually only turn it on when connected to WiFi, thereby minimizing my texting costs since most of my contacts have iPhones.

1c. Many people in the world use What's App (Free texts over WiFi).  I would too if I had to send/receive a lot of texts, however, I probably send/receive once per week and most of those are iMessages (Free via WiFi). 

1d. Many people in Canada and the US are probably on unlimited texting plans and only need to investigate options like What's App, which is used extensively outside Canada and the US, when they start travelling internationally, or text extensively outside their home country.

2. Obviously you wouldn't be receiving via your Canadian SIM, you would be using the foreign one.  An earlier post talked about needing to send an "emergency text" due to running late.  This would certainly be possible using a foreign SIM within the applicable area.  You could also make calls and receive texts in the applicable area, which depends on the SIM purchased.  For example, in Europe I believe you can send/receive texts and make/receive calls almost anywhere in Europe with the same SIM.  Same would hold for the US where many people use local SIMs (or phones) and advise their contacts who need to know...

[SMT101]

Just for clarity purposes for the other readers, what Resident Expert is trying to describe is the Rogers Wi-Fi Calling feature (it applies to number of smartphones such as Apple, Samsung and LG). You would need to enable it on your device to take advantage of it. Below are the official Rogers FAQs:

https://www.rogers.com/customer/support/article/wi-fi-calling-everything-you-need-to-know

Since the original thread focused on the RLH, I'm inserting below a description of how Wi-Fi Calling and RLH work together (taken from the link above):

How is Wi-Fi Calling billed when I am travelling outside of Canada?

If you are using Wi-Fi Calling while outside of Canada, the following will be deducted from your airtime and messaging limits included in your wireless plan without incurring any long distance or roaming charges:

• Incoming calls and messages received from anywhere in the world
• Outgoing calls and messages made or sent by you to a Canadian number

Roaming and/or long distance charges will vary depending on the roaming option you have on your account:

• If you have Roam Like HomeTM, outgoing Wi-Fi calls or messages made to a non-Canadian number will incur the Roam Like Home daily charge. If you have already incurred this charge, then all outgoing Wi-Fi calls and messages made or sent within that 24-hour period will be covered under the initial Roam Like Home charge.
• If you have a Travel Pack or other roaming add-on, all outgoing Wi-Fi calls or messages to a non-Canadian number will be deducted from the limit included in your Travel Pack or roaming add-on. If you exceed your limit, overage rates outlined in your Travel Pack or roaming add-on will apply.

If you do not have Roam Like Home or a Travel Pack or roaming add-on, your outgoing Wi-Fi calls and messages to a non-Canadian number will be billed according to roaming Pay-Per-Use rates.

[57]

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@SMT101 wrote:

Just for clarity purposes for the other readers, what Resident Expert is trying to describe is the Rogers Wi-Fi Calling feature...

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Perhaps I was not clear enough because I was not talking about calling at all in the first part of my previous post. I was talking about texting.  I'm on PAYGo and it's not possible to enable WiFi calling on PAYGo at all.

The point I was attempting to make in my previous post was that there are several ways to minimize the cost of texting when travelling.

I also wanted to clarify a foreign SIM comment in the last paragraph of my previous post.

[SMT101]

Thank you for the clarification Resident Expert.

Just for the record, Rogers Wi-Fi Calling enables a user to send and receive both voice calls and SMS texts to/from Canada, free of charge, while roaming.

Below is a summary for all readers as how Rogers Wi-Fi calling would be a suitable alternative to RLH.

1.    RLH - Roam Like Home: If enrolled, it allows a users to make and receive phone calls, SMS texts and use data for $7/day in US or $12/day anywhere else (conditions apply). Enrollment can be done from the MyRogers website. Un-enrolling requires a phone call or online chat with a Rogers rep.

2.    Rogers Wi-Fi calling - allows a user to make and receive phone calls and SMS texts for free while roaming via a Wi-Fi connection (with some conditions: ie. not available for PayAsYouGo plans, only some smartphones are capable of Wi-Fi calling etc.). The Wi-Fi calling can be enabled/disabled easily from your phone's Settings menu (toggle button). Full details can be found here:

https://www.rogers.com/customer/support/article/wi-fi-calling-everything-you-need-to-know

So for someone traveling outside of Canada, if you have access to Wi-Fi networks, by enabling Rogers Wi-Fi calling, you can use your phone to make and receive calls and SMS texts to/from Canada without incurring any costs. For the times when Wi-Fi is not available, you would send and receive the occasional call/SMS text at the regular roaming rate. Overall, this option should prove more cost effective than the RLH or regular roaming rates.

