Words of advice for cell phone users

We had a similar problem when we crossed back into the lower 48 after our Alaska trip. We turned on our phones and by the time the phone and hot spot warned us we were roaming, we had accumulated about $50 in charges (think less than a minute). A call to Verizon and a rude Verizon customer service rep and the charges were reversed. The service rep was really rude and spouse had to ask for his supervisor before the matter was settled. We were staying at a campground on the US side pretty close to the border and found we had to be at least 10 miles away not to incur roaming charges.