arlieOn 9/29/25 I called my cellular provider (T-Mobile), and after spending half an hour on hold, I asked about charges for calls from my home in the US to Canada. A person who called herself Aniya informed me that my plan (which I've had for 11 years) now gives me unlimited free calling to Canada (+ Mexico). I recalled it not having that feature, when I first set up the plan, which is why I made a point of asking. (I'd expected I might have to change plans.)
8 hours ago I made a long call to Canada, using the cell phone rather than the land line. About half an hour after the call ended, T-Mobile sent me a text: "As of 10/04/2025, your account reflects $135 in international calls, and/or call to premium-rated numbers in this cycle." That is a lot more than what I would have been charged for making the same call from the land line.
While I was on hold with T-mobile on Monday, I had an online chat with Verizon's customer service. They told me that their Unlimited Welcome plan would give me free calls to Canada - for essentially the same price T-Mobile is charging me. And if I were to authorize a switch then and there, they'd waive the $40 activation fee. Moreover, they'd give me a $5 monthly discount for 3 years if I brought my own phone.
I'll be contacting T-mobile next Monday to complain, and maybe convincing them to reverse the $135 charge. (I wonder how a claim against them in Small Claims Court would play out in practice...) I won't consider staying with them unless they both provide free calls to Canada *and* reverse this surprise charge.
I moved to T-mobile 11 years ago because at that time they were the company that wouldn't charge me an increased monthly free to cover price-reduced phone upgrades, since I wasn't going to buy a phone from a telco in any case. (Phones bought from a carrier generally arrive locked to that carrier, which isn't a feature I want.)
All this because ATT is killing POTS, so I'm inclined to get rid of my landline entirely. I valued the ability to use my phone in a power outage, but non-POTS landlines don't offer that feature, short of more complexity and expense than I want to deal with - whereas a cell phone *might* work, if its battery has charge and the cellular towers have backup power, or are outside my outage area.
At least T-mobile warned me, rather than leaving me to find out when my next bill arrived, after many many more expensive calls.