Crazy pay-as-you-go
I have Prepay SIMs for several countries for my iPad. AT&T for the USA. Not Rogers for Canada, their reputation frightened me off. Orange for Switzerland but I've never used it; I do remember the postie showing up at my door with it and demanding my passport though. And some French carrier which I would never use because I had to get a friend to show up with her Carte Bleue and her passport and they didn't accept foreigners... And for Italy: Vodafone.
I used the Vodafone IT SIM once. That's 1 time, in Italy with my iPad 1 (that I've since given away to some friend's toddler to watch Caillou and Peppa Pig). I logged on and got no satisfaction but did get charged to my US Amex card (hey, I don't have any Italian connection except that when we're visiting Switzerland we like to take the St Bernard Tunnel and have lunch in Aosta.) Ever since, and that's been 5 years or more, I can expect my Amex bill to show a debit from Vodafone IT for ... wait for it ... 2 euro cents, most months.
OK. That's like the guy who invented some software that would transfer 1 cent from everybody's bank account to his. It was more trouble than it was worth to contest it, until I got annoyed.
I wrote to Vodafone. And I sent a registered letter, with a Google Translate version in Italian. To their registered address, to the address on the bill, to everywhere except the CEO's home address which I can't find (I did that once to General Motors, but that's another story).
And now every month or two, when I get that 2-cent charge, I protest it to Amex. And they credit my account. But because it's just 2 cents I think Amex keeps eating it, and I think I'll have this problem forever. Even though the Amex card in question expired years ago.
Sorry for the rant. But be warned. At least Orange CH has never sent me a bill. (In fact I never used it because where we stay there is a tendency for our iPhones and for our iPads to connect with French cells and charge roaming fees (OK I discovered how to stop that) and anyway there's so much free WiFi now.) Also, while I have a NATEL prepay iPhone (for people to call who don't care what they are paying, or for my banks to send codes to) it's actually cheaper for me to use my UK iPhone in Switzerland. And to have my US callers transferred to one or the other. Usually my Cablecom app or my Vonage app both of which are fantastic but the Cablecom one is really so.
Last edited by Caryl; 27.04.2015 at 19:55.
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