Problem with international roaming services in Costa Rica

My wife and I took a trip to Costa Rica prior to leaving we upgraded our plans so that we would have data roaming and international phone calls. When we arrived in Costa Rica our phones would not ever work but we are unconcerned at the time. However we got a flat tire while visiting Playa Carbone which is a very remote place in Costa Rica at the end of a dirt road. So we tried to make a phone call and we are unable to call anywhere we were basically stuck on the coast of Costa Rica as foreigners with no ability to make any phone call. This could have been very dangerous we were both in our 60s we are unable to change a flat tire. Thank God a local person was there who had a tire pump and was able to pump up our tires. When we got back to our hotel we called T-Mobile and my wife was on the phone with T-Mobile for over an hour trying to make our phones work internationally. It never worked we have now been in Costa Rica for 8 days and we are unable to make any phone calls. I am disgusted with t-mobile. The only people we can call is each other or people in the United States that is quite useless and dangerous for older folks who are visiting Costa Rica and depend on their phone. I am beyond disgusted with T-Mobile