iMessage and a $350 Bell roaming charge. Help?

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Level 1

4 points

iMessage and a $350 Bell roaming charge. Help?

My wife -- who looooooooooooooooves to text, and is heavily reliant on iMessage -- took two trips in the last month to visit family and friends in the States. Upon her return, we got a $350 phone bill from Bell, who claims that every message sent via iMessage was billed at $0.75 under their terms of service.

I'm trying to figure out how this is even *possible*. We've never had this kind of bill before in our lives, and I was under the impression that iMessage texts were sent "off the grid" from data roaming.

Digital data on the iPhone was turned off during the entirety of these trips, too.

What the heck happened? What should have happened? Is this a legitimate charge, or is there something here I can contest with Bell?

Posted on Jun 10, 2013 9:45 AM

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Answer 1

varjak paw

Level 10

182,668 points

Jun 10, 2013 10:03 AM in response to MattShepherd

If the message was sent to a user who did not have an iPhone or who did not have iMessages set up, then the message would have been send as SMS which would incur whatever charges Bell imposes as part of your cell plan. iMessages are "off the grid" when it comes to your cell plan only when the message is sent to another iOS or OS X user who has iMessages set up.

Regards.

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Answer 2

MattShepherd Author

Level 1

4 points

Jun 10, 2013 10:24 AM in response to varjak paw

But these messages *were* to another iPhone user, which is what confuses me. Two other iPhone users, actually. All messages were sent/received iMessage to iMessage.

If I were using iMessage, and had data turned off and wasn't in a WiFi hotspot, would iMessage be converted, sent and charged like a SMS even if the other user were on an iPhone with iMessage?

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Answer 3

varjak paw

Level 10

182,668 points

Jun 10, 2013 10:30 AM in response to MattShepherd

Yes, it could be sent as an SMS. From the Apple support article on iMessages:

On iPhone, if iMessage is unavailable, the message may be sent as SMS or MMS, depending on content. Carrier messaging rates may apply. You can adjust this behavior in iPhone at Settings > Messages > Send As SMS. Messages sent using iMessage appear in a light blue bubble, while messages sent using SMS or MMS appear in a green bubble.

Regards.

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Answer 4

stedman1

Level 10

264,550 points

Jun 10, 2013 10:31 AM in response to MattShepherd

MattShepherd wrote:

But these messages *were* to another iPhone user, which is what confuses me. Two other iPhone users, actually. All messages were sent/received iMessage to iMessage.

If I were using iMessage, and had data turned off and wasn't in a WiFi hotspot, would iMessage be converted, sent and charged like a SMS even if the other user were on an iPhone with iMessage?

Assuming you have set the phone to "Send as SMS" from within the Messages options, yes. If so, this would certainly explain the charges from Bell

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Answer 5

Jun 10, 2013 11:01 AM in response to MattShepherd

MattShepherd wrote:

If I were using iMessage, and had data turned off and wasn't in a WiFi hotspot, would iMessage be converted, sent and charged like a SMS even if the other user were on an iPhone with iMessage?

That's exactly what it sounds like. If data is off then the phone will send them as sms. There is an option to turn that off in settings, iMessage but that won't do you any good now.

Good Luck.

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Answer 6

Chris CA

Level 10

82,513 points

Jun 10, 2013 11:10 AM in response to MattShepherd

Note that the app is Messages.

Using the Messages app, messages are sent as;

iMessage over data to other iMessage registered users (if cell data is on or you are on wifi).

SMS/MMS are sent as regular text message using a text message plan (or many $$ if you have a limited/no text message plan).

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