Text 9046, 113 rader
Skriven 2010-07-08 09:43:37 av Roy Witt (1:387/22)
   Kommentar till text 9026 av Robert Bashe (2:2448/44)
Ärende: Cellphone woes
======================
07 Jul 10 19:39, Robert Bashe wrote to Roy Witt:

 RB> Roy Witt wrote to Robert Bashe on Tuesday July 06 2010 at 18:55:

 RB>>> You're confusing the American system with those in other countries
 RB>>> again: I've seen what lousy conditions the American prepaid SIM
 RB>>> cards offer - extra-short validity periods and then the companies
 RB>>> keep any unused balance:

 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 such
 RB> things as paying for "airtime" on incoming calls.

LOL! You're funny. You pay for air time, but they tell you there's no such
thing so you can sound like an idiot when you make these stupid
statements.

 RW>> If you continue to keep your phone paidup, you don't lose the
 RW>> minutes you paid for and didn't use.

 RB> Again, in the States. You're only familiar with the system there, and
 RB> I have only a vague idea of the system where you are, except that
 RB> incoming calls are _not_ free in the States. You can deny that until
 RB> you're blue in the face, but there are too may people confirming that
 RB> to accept your claims.

You're obviously getting your information from people who don't know what
they're talking about.

 RB> [Providers keeping balance on prpaid cards]

 RB>>> we did away with that in Germany around 5 years ago, when several
 RB>>> providers were sued for that kind of practice.

 RW>> That's also been the case here for a few years now.

 RB> It is? Interesting - in view of the fact that the few American
 RB> prepaid cards I've seen have a _very_ short validity period (a few
 RB> months down to only 30 days without adding cash), I would have
 RB> thought people would first try to have that changed (longer validity
 RB> times or eliminate the limits altogether) rather than to first get a
 RB> prepaid balance refunded.

It depends on the provider you use. Those who aren't as big as the big
boys give you better deals. Net10 for instance doesn't delete your minutes
that you haven't used, as long as you keep the phone active. Let it expire
and the minutes do as well.


 RB>>> You pay even if you don't need or want the time. Nice system for
 RB>>> the
 RB>>> provider: a guaranteed income regardless of whether you use the
 RB>>> service or not.

 RW>> You conveniently overlook that my minutes (airtime) continue to add
 RW>> up rather than go away.

 RB> So what? Do you get paid for the unused balance when you switch
 RB> providers? If not, my above comment stands.

Your comment is from outer space.

 RW>> BTW, this is also the reason there are no 'pay phones' at the liquor
 RW>> store or gas station anymore. Nobody used them and they went away!

 RB> They are disappearing here too, but there are still people who have
 RB> no cellphone, and thus a few can still be seen around.

I took a picture of one for posperity, about two years ago. I'll have to
look see if it's still there.

 RW>> Have you ever heard the old saying that 'some people will never
 RW>> believe anything someone else tells them because they already know
 RW>> it all'?

 RB> Yes, and I immediately thought of you. Interesting, isn't it?

That was while you were looking at the know it all in the mirror of
course.

 RB>>> In Germany, the charges for fixed-line calls are _much_ lower than
 RB>>> for any cellphone rate (prepaid or contract), so only people who
 RB>>> rarely call anyone find it practical to do without a land line.

 RW>> Just the opposite here. Even with the bare minimum landline service
 RW>> in the US, it costs more than half as much as a cell phone, which
 RW>> can be used anywhere.

 RB> Did you mean "more than twice" instead of "more than half" above?

No. More than half as much, is pretty clear to me. If you pay 40 EU for
something and then you pay 22 EU for something else, isn't the latter more
than half as much?

 RB> Otherwise I don't think I understand you. Anyway, I suppose it's
 RB> cheaper to build a few transmission towers than to string land lines,

Especially when the price of copper is at a very high level. Not to
mention that people actually steal that wire.

 RB> and in a place like the USA, with a huge area and many sparsely
 RB> populated places, it would be logical that cellphone service would be
 RB> cheaper than a land line (except in a metropolitan area).

That applies to San Antonio, which is a metropolitan area.

                R\%/itt

 "Peltier was responsible for the close range execution of FBI agents..."
--- Twit(t) Filter v2.1 (C) 2000-10
 * Origin: SATX Alamo Area Net * South * Texas, USA * (1:387/22)