 Check out the bookstore at IRBS.com |
|
|
|
|||||
|
||||||
From: Phil Sherwood (no email)
Date: Sun Aug 20 2006 - 14:24:20 EDT
Hi Rick,
I also have VZW. On two or three occasions when going to Mexico for
extended periods I've switched to their North America's Choice plan,
which in essence costs $60/mo for 450 minutes/mo and lets people
stateside call you and you call stateside just as if you were in the
States. Once upon a time you could switch from plan to plan gratis,
but now VZW restarts the clock on your two-year contract with every
plan switch.
Coverage is good all around the Banderas Bay area. I think Ensenada
and the Guaymas/San Carlos area are also covered. Other pretty
heavily populated areas are also covered, but not all that many along
the Pacific coast, especially the farther south you get. The on-line
map is virtually useless; would be worth a call to VZW tech support
and have them run down the list of covered areas while you look at a
map or chart.
With the NA Choice plan, even though you're in Mexico it would be an
international call to call a Mexican number. Thus it might prove
economical for you to get a pay-as-you-go or month-to-month Mexican
cell phone if you think you'll be calling within Mexico more than
very infrequently.
Once or twice I've had some phone configuration issues and had to
spend an hour or two working them out, but in general the NA Choice
plan has worked out great for me (I was predominantly in and around
Puerto Vallarta). The main thing is to remember to reconfigure your
phone to Automatic A (somewhere deep in the Settings area) once
you're covered by VZW's Mexican partner (Telcel or iusacel ("useless
cell") or whoever it happens to be in a given area).
I think VZW will put your present account on hold for $15/mo; you
might need to renew the hold status every few months. Definitely
check the fine print or query a customer service person closely for
other little gotchas. Otherwise, if you want totally, permanently out
and are committed to a contract, well, they've got you by the short
and curly ones. They'll want a $175 buyout, but you might be able to
argue/negotiate them into accepting a pro-rated amount.
That's been my experience; hope it helps.
Phil
s/v Cynosure
lying Friday Harbor WA; casting off for San Francisco and points
south approx Aug 30
At 10:52 AM 8/20/2006, you wrote:
>[...]
>We are about 1 month from throwing off the dock lines and have begun to
>have a problem with our cell phone company (Verizon).
>[...]
>For those that have gone before us, what have you experienced in making
>your "break" with cell phone companies? Any words of wisdom as to what
>works and doesn't work?
>
>Thanks.
>
>Rick
>S/V La Vita
>1987 HC 33T
Yahoo! Groups Links
<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/world-cruising/
<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
|