[1st-mile-nm] Data Access Costs in Europe AND MEXICO

[Ellen Bradbury Reid]

More Verison phone outrage.   We are in Mexico where we have a second home.

In September we spent a month here and came back to a huge Verison bill.
Before we left for Mexico in September for a month I had asked Verison what
would be their best Mexico plan, and after a long conversation we choose the
one they recommended.  When we got home the Verison bill was gigantic, over
$1000.  We protested and they cut it in half, but apparently never applied
the credit.  They do not confirm their deals.  So we have their word against
ours. Meanwhile we continued paying bills that seemed high but normal for
Verison.  

Suddenly last week, while we are back in Mexico, we got a phone message from
Verison saying that they are cutting off our service because of an unpaid
bill.  We could not get Verison on the phone, it was after hours, (I thought
you could get Verison anytime) so we paid some part electronically.  We are
in and out of service areas, not an uncommon phenomena in rural Mexico and
the way numbers show up here you cant tell if they tried to call us before
cutting us off.  When we called Verison, the recordings told us three
different amounts that we had to pay before being cut off.  We could not get
a person.  

We are not using the Blackberry or the Droid for data, we are using ipad and
computer, so the data charges should be very small.  We have a Mexican phone
for local calls.

This trip we signed up for a plan that gives us 8 gig data download for $60.
That is really expensive, but not as bad as paying for downloads without a
plan.  We actually download very infrequently on our phones.
   
We have a friend who came back from Mexico with a $1000 AT&T iphone bill
which they waved most of .

What is going on?   Don¹t suppose they feel guilty.  Are they getting
screamed at a lot? 

Ellen


-- 
Ellen Bradbury-Reid
Recursos de Santa Fe
8o5 Early Street, suite 205c
Santa Fe, New Mexico 87505
phone 505-577-9659
fax 505-982-7125

 


on 3/29/11 3:26 PM, Bill Feiereisen at Bill at Feiereisen.Net wrote:

> I just returned from a business trip to Europe where I was faced with the
> exorbitant costs of data access that have (apparently) been worked out between
> my (two) American cell providers (AT&T and Verizon) and the local mobile
> companies. 
> 
> On my last trip, last year, my only data access, other than local wifi, was on
> my Verizon blackberry. At that time I could buy an international data package
> with unlimited data for about $20/month. 
> 
> In the meantime I have acquired an AT&T iPhone and a Verizon hotspot and was
> hoping to buy an equivalent plan for each, The good folks at Verizon told me
> that the plans changed on January 11, 2011 to limit the amount of data to the
> smart phone and that the costs are now astronomical. Both the phone and the
> hotspot are now limited to rates of about $100 for 75 MB (gone in a flash).
> This is so counter productive that it hardly makes sense to buy the data
> access at all.
> 
> Does anyone know what has happened and why this pricing has become so
> punitive? Is this just a result of bad negotiations between the American
> providers and their European counterparts? Or is something else going on? What
> kind of behavior are they trying to incentivize by these changes? Is this
> somehow analogous to the American service provider changes that limit data
> plans in response to increased demand on American networks?
> 
> ...Bill
> 
> 
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