Forum Discussion
International rates over WiFi calling
Hi,
I’m very confused about the international rates when making a WiFi call to a number overseas on a T-Mobile One plan. According to the support page, which I have read a thousand times, wifi calls are billed at 0.20$ per minute to most countries.
But I’ve been now billed over $200 (over 3.00$ per minute) for one call to a Netherlands mobile and a second call to a Switzerland landline. How is this possible?
If the policy on the website is incorrect, it should be fixed. I would also ask to be reimbursed for these two calls as the policy was misleading (I would have called from another phone had I not already read the policy and been assured the rate would be 0.20$ per minute.
text and link below: l
- If you have a T-Mobile ONE or Simple Choice rate plan:
- From any Simple Global country to any other country are $0.20/min (same as cellular).
- From non-Simple Global countries to other countries are charged at World Class rates.
How do I get this resolved? The customer care people I’ve spoken to can’t figure out what I’m talking about.
Laura
Hey @lnishikawa
A $200 charge on my bill would definitely be shocking! Wi-Fi calling is a great way to stay connected when you are in an area without T-Mobile coverage or the coverage is not strong enough and it also provides some benefits when roaming internationally. When in the U.S. Wi-Fi calls placed to other countries are subject to international long distance rates, based on your account/features you have.
You can see our international rates for any country you want to call here. Calling Abroad | Stateside International Services | T-Mobile. If you opt to add our stateside international feature to your account, you can get discounted rates or even unlimited calling to landlines and mobile numbers in other countries.
I think the confusion here is that when you are roaming in another country (be it a simple global country) all calls are $0.25 a min incoming and outgoing (if it is to another simple global country). The Wi-Fi calling benefits come into play if you are making and receiving calls back to the U.S with Wi-Fi calling enabled otherwise it will still be $0.25.
For more information on WiFi calling and WiFi calling billing, you can check out our Wi-Fi Calling from T-Mobile support document for all the details.
TMO_Chris Mod Note- Updating correct answer to reflect current per/minute rates and link to WiFi calling. 1/3/2019
- lnishikawaNewbie Caller
Thanks Chris!
Yes this is what I thought as well. So I was confused when billed $165 for a wifi call when roaming internationally from a simple global country (Canada) to another simple global country (Netherlands).
I was expecting 0.20$ per minute in this case but was charged $3.00 per minute. When I contacted customer care they told me that I am not eligible for this rate as I am on a TMobile One plan, but as you see, the page explicitly states that this is the rate specifically for a “TMobile One or Simple Choice rate plan”.
so you see why I’m confused?
laura
- tmo_chrisSpectrum Specialist
Hey @lnishikawa
A $200 charge on my bill would definitely be shocking! Wi-Fi calling is a great way to stay connected when you are in an area without T-Mobile coverage or the coverage is not strong enough and it also provides some benefits when roaming internationally. When in the U.S. Wi-Fi calls placed to other countries are subject to international long distance rates, based on your account/features you have.
You can see our international rates for any country you want to call here. Calling Abroad | Stateside International Services | T-Mobile. If you opt to add our stateside international feature to your account, you can get discounted rates or even unlimited calling to landlines and mobile numbers in other countries.
I think the confusion here is that when you are roaming in another country (be it a simple global country) all calls are $0.25 a min incoming and outgoing (if it is to another simple global country). The Wi-Fi calling benefits come into play if you are making and receiving calls back to the U.S with Wi-Fi calling enabled otherwise it will still be $0.25.
For more information on WiFi calling and WiFi calling billing, you can check out our Wi-Fi Calling from T-Mobile support document for all the details.
TMO_Chris Mod Note- Updating correct answer to reflect current per/minute rates and link to WiFi calling. 1/3/2019
- magentatechieBandwidth Buddy
Calls made back to the US over wifi are free. An extra tip is to turn your phone to airplane mode THEN turn on Wifi, thus ensuring that you are only using wifi and no chance of using the cellular signal which would charge you the $0.20 / minute.
- vh001Newbie Caller
There used to be free calling over WIFI. Tmobil quietly blocked that feature. Maybe that is causing confusion. If you used to make free WIFI calls before, these unexpected high bills are surely confusing. I also got caught with $200 bill for one call to Europe. First I thought that that I made some mistake. Until I researched what happened. BTW, Tmobil does not allow wifi calls in airplane mode as one responder suggested. At least not from US. Their monthly plan for $15/ month lowers the rates per minute, but I do not make so many calls to make the plan a money saver. So it is Whatsup or Viber for me.
- barcodeableConnection Cadet
WHILE YOU ARE IN ANOTHER COUNTRY
.20 cents per minute is the rate you will be charged if you are in another country making or receiving calls from or to the United States.
WHILE YOU ARE IN THE UNITED STATES, CANADA, and/or MEXICO making calls to the Netherlands you will be charged $3 per minute for ALL CALLS (LandLine & Mobile) unless you add the Stateside International Calling feature to your current plan... then all of your calls would be unlimited and at no charge to you.
Note: The Stateside International Calling feature does not come standard with the T-Mobile ONE Plan.... it's included with the T-Mobile ONE Plus international Plan, otherwise you have to pay $15 for this feature.
I have the (grandfathered) Stateside International Calling feature... and it saves me so much money every month....
- magenta1606268Network Novice
Use Whasapp, it is an app at the play store. It works great in Europe. Calls are free.
- tmo_chrisSpectrum Specialist
I can definitely see where the confusion happened. @barcodeable is correct though and the Stateside international calling feature is needed to have the unlimited calls to an eligible country while in the United States.
- barcodeableConnection Cadet
Im not a Fan of Facebook.... and they are the current owners of Whatsapp... i wouldn't feel comfortable with Facebook having my personal information including who I call and when... im sure that information is being sold or used by someone despite whatever privacy policies they display... ie. Election rigging 😜
- tidbitsSpectrum Specialist
barcodeable wrote:
Im not a Fan of Facebook.... and they are the current owners of Whatsapp... i wouldn't feel comfortable with Facebook having my personal information including who I call and when... im sure that information is being sold or used by someone despite whatever privacy policies they display... ie. Election rigging
Then I hope you don't use Google if you are afraid of Facebook. Google gathers much larger amount of data than Facebook does. Even if you opt out Google still collects a huge amount for example. Google admits it tracked user location data even when the setting was turned off - The Verge
Honestly... Anything free on the internet has some sort of data tracking.
- barcodeableConnection Cadet
You are correct.... i read the shenanigans of Google from another source years befor that Verge article..... I don't like them either 😈 . When I talk about private matters I always take the battery out of my phone... becuse I'm always concerned about my privacy being invaded and recorded.
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