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| My view every morning in Merida, Mexico for the past 2 or so weeks. |
ROGERS ROAM LIKE HOME
Let me cut to the chase. If you’re a Canadian traveler and are in the process of getting a new mobile plan or considering switching carriers, etc., when it comes to travel and roaming, it looks to me that Rogers’ Roam Like Home is the best option by far. Currently, I am with Bell. And strongly regretting it. Part of this story must be familiar to you. You get a mobile plan, text, voice, data. Then at some point, you get mad at the carrier and as soon as you can, you switch. That’s what happened to me with Rogers (well, if we go back 25 years, it’s happened with Bell as well). The last plan I had with Rogers was quite good. Then the big Toronto based conglomerate launched its Roam Like Home roaming plan and it got better. I started using it almost the same week it was launched as I was visiting Nashville for a few days. And it was awesome. To be able to use the same share everything plan I had in the US (or elsewhere for that matter) for $5 a day was not necessarily as inexpensive as I’d like roaming to be, but it was amazingly convenient since I’ve always had ample data available in my mobile plans. What Roam Like Home means basically is that, while you travel you use your smart phone (in my case an iPhone) just as you would back home. So if I had a 4 Gig data plan in Toronto and I was on vacation (or business) in Europe as I was last year in Stockholm, I could consume data at will without worrying about running out of it or paying more than the Roam Like Home daily fee. 
BELL ROAM BETTER
This is my fault. I switched to Bell Mobility because I got mad with Rogers. 1st mistake – getting emotional. I got mad at Rogers because I felt I was treated disrespectfully by a customer rep at a Rogers Store in Toronto. I felt this rep or sales person or whatever he was, had a very non-customer oriented attitude. It was around the end of august of last year (2016). My Rogers 2 year term had expired and so I was looking to Renew the plan. Renew the plan, I repeat. Or try to get a better updated plan and a new iPhone 6. I drove to the Rogers Store in Bloor West Village (2248 Bloor St W, Toronto) – I think it was that store, if I remember correctly – and went in. There were 2 reps behind the counter and I think one was talking to a customer. I spoke to the other one and told him that I was looking to renew a plan and I wanted to know what was available. He almost cut me off and said that they didn’t serve customers there that were not getting a new phone and to call customer service. The way he said it just pissed me off. I think I said something like “I came to this Rogers store in person to get service and you’re telling me that I have to call customer service?!?” Can’t remember clearly what ensued, but I remember being mad and deciding right there to switch to Bell. 
And switched I did. At our house we have our home phone, our Internet and our TV with Bell. My daughter had Bell Mobility at the time (she’s moved abroad now so she canceled that number). I had been to a Bell store near our house where a young sales/customer service rep was very knowledgeable and friendly when I asked questions before (even if I didn’t buy anything). So I went to see her and asked for the switch. I had heard about ROAM BETTER before and assumed it would be exactly like Rogers (telecoms being the fierce competitors that they are). That was Big Mistake No. 2 – not doing my research thoroughly. I did get a great plan for Canada – unlimited text, voice and 7 Gigs of data. So when I’m in Canada the plan is excellent. But leaving Canada?
ROAM BETTER is NOT BETTER
because Roam Better does not use your existing plan like Roam Like Home when it comes to data. You pay the same fees as with Rogers $5/day for Roaming in the US and $10/day for Roaming in most other countries (Europe, Mexico, etc.). The big difference is that with Bell you only get 100 MB per 24 hour period! If you reach the 100 MB you get a message that you reached the limit and if you wish to use more data you have to pay an additional fee (in the case of Mexico, another $10) to use until 11:59 pm or until you run out again. I am a travel blogger! What was I thinking?!?!?! I have been spending most of the days here writing on my laptop with WiFi. My iPhone has been connected to WiFi most of the time. When I go for a run I don’t have WiFi and I use the Nike App with Spotify. I don’t know how much data those 2 use, but I seem to run out of the 100 MB too quickly. I spent a day in a town called Valladolid where I didn’t use WiFi but that day I did not run out of data. What gives?
Not only is the data available with Roam Better woefully inadequate, but in the case of this first trip (in Mexico) with Bell Roam Better, I cannot receive any phone calls! Not only that, the numbers that call my iPhone seem to be translated into some kind of Mexican number instead of the number that actually calls. When I tap to answer the call, it gets cut off and the iPhone indicates “call ended!”. Since I’m on my laptop most of the day, I decided to chat with Bell on the Bell.ca website. The rep was friendly and tried to solve the issue of the calls, but she could not. Her manual said to reset all network settings on the iPhone. That would mean erasing all WiFi passwords the iPhone remembers and that to me was unacceptable. She said she’d escalate to a supervisor and that someone would get back to me. Obviously if that someone tries to call me, I CAN’T RECEIVE CALLS!!! (it’d be very funny – like a Seinfeld set – if it wasn’t so annoying!). I am so annoyed with the data issue and that I can’t get calls, that I want my money back. And I will request a refund for all the roaming charges I will get this month! We’ll see how that goes.
CONCLUSION – To Roam or no to Roam!
Come renewal time – or perhaps before – I think I will switch back to Rogers. I will do the numbers as to how much I may end up paying for roaming given upcoming trips in the next 16 months if I stay with Bell, and how much it would cost to switch to Rogers (by cancelling my current plan and paying for my iPhone, etc). My other alternative would be to use a local SIM card when I travel, but that’s not a very good alternative because that would mean using a different (local) phone number – and all my contacts, friends and family would not have it, would they? It’d be a hassle to try and send them that number! Argh! When it comes to choosing a mobile carrier, make sure you do your research, read fine print and such and try not to get emotional. In the end, it’s you who will have to live with whatever contract you decide on (or pay the fines to get out of it).
Source: canadianandworldtourism.com