Words of advice for cell phone users

We do a fair bit of cross border travel as well and usually shut our phones off or at least ensure that data is off to avoid excessive charges. For our vacation last year we actually bought a package for my wife's phone that was supposed to enable the phone to work everywhere and avoid additional charges. Surprisingly the phone did not work in many areas of Washington State which was a major problem because my grandmother passed away while we were away.

It is actually quite ridiculous that cell companies do not have better servicing agreements considering the amount of cross border travel between the 2 countries. Quite a cash grab in reality.