I used to just use the AT&T International Day Pass since I write it off as a business expense. But on my last trip the AT&T signal was bad where I was staying, and since I planned to be there six months, I decided to change things up.
I bought a local Globe eSIM for data and left my physical AT&T SIM in the phone. I turned off international data roaming on the AT&T line and used Wi-Fi Calling whenever I was at the house.
The first month went as expected, but in month two I got hit with the full $120 max: ten day passes at $12 a day, even though I hadn't used any mobile data. Turns out incoming texts triggered the charges, even though I didn't reply to a single one.
I escalated it to AT&T loyalty and management, and the best they'd do was waive 50% of the charges. Their "official solution" was to keep my dual-SIM phone in airplane mode, or call them every single time I wanted to turn roaming on or off.
I was already thinking of switching carriers, and now they've forced my hand. I was only paying $50 a month, which was decent, but I can't trust them anymore.
