Forums > Specific Focus > Technical Mexico

yodave

Nov 3, 2006, 12:27 PM

Post #1 of 19 (13304 views)

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Verizon Cell Phone Problems?

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I realize this isn't an earth-shaking issue but is anyone out there who has a "North America's Calling Plan" on their Verizon Wireless Cells having problems making and receiving calls? Verizon is telling me we have to go back to the US to reprogram our phones because Mexico is changing their cell towers(or something like that).

johanson / Moderator

Nov 3, 2006, 12:50 PM

Post #2 of 19 (13296 views)

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Re: [yodave] Verizon Cell Phone Problems?

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Yes TelCel is making a change to their system and it goes into effect at midnight tonight. Right now, when someone calls my cell phone I have to pay for a portion of said call, even though I am receiving said call. That's not the way it is done up North. Starting on Nov 4th, TelCel has a new program called "El que llama paga" or "he who calls pays". And no longer does the cell phone user pay a fee when receiving a call.

Whether this is the change which is impacting your Verizon North America Plan or not, I do not know, but there are major changes. For example beginning tomorrow, when I call my cell number from my house phone here in Ajijic, I can no longer call 01-331-2**-**** rather I have to dial 045-331-2**-**** and I have to pay more.

yodave

Nov 3, 2006, 1:07 PM

Post #3 of 19 (13293 views)

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Re: [yodave] Verizon Cell Phone Problems?

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Thanks for your reply. With the NAm.Call Plan-one calling your Cell(which is a "US" Cell and not a Mexican Mobile)from the US just dials it as they would if you were next door in Brooklyn---1-646-***-**** and unless they already know you are in Mexico they have no idea they are dialling Mexico. Which is handy if running a business from Mexico and you don't want your clients to know you are doing that. To dial back with the cell you dial 001 and then the US #. All of this included in your plan with no international long distance charges. Very cool plan-just realized this may be sounding like an advertisement for the plan-hope noone takes it that way.

Anyway, now people calling our Cells are getting the message "Beginning on Nov 4th you have to dial 1 after the code 52 for all Mexican Mobile phones"(in Spanish and then English)Fine, except we are not using a Mexican mobile phone!

So if anyone else out there with this plan is having problems after the TelCel switchover(and maybe solutions to those problems)I would be thrilled to hear from you.

Muchas gracias!

"He not busy bein' born, is busy dyin'"-Bob Dylan

bournemouth

Nov 3, 2006, 2:26 PM

Post #4 of 19 (13282 views)

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Re: [johanson] Verizon Cell Phone Problems?

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Pete - is this change only for Telcel phones or does it impact all cell phones as Telmex is the underlying carrier for lines in Mexico? If only Telcel, then maybe we need to find a new carrier, if there is such a thing in our area.

johanson / Moderator

Nov 3, 2006, 2:56 PM

Post #5 of 19 (13280 views)

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Re: [bournemouth] Verizon Cell Phone Problems?

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That is a good Question Bourenouth, and I wish I had the answer. I'm guessing though, that in the future, all cell phones will work this way. But that is an un-educated guess.

yodave

Nov 4, 2006, 6:30 AM

Post #6 of 19 (13244 views)

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Re: [johanson] Verizon Cell Phone Problems?

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So the TelCel switchover took place at Midnite last nite and this morning my US Cell cannot accept ANY calls from anywhere! Message (in Spanish)in essence says "this cellular cannot accept calls, contact your long distance carrier". Verizon so far has been of no help to me though it's their plan and deal with Mexico for the phones to work here. If anyone out there knows of the solution other than going back to the States for "reprogramming" please give a holler.

PS-My Mexican Cell works just fine.

bournemouth

Nov 4, 2006, 6:30 AM

Post #7 of 19 (13244 views)

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Re: [johanson] Verizon Cell Phone Problems?

