Cell Phone users that live near the U.S. border are unhappy about roaming charges on their cell phone bills because they have not crossed the border.
“It’s a national problem that affects every cell phone provider in the country. It happens anywhere along the border, or can happen, where the population is low, and the type of equipment maybe is a little old or else is inadequate in some other fashion,” Bruce Cran, president of the Consumers’ Association of Canada, said.
These roaming charges can become expensive and it is important that cell phone users examine their bills carefully in order to detect incorrect charges.
Typically customers are only given refunds one time when this occurs.
“There’s actually, to be perfectly frank, very little that we can do. Weather, terrain, location and even the type of device being used can affect cell phone and data reception – it’s the nature of the wireless technology. Cellular towers typically have a radius of up to 30 kilometers, so U.S. towers near the border can cause interference. Customers are made aware of the problem when they buy cell phone plans, and we typically do not refund on this situation due to the fact that we try to give an up-front notice that it is something that can occur,” Darcee MacFarlane, SaskTel spokeswoman, said.
