Dave Shishkoff is used to receiving an alert on his cellphone while walking or biking along Dallas Road: “Welcome to the U.S.A.”

The 37-year-old Victoria resident said he receives the notification a few times a month and has been charged for roaming, even though he hasn’t left the country.

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“There’s been a few times when a call or text will be marked as being out of country,” he said.

“I called Rogers and they did reverse it. But it’s annoying that I’m in the capital of B.C. and cell service is so bad that I’m getting charged for U.S. roaming while I’m still obviously in the city.”

Shishkoff is not alone. Many Greater Victoria residents are frustrated to find roaming charges on their cellphone bills, even when service providers commit to reversing them.

Triathlete Matt Johnson, 22, said he regularly receives roaming alerts when cycling in the Beecher Bay and East Sooke area.

“Always had about a 60-cent or so charge. Couldn’t be bothered [to contact Telus about it], but it seems ridiculous that they don’t have service out there.”

Leah Newsome said she had an extra $90 on her bill during the month she lived on Dallas Road.

“I just called Rogers, they were kind of skeptical,” she said. “Until they find out the address and say oh, yeah, you’re connecting to Port Angeles.”

Spokespeople for Telus, Rogers and Bell Canada said accidental roaming charges would be reversed and encouraged customers to alert them to any problems.

Customers who are still unsatisfied can file a complaint with the Commissioner for Complaints for Telecommunications Services.

“We have the authority to ask service providers to fix problems that customers see on their bills and elsewhere,” said commissioner Howard Maker. “So if we conclude that the charge was not accurate, we’ll get them to change or remove it.”

Complaints are on the decline, however, as service providers have adapted services to address the problem, he said.

“Most of the larger providers are sensitive to the issue,” he said. “They understand the problem and have actually built into their system some tools that help them kick some of the roaming charges out.”

He recommended wireless customers take proactive steps to prevent the charges. If you receive a roaming alert, avoid making a call or using data at that time. You can also disable roaming on most devices through the menu settings.

Rogers spokeswoman Luiza Staniec said it’s a common issue across the industry.

“Network signal overlaps can happen near the U.S. border,” she said in an email. “We do have a number of cell sites in the area and we are looking at other sites to improve our service and to cut down on accidental roaming.”

Telus spokeswoman Liz Sauvé said it’s not a common complaint, but there are specific geographic pockets where it happens more often.

“We actually physically tilt our antennae north and our peers down south tilt theirs south. So we try to ensure we’re only getting our own customers, to minimize accidental roaming charges on both sides of the border,” she said.

Bell Canada spokesman Jason Laszlo said hardware and software upgrades are reducing accidental roaming.

“The system is not yet failproof, but we are working on it and will reverse any wrongful charges,” Staniec said.

asmart@timescolonist.com