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Pete - the answer to my question is on the front page of Mexconnect this morning - there is a link under Mexico News to an LA Times story on the increase in charges which explains that the charge is being imposed by the Federal government and that only Telcel has chosen to abide by it. Several other lesser cell phone companies are fighting the change. It's really going to hurt those NOB who call their relatives here on cell phones.

sfmacaws

Nov 4, 2006, 10:12 AM

Post #8 of 19 (13233 views)

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Re: [bournemouth] Verizon Cell Phone Problems?

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Well, this is kind of earth shaking for us. Sometimes I'm amazed at the BS the mexican public accepts from their govt and from the likes of Carlos Slim. Nice way to kill the use of cell phones Carlos. I've always thought the way cell phones are billed in MX is stupid and makes them a much less attractive alternative to a land line - which may be the point. Now it will extend to other carriers that use their network thus making my Verizon NA plan much less attractive to me and to anyone who inadvertantly calls me without realizing that the call is being routed to Mexico and they are going to be billed 14 cents a minute to make Carlos Slim richer. I'm irritated by this, can you tell?

Jonna - Mérida, Yucatán

arbon

Nov 4, 2006, 11:58 AM

Post #9 of 19 (13222 views)

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Re: [sfmacaws] Verizon Cell Phone Problems?

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Well Jonna, I have never had a phone of any kind, (in my name) but I had thought about getting a cell in Mexico, with the free calls out.

I just figured it was a gimmick to get more Mexicans to have a phone.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

NEOhio1

Nov 4, 2006, 3:31 PM

Post #10 of 19 (13206 views)

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Re: [arbon] Verizon Cell Phone Problems?

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We are headed SoB this week and needed to eliminate one Verizon cell phone, transfer another to a minor child, and get the third on the NA plan. Well this Mexico change information all came at an opportune time for us and I headed out to the Verizon store, not a kiosk, but the annoyingly crazy store at our "lifestyle" mall. Ugh! But I am very glad I did because....

The store manager made it perfectly clear, after an hour on the phone with somebody somewhere, that she could not guarantee the NA plan would charge as it had in the past.

She, frankly, could not assure us that our phone would work SoB at all anytime soon.

And if it did I needed to be watchful that the pricing wasn't reverting to a "no plan" billing rate - call fee, roaming fee, originating fee, minutes fee, connectivity fee - otherwise, a lot of money per minute.

So we put the phone we have in Mexico on "vacation' status until Verizon can figure things out.

sfmacaws

Nov 4, 2006, 4:16 PM

Post #11 of 19 (13200 views)

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Re: [arbon] Verizon Cell Phone Problems?

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But Arbon, they are not free calls out. You have to buy a card for the phone and if you call the US on it you will be charged. If you receive a call from the US perhaps you won't be charged but the person calling you will be and if your phone number does not indicate that they are calling Mexico, then I think it is fraud. Even if a message comes on and tells them that they are calling Mexico and gives them the option to cancel, your privacy is invaded because the person calling you now has that information. Plus, the deal you made with your cell phone company about how much you will pay for what kind of calls is invalid because your calls are being hijacked by Telcel tolls. The Mexican cell phone structure is a rip off because it is basically a monopoly, Carlos owns something over 80% of the cell towers so effectively you cannot call anyone in Mexico on a cell phone without paying the toll to him. With this kind of billing policy, no one in Mexico wants to call a cell phone because they will be charged, you can't guarantee that someone will call you back even if they might want to because they don't want to pay extra because you are using a cell phone. It puts a huge crimp in the cell phone's usefulness. It keeps peope forced into an old technology of wired, landline phones.

As to you never having a phone in your name, well, somehow I'm not surprised but most of us live in an electronic age and a phone is essential. I decided years ago that a land line phone was irrelevent as no one really wanted to talk to my house, they wanted to talk to a person and if that person has a cell phone it is much more logical to call it. So, I got rid of the landline phones even when I still lived in a house. Mexico is being forced backwards by this monopoly.

Jonna - Mérida, Yucatán

esperanza

Nov 4, 2006, 5:57 PM

Post #12 of 19 (13187 views)

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Re: [sfmacaws] Verizon Cell Phone Problems?

