• Home
  • About Us
  • FAQs
  • Contact Us
  • The Zoe Report
  • Haley’s Corner
facebook twitter instagram
Let's Just Travel
  • Home
  • About Us
  • FAQs
  • Contact Us
  • The Zoe Report
  • Haley’s Corner
Home  >  Mexico  >  Who you gonna call?
Mexico

Who you gonna call?

Allison Sherman Posted onJanuary 11, 2016January 11, 2016 2 Comments 2261 Views

The cell phone system in Mexico proved to be more simple than in Panama, but still quirky in it’s own way.

In Panama you have to arrive with an unlocked phone. And not just a phone that your carrier says is unlocked but a true unlocked-when-you-bought-it phone. We learned the hard way and ended up buying 3 iPhones on day 2 in Panama. ‘Nuff said.

So when we arrived in Mexico with our unlocked phones, we knew we needed a SIM card and a data plan. We knew more-or-less how it worked and Dan had done his research on the best carrier. So a few hours after landing, we went to the cell phone place with three phones (Mom, Dad, Haley) and within 30 minutes we emerged with working phones in Mexico. Es bueno.

Fast forward one month. Our data plan expired and it was time to renew. The cell phone company was nice enough to send us a message to tell us that our data package had expired and even sent us a link where we could go online to buy a new package. Dan did this and it said it was successful, although no charge was deducted from our bank account and his phone continued to not work. I did the same and mine said it was not successful, to check with my bank AND that I already had an active package. I’m so confused! We didn’t even try to do it with Haley’s, we just went to the nearest mobile phone office and made friends with the lady who worked there.

On visit #1 she said that Dan had run out of his gigabytes (we each get 3) which is why his phone was not working. She also said that my package was about to expire but I could not yet buy a new MONTHLY package because I was ONE HOUR TOO EARLY. She noticed that I had purchased my package on December 6 at 5:23pm in the afternoon but here it was January 6 at 4:45pm so I could not yet buy a new package. OK! But supposedly after an hour we could go to the link and purchase our new plan and all would be well. We went back home and at 5:24pm Dan tried to purchase the new package.

Nope.

So we went back in to our new friend at the phone store for visit #2 and she said that because Dan had used up his data he had to buy his new package at a store, not online. 500 pesos ($30) later he was back in business. Then it was my turn. Although I could have followed the link because I had not used up all my 3 GB, the in-person system seemed very easy and quick so 500 more pesos and I was back up and running. Then it came time for Haley’s phone but the lady said we couldn’t do it there.

What? Why?

She showed me her computer screen and it had 270 pesos showing. I couldn’t understand what she was telling me. She kept saying “I only have 270 more pesos”. I understood the words but still couldn’t make sense of it. We had exact change! “I only have 270 more pesos”. But I’m paying in cash! “I only have 270 more pesos”.  Are we speaking Chinese? What in the world is she telling me?

The lady patiently fired up google translate and explained that she only had 270 more pesos of credits that she could sell that day. What!? There is a limit to how many pesos of data you can sell in one day? Are you kidding me? So she said we could go next door to Sam’s Club and at the pharmacy they had also sold cell recharging and we could buy data for Haley’s phone over there. OK, so we did that and we did all the steps but we did not get the confirmation text that Haley’s data package was active. So we’re wandering around Sam’s Club buying meat while juggling three phones trying to figure out what message we are getting and what message we should be getting. Sometimes the habit of getting instant communication is hard to break.

So back to my new friend at the cell phone office for visit #3. She did a few things and verified that we had purchased the 30-day package for Haley and told me that sometimes the system didn’t send the confirmation message. But all was well.

After only 3 visits to the cell phone place we are up and running for month #2 of mobile comms in Mexico. Es bueno! The good news in all this is we only pay $50 for 3 phones to receive 3 GB of data, per month. Another es bueno! Incidentally, we did find out that although you can’t renew for a month if you run out of your monthly data before your 30 days are up, you can renew for lesser time frames at higher costs. (Just to clarify for those that are looking at this article as a resource for info in cell phone usage in Mexico.)

