I recently traveled to Austrlaia for 2 months. Before leaving I made sure of the international fees that would apply to my account in case of an emergency. I looked into paying $30 to add the plan to my account but I had planned to just use wifi and iMessage while I was there instead of wasting my money . While I was in Austrlaia I made sure I kept my data roaming off since that is how they can get you on your next bill. I tried to put a SIM card from a prepaid company in Austrlaia so I could have service but come to find out my new iPhone5 (that I paid too much money for) was locked by at&t . This means that since I'm still under contract wtih them they can control SIM cards from working in my phone from other companies. I discovered that I would cost me $300 to end my contract and unlock my phone.
This wasn't an option for me considering I was on an aloted travel budget I had saved up for.
That being said all of it wasn't really a huge problem for me until I was in an airport stranded from being able to talk to anyone. I then decided to turn on my data roaming for 30 min so I could stay in contact with my family members; by doing this I was accepting those awful fees which other companies besides at&t have begun to get rid of (tmobile).
Almost a month later I received an absolute ridiculous bill for bogus fees! They had charged me Everytime someone tried to come in contact with me while I was away. I never answered phone calls because I realized that it would cost too much money. But little did I know even if I didn't answer the calls they were charging me. They also charged me (for the 30 min I had my data on) $230!!! I couldn't believe how outrageous this was considering I was only using my I messaging.
Moral of this story is DON'T TRAVEL WITH YOUR AT&T phone!!! They will find reasona to charge you for anything! I will now be paying my early termination fees and more than likely going to verizon! the customer service representative that talked to me was not nice. She would not give me her name or a reference number to the call. I asked for a supervisor several times to which she replied "they can't do anything for you". At&t this is a HUGE disappointment to me. I have been a customer for a long time. I have always paid my bill on time. I'm just greatly disappointed!