International SENDING!
PtTe2
Newbie

Global Messaging - For those who have the Share Everything Plan, as you can see from the description of that plan, Global Messaging is Included. Immediately below that heading it says [paraphrase], "Allows you to text internationally to more than 200 countries." As we had a child recently traveling to Europe (UK, France, Italy) what we have found was that texting to her didn't cost, but for her to text back cost such-and-such a text. oops!

Now, a normal human being might assume that, if texting to a person, especially one on my own plan, was included in my plan, then a response from the person you texted might also be assumed to be included in the plan. STOP RIGHT THERE. This is not the case. Therefore, in typical Capitalist fashion, a reasonable human is duped into thinking that "International Conversation, using text, might be a part of the plan?

I posit that it is unreasonable and rediculous to assume that a text sent is NOT A TEXT TO WHICH ONE ASSUMES THEY WOULD BE GETTING A RESPONSE. LOL

Therefore, that "International Messaging is Included in your Plan" is stated; really, it's International Sending. Kinda makes me think of sending commands to the Voyager Spacecraft; it take several weeks for the message to get to the machine and a response is again, several weeks off. Only in that case, it doesn't cost for Voyager to send the message back! Doh.

For the majority of regular people who think they are receiving value for their share everything package, with respect to international rates, please be aware that "International Messaging" is merely International Sending; and does not include receiving texts.

Finally, although we had provided International Data package for our child's travel; none of that was of value with respect to actually receiving any value. When you get down to brass tacks, what we did was pay for data packages which allowed advertisers to send ads to our child's phone while she slept.

In closing, International "packages" are of no value and only lead to further, deceptive charges by your carrier.

So sad that American Business thinks this is something good. I assume that 95% of all other users just pay their bill without looking into the detail.

Be careful and as the old adage goes, "Buyer Beware".

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Re: International SENDING!
sprmankalel
Champion - Level 3

The reason you would incur charges from using the phone to text while traveling is because it is not on the VZW network. The network that it is roaming on charges VZW and thus you have to pay because it is your phone. The International Texting included in More Everything is for phones connected to the VZW network. Meaning you can and and receive messages internationally only when you both phones are are on their home networks.

The following is the first FAQ at International Messaging FAQs | Verizon Wireless

What is International Messaging?

International Messaging is a service that lets you send text and multimedia messages to select international locations from your mobile device. While you’re in the US in the Verizon Wireless coverage area, you can send text messages to over 200 countries and multimedia messages to over 100 countries around the world.

For more information, including participating countries, pricing information and dialing instructions, visit our International Messaging page.

See how it says While you're in the US in the Verizon Wireless coverage area? Your second phone did not meet this requirement resulting in the charges you received. Instead of researching you just assumed that you were thinking correctly. That is not Verizon duping you at all.

Re: International SENDING!
PtTe2
Newbie

Does Verizon have towers in any country other than the US?

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Re: International SENDING!
Tidbits
Legend

No they do not. They are not a global company.

Re: International SENDING!
kbrettt
Newbie

I'm with PtTe2.  While the reasons for charging are understandable, normal people dont read fine print, so a thoughtful vendor will make critical details clear up front.

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Re: International SENDING!
MiiHere
Champion - Level 3

I'll be honest, I did not read the entire post, but I think I got the idea behind it. If you want to send international Text messages, picture messages, even voice messages I highly suggest downloading:

WhatsApp

It use to be free and may still be free for 1 year and then you pay a very small amount. It can be used on cellular service and wi-fi (should cellular service be down.) Or should you want to just send your kid overseas with a wi-fi enabled device and that app installed you can stay in touch via text, pictures, voice clip, emoji etc. I think I paid $3 for 5 years of use.

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Re: International SENDING!
sprmankalel
Champion - Level 3

I don't get it. Are you saying that normal people just sign a contract agreeing to something without reading it and that is the reason why they shouldn't be held accountable according to the terms that they agreed to with their signature? The point of the matter is if you don't read and understand the your plan and its features before using it you may get charged for something that you assumed you were getting but actually weren't. All of the information relevant to all of the features available are clearly spelled out on the website. For example. I got an email from VZW yesterday for a promotion. Instead of making a decision based on the assumption I made, I called someone that I know who works for VZW and asked questions. In this case, why should VZW foot the bill for the charges you racked up while not on their network? The reason you pay per message and per minute for phone calls is because it costs money for the carrier that you are connecting to to make that transmission. You are not a subscriber to that carrier so you have to pay for what you use. Verizon should not have to be responsible for YOUR usage. Now, you can always become a subscriber to the overseas network by using a compatible device and/or SIM card. Such as I did when I traveled last year to Slovakia. I took my Verizon iPhone 5, removed the SIM and purchased a prepaid SIM from Orange (the netwok there). I only needed data and since I got 200MB of data daily for 50 cents this was a deal because VZW wanted $25 for 100MB. I was able to send all of the iMessages that I wanted. But there are other apps that can be used like WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger that are data dependent that can send and receive messages without paying per text. There are ways around these international charges but I guess that you expect that a thoughtful vendor is supposed to educate you on that as well and that you don't have to take responsibility for planning your entire international trip and knowing the ramifications of roaming off of the VZW network.