If you are looking for us on February 6 at 5:23pm, you know exactly where we will be. I think our new friend at the cell phone store is probably expecting us as well.

telcel
Lots of texts from Telcel that day, none of which made a whole lot of sense.
Previous Article El Dia de Los Reyes Magos
Next Article Zoe Squared

Related Posts

  • Reporting From Home Base

    February 19, 2020
  • Worldschooling Happy and Crappy

    December 11, 2019
  • A Weekend At Coco’s

    December 3, 2019
  • Worldschooling Game Changers

    November 27, 2019
  • Halloween and Day of the Dead in Mexico

    November 10, 2019
  • Stories from PdC, Part 2

    October 13, 2019
  • Stories from PdC, Part 1

    September 29, 2019
  • Life in PdC

    August 25, 2019
  • Mexico 2.0

    August 7, 2019
  • Random Tours in Europe

    August 2, 2019

2 Comments

  1. Shelly
    January 11, 2016 at 4:38 pm

    That’s exactly the same run around we got in Nicaragua. You have to wait until your allotted time was over before you could get more data, even though you had used up your data package. This is why Al wrote a blog about Panama cell phones being the best on earth! It’s so easy here. http://panamadude.com/are-panama-cell-phone-plans-any-good/

    • Dan Sherman
      January 11, 2016 at 10:53 pm

      Since Allison didn’t consult with me prior to posting this, I have updated it after the fact. We can get service before the 30 days is up (if we blow through the data) it’s just that it has to be a weekly purchase plan or daily…etc. Can’t renew for a month until your original month is up.

Social Media

Categories

  • Amsterdam4
  • Barcelona2
  • Belgium1
  • Bocas6
  • Boquete16
  • Cambodia3
  • Cape Town6
  • Cenote13
  • Chiang Mai12
  • Christmas7
  • Colombia42
  • Day Trips8
  • Dominican Republic10
  • Dubai3
  • Education70
  • FAQs13
  • Field Trips15
  • Florence1
  • Food5
  • France3
  • Germany2
  • Granada2
  • Guatemala4
  • Haley's Corner29
  • Health6
  • Iceland3
  • Italy6
  • Johannesburg8
  • Language8
  • London2
  • Malaysia5
  • Medellin41
  • Merida3
  • Mexico78
  • Mexico City3
  • Milan1
  • Money3
  • Naples3
  • Netherlands9
  • Packing5
  • Panama153
  • Panama City5
  • Pedasi98
  • Playa del Carmen6
  • Portugal5
  • Puebla3
  • Read First1
  • Recap3
  • Rome3
  • South Africa21
  • Spain19
  • Switzerland1
  • Thailand17
  • The Zoe Report10
  • USA2
  • Venice1
  • What's Next9
  • Zimbabwe2
facebook twitter

Categories

  • Amsterdam4
  • Barcelona2
  • Belgium1
  • Bocas6
  • Boquete16
  • Cambodia3
  • Cape Town6
  • Cenote13
  • Chiang Mai12
  • Christmas7
  • Colombia42
  • Day Trips8
  • Dominican Republic10
  • Dubai3
  • Education70
  • FAQs13
  • Field Trips15
  • Florence1
  • Food5
  • France3
  • Germany2
  • Granada2
  • Guatemala4
  • Haley's Corner29
  • Health6
  • Iceland3
  • Italy6
  • Johannesburg8
  • Language8
  • London2
  • Malaysia5
  • Medellin41
  • Merida3
  • Mexico78
  • Mexico City3
  • Milan1
  • Money3
  • Naples3
  • Netherlands9
  • Packing5
  • Panama153
  • Panama City5
  • Pedasi98
  • Playa del Carmen6
  • Portugal5
  • Puebla3
  • Read First1
  • Recap3
  • Rome3
  • South Africa21
  • Spain19
  • Switzerland1
  • Thailand17
  • The Zoe Report10
  • USA2
  • Venice1
  • What's Next9
  • Zimbabwe2

Archives

  • February 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • July 2014
Order Dept, LLC © Copyright 2015