Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Carlos Slim Is A-OK Again!

I have my Telcel problems fixed! We were having breakfast and asked the English speaking waitress if there was a Telcel Service Center nearby and she directed us to the nearby city of Guaymas. We drove over there and found the building. I asked the receptionist if anyone spoke English and she took me to a teller station where she served me herself. Indeed, both SIM's and their corresponding numbers had expired and I had to buy new ones at a cost of about $150 pesos each. I then paid $500 pesos for a month of broadband and was told there was a promotion and I would receive 6GB of data instead of 3GB. I do not know if this is for the whole winter or just for this month.

The phone was the same problem. It was expired. She assigned me a new number and I bought $100 pesos of time. We are communicating!

And even better..... Skype works perfectly on the Telcel stick! I just tested it!

14 comments:

  1. glad to see all is fixed, up and running !!! Without costing an arm and a leg...happy chatting :)

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  2. You are in communication with the world from Mexico....bueno!

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  3. I'm sure Carlos Slim was worried when he heard you were mad at him! But getting things fixed without being cheated is even better. Good work!

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  4. Are you guys heading for a particular spot or touring around?

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  5. Traveling around Ray. No reservations, no schedule except to be home at the end of April.

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  6. This may be a little of track, but. My wife and I are planning to spend a week in Cancun in February 2012. We both already have unlocked GSM phones and I was hoping to get a couple of SIM cards loaded with airtime before we leave. Is this possible ? and how do I go about it. Is there a better way to accomplish my goal ? I am new to this international travel SIM card phone stuff. Thanks, Mark

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  7. Mark, you will not be able to do that before you leave. When you get to Cancun, go to the Telcel Customer Service Center and buy the "Amigo" plan. The SIMs will cost you $150 pesos each and then you can buy pay as you go time. I would suggest $100 pesos to start as the time is used up quickly. You will have to give them your passports to copy. It takes time and several lineups but there is always someone who speaks English.

    If you go to a kiosk or "Agencia" they will not know how to do it and will try to sell you a new phone with the plan already installed.

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  8. Thank you Croft, it sounds a little more complicated then I was hoping for. How easy is the Telcel service center to find and get to? We will be staying at the Villa Del Palmer resort and I know nothing about Mexico or getting around while there.

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  9. Ask at the hotel desk where the office is, I have never been there in Cancun. You may have to take a taxi. Buy some pesos before you go and pay the cab and Telcel with pesos. Google Maps might be able to help you.

    Ask the hotel desk what a reasonable amount to pay the cab would be and then negotiate that price with the cab before you get in it. Some Cancun cabs will try to rip you off. I was once charged $20 USA for a ten block trip. After a standoff with both of us threatening to call the police I ended up paying $100 pesos which was about three times what I should have paid. Negotiate before you ride. Taxis have no meters.

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  10. Thank you again Croft for your assistance. We plan on arriving late in the afternoon on a Monday and then we will need to leave mid morning on Friday. Where it is only a very short weeks stay it almost seems a hassle to go hunt down a sim card. Do you have any knowledge or advice on using a SIM card from a place like this.
    http://www.cellularabroad.com/mexicoSIMcard.php ?
    It does cost more to buy the SIM card and the call rate is probably more but certainly seems easier to obtain.

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  11. It is quite a bit more expensive Mark, but it should work. It does have the advantage of you being able to give people your number before you leave. You should also call your US provider to see if they offer a Mexico plan you could upgrade to temporarily. I know some providers do have such a plan.

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  12. Thanks Croft, The Data usage @
    .0195 per kb would be the killer but the phone call cost is doable at .25 per minute for both incoming and outgoing calls. A $15 calling credit gives us 60 minutes worth of phone calls. So that would be acceptable considering a call would most likely only be made between myself and my 2nd in command here in NH. incase he had a work crisis while watching over my business. and incase of a similar type emergancy family wise etc. As far as internet usage we will have to resrict ourselves to available WiFi if it is available through the resort. It sucks to pay $49 for a sim card when you know darn well it can be purchased so much cheaper in Mexico but when you add the cost of the card plus taxi fees, the stress and times spent trying to figure it all out in a place where we don't really have a clue what were doing, it softens the $49 blow.

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  13. If the hotel has good WIFI set up Skype on your computer. Then you can use your phone(s) as a method to let you know you have to call someone back using Skype. That is pretty much what we do down here.

    Now start planning how you are going to have fun in the sun!

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  14. "Now start planning how you are going to have fun in the sun!"

    Well other then a little exploring to get a feel for the place (never been to Mexico), and since the resort is All Inclusive, my plan and hope is to consume a belly full of pina coladas, smoke a few good cigars, catch up on a couple of James Patterson novels and just plain relax.

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