Android Authority Writer Reports Phantom Roaming Charges Twice Despite Disabled Data and Roaming

The writer said the $20 charge was considerably smaller than the Reddit case, but it was still bothersome because they had not tried to use data. They said the problem was not that they had forgotten to switch a setting after landing, and it was not a travel eSIM taking a few seconds to wake up. According to the writer, they were not attempting to use data at all.

The writer described their setup as one designed to prevent roaming charges. They live outside the country of their home network, and that SIM sits in a separate phone on their desk. Mobile data and roaming are switched off in the device settings, and the phone is always connected to their Wi-Fi network. The writer said they rarely even touch the device and do not use it to contact anyone, describing it as more of a paperweight than a phone.

Despite those conditions, the writer said they were hit with phantom roaming charges twice in three months. The charges totaled about $20. The writer said the amount was not a big hit, but what bothered them was that they had done everything right to avoid using mobile data.

Android Authority also cited the Reddit user's experience as an example of the larger bills travelers can face when roaming abroad. In that case, the Reddit user was horrified to find that AT&T had charged them $53,000 after the eight-day European trip, the article said. The expected roaming fees for that trip were about $100.

The writer acknowledged that readers might think they were also to blame and perhaps lucky not to have been charged more. They rejected that view, pointing to the disabled settings and the phone's Wi-Fi connection as evidence that they had not been using data.