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BUYING AND USING A CEL PHONE IN MX


ezpz

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i am on my 4th MX cel phone in about 5 years, OK, one got stolen.  Always problems, and now it is starting to occur to me why.  It also occurred to me that most gringos here are visitors or still visit the US where they could buy a cel phone; probably few actually buy them here.  I have had non-stop problems with mine.  I was told by one shop owner that Telcel no longer supported Nokia so I had to buy a new phone, so I bought a cheap MX phone because I rarely use a cel.  After a year, it never worked either.  I was told I had to buy a new smart phone, that Telcel won't support "older" phones anymore.  Smartphone got stolen.

So I went to a different shop, bought a older Nokia model (whose programming is much more logical than the MX phone) and lo and behold, it worked with Telcel!  But then, it was not working either.  I rarely use a cel phone so it takes time to realize this.  When I was unable to make calls, I always received a msg from Telcel saying I had no Saldo, or money left in my account.  But... I had paid for a whole year so I wouldn't have to keep going back and recharging it, what a bore!  Now I'm getting the picture that they are also scamming me.  I went back twice for this same reason and it seems they "fix" it by putting in a few pesos for a month.   Now it is happening again.  They tell me "everybody" gets the message that they have no saldo.  

I tested it with my maid yesterday and when I call her # she gets a message that SHE would have to pay to take the call!  So, something is up!!  Plus I still get the msg that I have no saldo.   I called my bank and they are sending me a receipt of the charges when I bought the phone for around $4370 pesos which was supposed to cover the phone AND a year's service.  They never gave me a paper receipt.

What to do now?  This ever happen to anyone else out there?  Should I threaten to denounce them?  What is the solution?  Gracias!

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I have had a Mexican cell phone for many years and I do not have your problems. I have a plan that I pay every month via credit card. use the phone for banking and use it a whole lot and do not have any problems so I would not be so prompt to blame telcel. If you do not have receipt , contracts etc to back up what you are saying you are wasting your time with a demand. The fact that you got your smart phone stolen has nothing to do with telcel.. either. If you have no money in your phone you are the only one to blame as well..

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bmh, gracias, but maybe you did not understand my problem.  I paid for a year so I would not have to keep paying every month.  So why would I keep getting messages that tell me I have no saldo?  I think the scam is that the SHOP never put the $$ in my account, that would be the scam.  When I go back, I think they put 1 month in, it works once, but the problem always returns.  And shouldn't they have given me a receipt for the purchase and the 1 year deposit?  I am not blaming telcel but both shop owners for lying to me.

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I have a 'dumb' phone - don't remember the brand - and I am on the "regular" plan. Every 2 months when I pay my phone bill at the Oxxo, I add 100 pesos to my Telcel phone. That's only 600 pesos a year, about what I paid a month NOB. I don't use the phone much so I have a large balance that rolls on to the next month. It works well for me.

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It's all about the plan you have. Make sure you understand same, otherwise, no matter how much  money you have paid in advance, you could loose it all after a set period of time, like in one or two months with the basic amigo plan.

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1.  I would gather as much documentation (like the payment for the phone and service) as I could. The talk to Telcel to see if your money is in your account.

2. Talk to the shop where you bought the phone and service. See if they will straighten it out.

3. If not, talk to a lawyer. It may be too costly or nothing can be done.

 

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1 hour ago, ezpz said:

bmh, gracias, but maybe you did not understand my problem.  I paid for a year so I would not have to keep paying every month.  So why would I keep getting messages that tell me I have no saldo?  I think the scam is that the SHOP never put the $$ in my account, that would be the scam.  When I go back, I think they put 1 month in, it works once, but the problem always returns.  And shouldn't they have given me a receipt for the purchase and the 1 year deposit?  I am not blaming telcel but both shop owners for lying to me.

As far as i know you can't pay a year in advance. The longest a saldo is valid is 1 month, no matter how much saldo you put. So what i think what happened is you paid for a whole year but they put that money to your saldo all at once which expired after one month. You can reactivate the unused saldo by adding more saldo to your account but that will also expire within 1 month or less depending with how much money you reactivated your saldo.

You should check how much saldo you have at https://www.mitelcel.com/mitelcel/login

there it will tell you how much saldo you still have and when it expires and other information about your plan.

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20 minutes ago, ednet94 said:

As far as i know you can't pay a year in advance. The longest a saldo is valid is 1 month, no matter how much saldo you put. So what i think what happened is you paid for a whole year but they put that money to your saldo all at once which expired after one month. You can reactivate the unused saldo by adding more saldo to your account but that will also expire within 1 month or less depending with how much money you reactivated your saldo.

You should check how much saldo you have at https://www.mitelcel.com/mitelcel/login

there it will tell you how much saldo you still have and when it expires and other information about your plan.

I throw a few thousand pesos at my Telcel account about once a year (my monthly plan is 249 pesos a month).  They keep excellent track of the advance payments and show my continuing credit on my bill.   

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9 minutes ago, Bisbee Gal said:

I throw a few thousand pesos at my Telcel account about once a year (my monthly plan is 249 pesos a month).  They keep excellent track of the advance payments and show my continuing credit on my bill.   

If you have a monthly plan yes, but it sounds to me ezpz has a prepaid plan.

