Charged for roaming voice calls I did not make. What should I do?

[Ian Brantford]

I'm beginning to suspect it was the housekeeper.

Good call. Your original post said "I kept it off". There would be no way for Fido to even know that you were there unless the SIM card was in a locally functioning handset and registered. She probably used her own, and the registration notification went to her handset.

Now, if it is the housekeeper, what options do I have?

Probably none that involves any authority or personality in South Africa. You aren't there anymore and it's not very actionable. You left a major asset in someone else' custody and that person used it. I don't see how Fido even owes you a goodwill discount, as there isn't anything that they can do to refute charges from the other carrier. Even if the IMEI doesn't match any handset of yours, there is no way to deny that you are responsible for the charges with any objective evidence. If you can get some relief, take whatever is offered.

In future, yes, the SIM lock is good. Hotel safes are an extra layer of protection if you cannot carry the SIM with you, though they are by no means infallible. Also, leave a small tip daily to maintain goodwill with good housekeepers. It goes a long way if you ever need their help for something out of the ordinary.

Good luck.

[iUnlockPhones]

So the housekeeper took your SIM card out of your phone and put it in their phone and made these local calls?

Damn, I need to keep an on my phone the next time I travel or leave my personal belongings in a hotel.

[jyan29]

(Hopefully) last update:
I got a call from Fido OOP yesterday, stating there were three different IEMI's used to make those calls, none of which belonged to phones I owned. The phones used were typical of a market like African markets (one of which was a Nokia 1112). The rep also verified that the time stamps on the call logs were accurate and reliable, contradicting the first rep I spoke to who said the time tamps were unreliable.

This gave me further evidence that, because I was out of the country at that time, it was the housekeeper. I confronted her, and she admitted to making the calls with my sim card. So, mystery solved. I called Fido again, and accepted a bill reduction offer. It was a few hundred dollars off my bill, so it's a lot better than nothing.

Moral of the story: SIM locks are important, roaming timestamps are accurate despite what the CSR might say, and it sometimes pays to have an honest stealing housekeeper.

Another thing: This was not in a hotel (I normally utilize hotel safes), but in a rented condo complex. Don't want to give South African hotels a bad reputation or anything.

Thanks for the help guys. Awesome community here.