[CoOlSlY]

SMT101, by any chance, is there a way to know if the message will be sent via wifi or via the network. The thing is, I found out the hard way that if the wifi connection is bad, it will send it via the current network and will incur charges. The way i've been able to work around this is enable the wifi calling, connect to the wifi, put in airplane mode, re-enable the wifi and send the message, that way, it will never go through the network but is there a way to know the parameters or to force it to use wifi otherwise, don't send the message to avoid incurring charges.

[SMT101]

CoOISIY, indeed, if the WiFi connection drops, the phone will default to the cellular network and romaing charges will apply. Just like you, in the places where WiFi is unreliable, I use the same workaround as you described, by activating Airplane mode before activating WiFi Calling.
This being said, I do so seldom as I usually keep an eye on the small icon that appears in the top menu of my phone. The icon is a small telephone handset with WiFi waves. As long as the icon is on, I know WiFi Calling is enabled. You're probably aware of it as you have been using this feature but I'll add a link below for anyone new to this feature:
https://forums.androidcentral.com/attachments/samsung-galaxy-s6/202597d1445530947t-what-strange-phon...

[JTang23]

I can't believe this has been an issue since 2016!

I'm also here to find out how to get out of this trap. Just like many others, I got nailed by this Fancy Roam like home feature. Wish I have read and learned from the others' experience sooner.

We just came back from a 6 weeks (3 billing cycles) vacation in Hong Kong and Australia. We were charged $12/day x18 days. Data usage was between 16kb - 32kb per day. Yes, kb. We called Rogers to discuss about the charge. After one hour of hold time and 30 minutes of crying and complaining, we were given a 50% off discount. Sweet deal, right? Just to make the matter worse, my parents, who are also Rogers customers that have enrolled in Roam like home, were also traveling out of Canada during the same time...

Both Data and roaming were turned off on our phone but we haven't switched it to Flight mode. Why didn't we switch to Flight mode? Because we never had to do so the last 6 or 7 times we travelled out of Canada. Never had any roaming charges like this. Since when do we have to switch to Flight mode when we are out of country? Isn't Flight mode meant to be used when you are flying in a "Flight"?

The contract for our 5 phones will be over in 6 months and we will be switching for sure. Way to treat your loyal customers of 10+ years, Rogers.

[CoOlSlY]

Long story short: Call and have them disable rlh in your account, problem solved *but*

I had data triggering while data roaming off which was not making sense, escalated it to highest level where I and an engineer have been able to reproduce the problem, they were even forcing data to my phone and the phone was showing roaming was disabled so we went further because without rlh its 7.99$ triggered at 1k for 100mb used. Is this an S7 or S8 or another brand? Issue was reproduced with S7 and S8 and to help troubleshooting, they sent me a G7 a V20 and a Google Pixel 2 Xl and all three were ok just with roaming off, problem was there just with the S7 and S8. Also turning mobile data off on the S7 and S8 didn't triggered the charges (so phone was not in airplane mode) and no data was triggered.

Hope it helps.

Hope it helps you or other users.

[JTang23]

Yes, we have S8's.

Thanks for taking your time to figure this out. Rogers should offer you a position for such an excellent job. Instead of blaming the users for accidentally turning on the data, you and that engineer did what they were supposed to and troubleshoot the problem.

We really appreciate your great effort. Thank you.

[sdsdsdd2323]

Just called rogers and CSR said RLH cannot be disabled? Is this true?  We live by the border and frequently pick up US signals and certainly don't get charged... Wish I had known this when signing up last Oct...

[CoOlSlY]

They can definitely still do it. Had it disabled on an extra line last week.

[BS]

I have had about 50% of CSR's when I have the discussion about Roam Like Home not understand that they do have the ability to "disable" Roam like home on your account.

Technically, they can't disable it - it is a feature set available on the majority of phones and plans sold by Rogers.

The magic phrase is to direct them to "unenroll" your phone number from Roam Like Home.

It is a feature on their tool kit on their screens - they can enroll you in it, or unenroll you from it.

Give that a try.  I have definitely Unenrolled from it, first time after about 5 contacts and many questions as to why I would ever want to do that - Finally, I learned that you are asking to unenrol,  they give you the ability to enroll in it from my Rogers and it is automatically enrolled when you get a plan that supports it and never asked if you want it or not, but only by phoning in and asking them to unenroll your phone number from Roam Like Home do they seem to understand.

If the person on your call says they can't do it, explain it once and then call back to someone else, or report a concern.  Don't know whether they are just not trained on this feature because the attitude of every Rogers rep I have spoken to and on the forum here, is initially, why would we ever want to do it, it is so great.

The choice is ours and yes they can do it.

Bruce

[SMT101]

Indeed, it can still be done. I would call again to talk to a different agent, or use the Chat option.

[sdsdsdd2323]

Mentioning "unenrol" did the trick. Thanks guys!