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1 hour ago, ednet94 said:

As far as i know you can't pay a year in advance. The longest a saldo is valid is 1 month, no matter how much saldo you put. So what i think what happened is you paid for a whole year but they put that money to your saldo all at once which expired after one month. You can reactivate the unused saldo by adding more saldo to your account but that will also expire within 1 month or less depending with how much money you reactivated your saldo.

You should check how much saldo you have at https://www.mitelcel.com/mitelcel/login

there it will tell you how much saldo you still have and when it expires and other information about your plan.

Gracias, this is the first thing that has made sense to me.  I had a 1-yr. plan in the US and could forget about my phone but it always worked when I needed it.  Silly me to think I could expect the same service here.   Wouldn't the shop owners KNOW that they can't pay for 1 year?  Why did they lead me to believe I was paid up for a year if you can't do that?    So, in other words, even if you PAY up front for a year, you still have to go in every month to renew it???  Sounds crazy to me, they did not explain that.  And the couple always have sort of a "fishy" vibe about them when I go in there, they did NOT explain to me that I need to come in every month.  If I had known that I wouldn't have bought a 1 yr. plan.  I did have 2-month saldos on my last phone.

And they did tell me that "everyone" gets those saldo messages from Telmex even if they are paid up??  WTF???

 

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Let me guess... the Telcel store that you were dealing with is next to a second hand store. I also bought a phone from them that died. Avoid. Period.

The one around the corner from them (beside Alex' Restaurant and opposite Chopsticks Restaurant) is the place to go. Ana Romero is impeccably honest and I highly recommend her. She even tried to fix the dud that the other place sold me.

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4 minutes ago, RVGRINGO said:

If you have no official factura (receipt), you may have paid them for a year, but how much did they pay the provider?  You are absolutely right: This is not like the USA at all.

😂

Nor is anyone here suggesting it is, but sometimes folks ‘want’ it to be so badly that they have problems when something doesn’t work just the way they think it should.  Not saying this is the case here, but.....

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I've had the same Nokia dumb phone for 10 years. It works perfectly, always has. There's zero truth to "Telcel doesn't support Nokia" and no, I've never gotten messages that I have no saldo when I've paid. I pay every 3 weeks at Oxo for the Sin Limites paquete. Works like a charm.

It very much sounds like the OP was dealing with dishonest shop owners who just pocketed the $.

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Some years ago, I signed up for a plan at the place next to Alex's.  Ana Romero is the one to deal with.  I bought a cheapo dumb phone for around 300 pesos and got the plan you pay $100 pesos for every other month.  The unused minutes accumulated.  This has been a problem-free experience.

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7 minutes ago, Ferret said:

 

The one around the corner from them (beside Alex' Restaurant and opposite Chopsticks Restaurant) is the place to go. Ana Romero is impeccably honest and I highly recommend her. She even tried to fix the dud that the other place sold me.

I pay 1200 pesos every 6 months to Ana Romero.  The money appears in my Telcel account in short order and each month's factura, shows how much credit I still have.

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I got a flip phone from Amazon MX delivered in two days for $35 U.S.  Every 2 months I pay 100 pesos at Oxxo to keep it on.  Accumulated to 200 pesos after last renewal.

Phone will go over a week without needing a charge.  

Obviously I don't use it much.  For emergencies and quick check ins.  Simple, effective and cheap.

My wife calls me the cellular luddite.  She has this Apple thing that does everything once you go back to college to learn how to use it.  I explained to her that I have her so I don't need it.  :D

 

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4 hours ago, Ferret said:

Let me guess... the Telcel store that you were dealing with is next to a second hand store. I also bought a phone from them that died. Avoid. Period.

The one around the corner from them (beside Alex' Restaurant and opposite Chopsticks Restaurant) is the place to go. Ana Romero is impeccably honest and I highly recommend her. She even tried to fix the dud that the other place sold me.

Very sorry to say, both of those were the stores that I dealt with.  Did you all buy phones there or do you just go in to buy time?

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Go to MY Telcel and see what your saldo is . If you are on a plan the saldo should show as a minus. I am on the 200 something plan and once in a while I give telcel an extra month and it show as a negative so I owe nothing at the end of the month and NO it does not expire.. There is something wrong.. The shop either did not put the money for a year or you are using the internet a lot and go over your limit so have to pay extra.. I would go to the telcel office in the shipping center where the movie house is off the libramiento with someone who speaks Spanish if they do not and ask them about it.

Something is wrong and yes you can pay for the plan a year ahead if you want to but the saldo should show..It sounds like you went through it or the shop did not put the money in. 

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I bought a used Samsung Galaxy S4 from a friend for 1,000 pesos. Plan came via Ana Romero and I pay monthly (299 pesos) to Telcel at the 711 by downloading and printing my bill at Mitelcel. The Samsung is still working just fine after a year. I use it for calls and as a hotspot when Telmex is down. It's all I need.

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I and another friend had problems with paying for TELCEL at Oxxo.  One payment was not credited to my fone, I suspect it went elsewhere.  I did not watch closely as the number was entered, got a receipt etc.  My friend updated 2 fones, was not credited.

Went to another Oxxo.  I watched the terminal as the number was entered.  Had to tell the girl a couple of times the entry of my number was not complete.  Finalyl she did the right thing.

Starting to suspect Oxxo software for a Telcel payment has a flaw that can be exploited.  Pay attention.

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