US + Canada plans not compatible with TB

[mikebob]

I live in the US but call into and travel frequently to Canada on business so I have always taken advantage of Verizon's US+ Canada calling plans. I am using an OG Droid. When in Canada I use voice only, by not allowing data roaming. I tried to upgrade to the Thunderbolt this morning but Verizon will not allow activation of a Thunderbolt on their US+Canada calling plans. Has anyone else encountered this? Found any workarounds? (other than the obvious which is to sign up for a domestic plan and pay the big bucks for Canada roaming)

 

[Cory Streater]

The voice part I can't answer. I was actually going to call and ask about this myself. What I can tell you, is that I noticed on the "review your changes" page, before submitting my order, that it showed this:

 

[FrankieFiero]

Canada/Mexico plans not available until May

I called customer service after getting shot down at the retail store.
The rep had better information, saying that the Nationwide+Canada (and Mexico) plans will not be available until May, they are not offering it during the launch. No exact date was available, but hey - this is the ThunderBolt we're talking about, who needs exact dates?
Pretty artificial if you ask me, since you'd just fall back to CDMA for voice+data when in Canada.

...looks like I may end up just waiting for the Bionic.

 

[mikebob]

Thanks Cory and Frankie - I also called customer service and got pretty much the same story. There doesn't seem to any technical reasons preventing The US+Canada calling plans on the TB. It seems that the folks at Verizon simply never got around to putting it into their ordering system as a viable option. I was also told that it would become available in the future but was not given a date. Like you, I was torn between the TB and the Bionic. This latest setback is tipping me toward waiting for the Bionic. Hopefully VZW will have the US/Canada plan figured out by the time it releases.

Cory - be careful with that Canada data roaming. The order summary is a bit deceiving. I don't believe that it means data roaming is free in Canada. I believe that it means having the ability to data roam in Canada is free but to actually do so will cost you $2.00 per MB.

 

[mikebob]

Update - The customer service rep who I spoke to on Friday called me back this morning (Monday) to tell me that they had cleared up the issue preventing activation of the Thunderbolt on a US + Canada plan. I'm good to go.

 

[potatolover1102]

So i just was in my Verizon and under my plan it now has a data roam USA/Canada feature that was never there before? could it be they threw it in and that is why they had an issue letting you use that plan?

 

[Cory Streater]

Update - The customer service rep who I spoke to on Friday called me back this morning (Monday) to tell me that they had cleared up the issue preventing activation of the Thunderbolt on a US + Canada plan. I'm good to go.

Did you have to call CS to get it? I'm in Canada right now and with data roaming disabled the data arrows still blink with activity.

Potatolover: the second I landed in Canada, I got this text message:

Welcome to Canada! Roaming data may be billed up to $2.05/MB per your plan. Turn-off data or use WiFi to avoid charges. VZW Support 908-559-4899.

I'm guessing the data thing you and I both saw is just a misleading way of telling us we can roam and use data in Canada. I hope I'm wrong, but it sounds like one of those things that's too good to be true.

 

[randroid01]

I just survived the purchase and return of my TB. I worked closely with a Verizon Sales person for 2 weeks. The normal data plan does not include International roaming; that is charged on a per MB basis. I also have the Nationwide+Canada voice plan. I frequently travel into Canada and also received the "you are data roaming" text. Even though I had 4 Verizon Sales people and one Customer Service rep verify my phone settings were properly set to "No Data while Roaming", the phone would still generate minor Data roaming charges. Over the two weeks and multiple trips into Canada it only amounted to $2.00. But it should have been zero. Because I could not trust the phone, I took it back within the 2 week grace period. I have since been contacted by the Verizon Sales staff and they say there is now a fix to set the phone or my data plan to "America only Data Roaming". I am not sure that is enough to get me to buy it again. Other then the Data Roaming issue I liked the phone.