ARE YOU READY TO REVOLT AGAINST CELL PHONE COMPANIES?

ARE YOU READY TO REVOLT AGAINST CELL PHONE COMPANIES?

Our recent arrival in Mazatlan, Mexico has taught me another lesson on how we are still being taken advantage of by our telecommunications companies in Canada. 

I went to the main Mexican telephone company and tried to acquire the cheapest possible cell phone plan to use while we are here for two months. I don’t plan to make a lot of phone calls, but it allows me to always be able to get in touch with Darlene in the event she gets locked in a mall after closing hours. It is nice to be able to stay in close contact, especially in a foreign country, as well as phone the handful of other acquaintances that we have here in Mazatlan.

I thought I could just buy a new SIM card to replace the Turkish card that I had in my old Samsung cell phone. I shouldn’t have been surprised to learn that the phone was locked and the phone company would not unlock it. Thus I was forced to purchase another Mexican cell phone. That turned out to be one of the best bargains I have ever encountered in the wonderful world of cell phones and electronics. I purchased a Mexica Alcatel cell phone, including a SIM card, for the ridiculously low price of $20 Canadian. But then I was forced to purchase “time credits” to use the phone since I was not going to purchase a payment plan. My pay-as-you-go plan cost me $14 Canadian with unlimited calling to anywhere in Mexico, the USA or Canada for 30 days. I repeat, unlimited calls to anywhere in North America for the next 30 days! For the grand total of $35 I can phone just about everyone I know over the next month. Expect a call soon! 

This happy experience is certainly a far cry from any experience that I have ever had in Canada in dealing with any of the phone companies. Whether it is Telus, Bell, or Shaw, trying to get the best plan for my needs is like trying to decipher the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Rosetta Stone and the Koran all in the same day. Phone companies run you around in circles until you feel that you have been on a carousel. Trying to intelligently compare various programs, options, and alternative plans makes my head spin. Why could not one of the major suppliers just say, “Ken, for $35 you can phone anyone, anytime, anywhere in North America for a whole month, and we will even toss in a new cell phone?”

If you are insane enough to bypass the three big telecommunications companies and try to get a better deal with one of the new service providers that haunt the small kiosks in the mall avenues, good luck. I always find them intimidating as they are always manned with geeky high tech individuals that look like they should all be working for NASA or the CIA. I know that if I should happen to stop at one, they would laugh me out of the mall when I ask critical questions like, “How do you turn the phone on? or “How much is the phone with the little tv screen on the front?” 

All I know for sure, is that when you can buy a working new cell phone in a foreign country for a pittance, with no restrictions, in a matter of ten minutes, I think it is time for another revolution to begin percolating against our national cell phone companies. Are you with me?