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Another, slightly different point of view: given that it is nearly impossible to get a landline in a timely manner in many parts of Mexico, the cellular phone offers people an opportunity that they otherwise would not have to communicate by telephone.

It also offers people who cannot afford pay an installation fee plus monthly rent for telephone service the opportunity to use a cellular phone for substantially less--of course, depending on the minutes they actually use. The cost of installing a landline here is $1400 pesos or more. The cost of purchasing a cellular phone can be $400 pesos or less.

http://www.mexicocooks.typepad.com

sfmacaws

Nov 4, 2006, 8:57 PM

Post #13 of 19 (13170 views)

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Re: [esperanza] Verizon Cell Phone Problems?

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Exactly, cell phones are the way phones should work. You call a person wherever they are, not some place they live. But, with most businesses still having landllines and many people as well, making the caller pay instead of splitting the cost makes cell phones too expensive also. I think they should be cheap and they should be within range of most people. You should be able to pay more for more services if you want and have a basic minimum that is very inexpensive so everyone has the option. Mainly, there should be competition so the rates are market driven and not a monopoly.

Jonna - Mérida, Yucatán

Gwynne

Nov 9, 2006, 3:19 PM

Post #14 of 19 (13120 views)

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Re: [NEOhio1] Verizon Cell Phone Problems?

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So.....what's the status on Verizon? We are headed SOB next week and the thought of not having any ability to communicate while on the road makes me n-e-r-v-o-u-s.
Gwynne

DavidHF

Oct 16, 2010, 6:43 AM

Post #15 of 19 (10325 views)

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Re: [Gwynne] Verizon Cell Phone Problems?

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Friends have Verizon and it works fine.

bournemouth

Oct 16, 2010, 1:21 PM

Post #16 of 19 (10295 views)

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Re: [DavidHF] Verizon Cell Phone Problems?

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I wonder what brought this four year old thread back to the top - strange.

johanson / Moderator

Oct 16, 2010, 2:40 PM

Post #17 of 19 (10286 views)

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Re: [bournemouth] Verizon Cell Phone Problems?

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As your moderator, I have no idea. I will admit not having Verizon, and therefore not knowing anything about said program, I didn't pay any attention to the dates. Oh well, let's see if there is any more new information.

Papirex

Oct 16, 2010, 3:48 PM

Post #18 of 19 (10278 views)

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Re: [johanson] Verizon Cell Phone Problems?

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I too know next to nothing about Verizon, except that one of my daughters uses that service in California and she loves it. The plan she has furnishes her with five phones. She has given one to her son a couple of hundred miles north of where she lives, And her granddaughter in Texas, and one to one of her brothers, and I believe one to her mother. They can all call one another with no minutes charged to her plan.

When I was leaving after a visit a year and a half ago, she gave me a Verizon phone, complete with charger, car cord, extra battery, etc. She said Verizon had given her new phones and she didn't need it anymore. She thought I might want to have it reprogrammed by Iusacell to use prepaid cards as a loaner when we have visitors.

Iusacell gives us new phones every couple of years, and we have several good extra phones that we can use as loaners with prepaid cards. I decided to keep the Verizon phone and get prepaid cards for it so we may use it in The US on our infrequent short visits there.

I don't recall ever signing up with Verizon, but I started getting advertising emails from them. When I tried to get some information about their prepaid cards, or any of their other plans, I always get the message that “this service is not available in México.” I never tell them where I am located, but like the TV and radio channels, they always know where I am. I will probably need to go to a Verizon office on my next trip to get a prepaid card for that phone.

Not a big deal for me, I use Skype in my laptop to make cheap calls when I am in The US, and my daughter often loans me her phone when I am visiting her.

Rex
"The supreme happiness of life is the conviction that we are loved" - Victor Hugo

chinagringo

Oct 16, 2010, 6:31 PM

Post #19 of 19 (10256 views)

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Re: [bournemouth] Verizon Cell Phone Problems?

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Perhaps, the poster used that old concept of using search before asking a question? Forgot the principle of Instant Gratification 101.
Regards,
Neil
Albuquerque, NM