Text 9055, 75 rader
Skriven 2010-07-08 06:30:36 av Bob Ackley (1:300/3)
   Kommentar till text 9035 av David Drummond (3:640/384)
Ärende: Cellphone woes
======================
Replying to a message of David Drummond to Bob Ackley:

 DD> Bob Ackley -> Robert Bashe wrote:

 RW>>>> Not exactly right. If you allow your prepaid phone to lapse, then
 RW>>>> you lose the minutes.

 RB>>> In the States that may be true. Here it's not, since there is no
 RB>>> such things as paying for "airtime" on incoming calls.

 BA>> That may vary with providers here.  I allowed my Tracfone to lapse
 BA>> and then bought another one.  I contacted Tracfone to register the
 BA>> new phone and they were able - with a little help from me - to
 BA>> transfer my contact list and accumulated minutes (over 300) to the
 BA>> new phone - different phone *number* though.  YMMV.

 DD> No such transfers of minutes possible here - we all get at least 43200
 DD> free inbound minutes per month (except February) - that's 60 minutes
 DD> per hour, 24 hours per day - 30 (or 31) days per month (except
 DD> February)

The transfers are *possible*, they just don't do them - and it would appear
that
the service is unlimited anyway so it wouldn't be necessary, you're not buying
minutes of usage.

 DD> The fact of the matter is that we do not pay for inbound calls here.
 DD> One can even get a deal where one pays no minimum monthly charge and
 DD> no prepaid calls. One only pays for calls as they are made (on a
 DD> monthly account). If no outbound calls are made the service costs the
 DD> user nothing - even with at least 43200 minutes of inbound calls per
 DD> month (except February)

 DD> Sounds like US users are really fucked over... Why do they stand for
 DD> it?

Addicted to the things?  Some people here just can't stop using them.

Back when I was working some ditzy broad ran a red light and collided with a
co-worker's car - she was jabbering on her cell phone, and kept right on
jabbering
*after* the collision.  Some states have passed laws against 'texting' while
driving -
some idiot drivers were paying more attention to their cell phone screens than
they
were to their driving - and caused accidents.  Apparently 'texting' while
driving has
become a significant problem here.

FWIW, Tracfone is a prepaid system, it costs US$20 for 60 minutes/60 days.  My
days always expire before the minutes do because I hardly ever use the thing. 
I don't
have a pathologic need to be connected with everybody else on the planet.

When I had a permanent cell phone, that thing cost about US$60/month -
switching
to the prepaid Tracfone to save US$50/month was a no-brainer.  The permanent
cell
phone people used to charge for "roaming" (you're travelling someplace and
aren't in
your local area) and for long distance; competition from prepaid cell companies
pretty
much eliminated the separate 'long distance' charges, dunno about roaming.

My landlines (I have two, one for people, one for computers) cost just about
$57/month - each.  The only calls I get on the 'people' line are from
telemarketers
and robocallers, rarely do they get in more than three words before I've hung
up; they
probably call the computer line too, but the computer is more tolerant than I
am about
that sort of thing <g>.

--- FleetStreet 1.19+
 * Origin: Bob's Boneyard, Emerson, Iowa (1:300/3)