T-Mobile U.S. send warning SMS about data charges

snidely · **T-Mobile U.S. send warning SMS about data charges -** 24-05-2009, 20:58

I know this is a "prepaid" forum. However, Telna Mobile is post paid and some other cards here have post paid for business customers.
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There have been articles in the papers about people who come back with HUGE data roaming bills as a surprise. Eg. Some idiot downloaded a whole movie to his phone while in Mexico - bill $62,000.00!!

Earlier this month when in Senegal and Zambia - seemed to get the following SMS everytime i registered on a new system. Never got this before.
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Free T-Mobile Msg: Some applications and devices cause data roaming, please check your settings or data connections to control charges.
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I am surprised the carriers don't have a trigger that shuts down service when there is unusual activity. Credit card companies will call you and actually shut down the card if they see unusual activity and can't confirm the charges. (Card issuers suggest you call themin advance if you will be traveling.)

If/when Telna offers data on their post paid card - they should set a trigger that shuts down the data service if it reaches a certain point.

...mike

DRNewcomb · 24-05-2009, 21:25

You would think so. Another problem is Americans on cruise ships. They think they have this "nationwide" flat-rate, AYCE plan. Then they go on a cruise someplace and act like they are still at home. You would think that the carriers could send a similar SMS warning the customer about high roaming charges.

Stu · 24-05-2009, 21:32

I've got such SMSes from some foreign carriers. Virgin UK sent me one in the Netherlands saying welcome to the Netherlands, you can use your Virgin SIM here for only ____p per minute.

Down from DR's neighborhood, there is an even bigger trap. There is a lot of oil off the MS, NO, and TX down there and there are a ton of drilling platforms. There is a company called Petrocell that has cellular service in the Gulf of Mexico. You pay rates comparable to foreign roaming on this network, yet you can roam out of the box on this network and the signal occasionally hits shore, but they've tried to avoid that. I've heard more than one person in the old pre-Katrina Biloxi Casino who got hit for a Petrocell roaming bill while still on shore.

DRNewcomb · 24-05-2009, 23:42

I've picked up Petrocom on occasion but never roamed on them. Neither Cellular South nor T-Mobile roam Petrocom. ATT does. Petrocom converted to GSM. There is or was another smaller company in the same business using CDMA. Anyone who picks up a Petrocom signal in Biloxi has a right to scream bloody murder. Some years ago one of the offshore carriers made GTE reengineer their coverage on the Alabama Gulf Coast. Seems that GTE's license stopped and the offshore licenses started at "the baseline", which is the low tide line along the Gulf shoreline. In Alabama their are streets and houses right there. The offshore carrier told GTE they had to drop their signal level at the waterline below X by a certain date and if they didn't know how the offshore company could send engineers to show them how. Seems they wanted the roaming revenue from all the boaters and fishermen.

Well, that was Alabama, in Mississippi the baseline is about 10 miles south of Biloxi at the outer edge of Ship and Horn Islands. If anyone can pick up Petrocom in Biloxi without using a Yagi, they need to fix their system.

Now you can go a long way out in the Gulf and still have coverage. Here's thier coverage map.

	(#1)
snidely (Offline) Senior Member Prepaid Expert Posts: 451 Join Date: 09 May 2005 Location: Berkeley, California and Miami Country:	T-Mobile U.S. send warning SMS about data charges - 24-05-2009, 20:58 I know this is a "prepaid" forum. However, Telna Mobile is post paid and some other cards here have post paid for business customers. === There have been articles in the papers about people who come back with HUGE data roaming bills as a surprise. Eg. Some idiot downloaded a whole movie to his phone while in Mexico - bill $62,000.00!! Earlier this month when in Senegal and Zambia - seemed to get the following SMS everytime i registered on a new system. Never got this before. === Free T-Mobile Msg: Some applications and devices cause data roaming, please check your settings or data connections to control charges. === I am surprised the carriers don't have a trigger that shuts down service when there is unusual activity. Credit card companies will call you and actually shut down the card if they see unusual activity and can't confirm the charges. (Card issuers suggest you call themin advance if you will be traveling.) If/when Telna offers data on their post paid card - they should set a trigger that shuts down the data service if it reaches a certain point. ...mike Make use of T-M's UMA/wifi free calling from any place in the world with access to wifi. I use an LG G6, wife an S7) A/o Oct 20, 2013 no need for intl prepaid as T-Mobile U.S. includes voice roaming at 20¢/min (in and out)., unlimited text (in and out), and unlimited data in 140+ countries. My Plan -[6 lines] U.S. T-Mobile unlimited minutes (incoming and outgoing), unlimited text, fast data on each line. that $145/mo. total! . (In U.S. no surcharge for calling a cell.) If a line exceeds 2G of data in a month, pay $10 more for that line. [That only happens a couple times/year.

	(#2)
DRNewcomb (Offline) Senior Member Prepaid Professionist Posts: 1,465 Join Date: 27 Feb 2004 Location: Mississippi, USA Country:	24-05-2009, 21:25 You would think so. Another problem is Americans on cruise ships. They think they have this "nationwide" flat-rate, AYCE plan. Then they go on a cruise someplace and act like they are still at home. You would think that the carriers could send a similar SMS warning the customer about high roaming charges.

	(#3)
Stu (Offline) Senior Member Prepaid Guru Posts: 1,091 Join Date: 11 Feb 2004 Location: Detroit (formerly Dubai) Country:	24-05-2009, 21:32 I've got such SMSes from some foreign carriers. Virgin UK sent me one in the Netherlands saying welcome to the Netherlands, you can use your Virgin SIM here for only ____p per minute. Down from DR's neighborhood, there is an even bigger trap. There is a lot of oil off the MS, NO, and TX down there and there are a ton of drilling platforms. There is a company called Petrocell that has cellular service in the Gulf of Mexico. You pay rates comparable to foreign roaming on this network, yet you can roam out of the box on this network and the signal occasionally hits shore, but they've tried to avoid that. I've heard more than one person in the old pre-Katrina Biloxi Casino who got hit for a Petrocell roaming bill while still on shore.

	(#4)
DRNewcomb (Offline) Senior Member Prepaid Professionist Posts: 1,465 Join Date: 27 Feb 2004 Location: Mississippi, USA Country:	24-05-2009, 23:42 I've picked up Petrocom on occasion but never roamed on them. Neither Cellular South nor T-Mobile roam Petrocom. ATT does. Petrocom converted to GSM. There is or was another smaller company in the same business using CDMA. Anyone who picks up a Petrocom signal in Biloxi has a right to scream bloody murder. Some years ago one of the offshore carriers made GTE reengineer their coverage on the Alabama Gulf Coast. Seems that GTE's license stopped and the offshore licenses started at "the baseline", which is the low tide line along the Gulf shoreline. In Alabama their are streets and houses right there. The offshore carrier told GTE they had to drop their signal level at the waterline below X by a certain date and if they didn't know how the offshore company could send engineers to show them how. Seems they wanted the roaming revenue from all the boaters and fishermen. Well, that was Alabama, in Mississippi the baseline is about 10 miles south of Biloxi at the outer edge of Ship and Horn Islands. If anyone can pick up Petrocom in Biloxi without using a Yagi, they need to fix their system. Now you can go a long way out in the Gulf and still have coverage. Here's thier coverage map.