CAUTION!!!! Digicel Phone Sim Cards from Hedo2

[firedog]

Hello to all fellow Hedonites,

Sadly, I must advise that you have to use caution setting up your cell phone while at H2.
We purchased a Digicell card and had it set up at the gift store while at Hedo2.
Back from trip and find out that Digicel sent roaming charge bill to our Verizon account for over $450.00. So much for the 1000 minutes for $20.00 dollars U.S.
I am fairly certain that the young lady at the gift shop wasn't setting me up. We had two phones fortunately we left one alone.
Moral of the story, if you switch SIM card, they still have access to your primary carrier to be able to bill at will.
Verizon states that they are being billed by Digicel even though we were not on Verizon plan for ten days while at H2.

[azcuriosity]

We had no problem with our phone on at&t. We got a card at the airport and used it. Im not sure what kind of card you purchased for a verizon phone; as far as I know verizon doesnt use sim cards in their phones. Did you have a phone that requires a sim card if not then there is no way for you to use it as a digicel phone in jamaica. It would still be using the verizon network to place calls.

[ScubaSteve]

Hello to all fellow Hedonites,

Sadly, I must advise that you have to use caution setting up your cell phone while at H2.
We purchased a Digicell card and had it set up at the gift store while at Hedo2.
Back from trip and find out that Digicel sent roaming charge bill to our Verizon account for over $450.00. So much for the 1000 minutes for $20.00 dollars U.S.
I am fairly certain that the young lady at the gift shop wasn't setting me up. We had two phones fortunately we left one alone.
Moral of the story, if you switch SIM card, they still have access to your primary carrier to be able to bill at will.
Verizon states that they are being billed by Digicel even though we were not on Verizon plan for ten days while at H2.

I can only guess that your phone IS NOT unlocked.
It is still tied to Verizon.

Did you have a Verizon SIM card in the phone to start with?
If so, what happened when you put the Digicel SIM card in?
Did you go through any unlocking process?

Did they (whomever sold you the SIM card) go through the phone, get it conected and verify and show you the minutes?


Cheers

[funlover]

so what is the best way to do it? do they have cheap digicell phones with minutes included, like a trac phone or such?

[A1Badguy]

I as well had an AT&T cell which i simply switched out my AT&T sims chip, and replaced it with a Digicell Sims Chip. No charges to At&T for International roaming. I also bought it at a digicell store not a gift shop.

As far as the Verizon cell cost, I am wondering did your phone have dual Sims capablities
and possibly when the gift store clerk helped you she did not set it up properly.Because its the sims card (Subscriber Identity Module) that has ur cells info. In this case your new Jamaican cell Number and not Your Verizon phone number. Hence making it impossible to bill your verizon cell number because the cell is transmitting the didgicell number... Just a guess on that though. It's kind of like you sell your phone you take out the sims chip the buyer puts in their sims and they now get billed for the calls.

Dual-SIM operation allows the use of two services without the need to carry two phones at the same time. For example, the same handset can be used for business and private use with separate numbers and bills; or for travel, with an additional SIM for the country visited. Using multiple SIM cards allows the user to take advantage of different pricing plans for calls and text messages to certain destinations as well as mobile data usage.

A SIM card or Subscriber Identity Module is a portable memory chip used in some models of cellular telephones. The SIM card makes it easy to switch to a new phone by simply sliding the SIM out of the old phone and into the new one. The SIM holds personal identity information, cell phone number, phone book, text messages and other data. It can be thought of as a mini hard disk that automatically activates the phone into which it is inserted.

The info below is on an inexpensive Cell phone from DigiCell
Digicel Flex J$2,350 = 27.56USD

http://www.digiceljamaica.com/en/pho...ne.php?id=5593
Alcatel - OT-208
This sleek handy mobile is simply irresistible. Cute and compact, it will perfectly fit in your hand and in your pocket. FM Radio 65K colour display SMS Flashlight

[hobosam]

The 1st step is to take the time to learn about your phone and service. Most Verizon and Sprint phones don't have a sim card slot so they can't be used with Digicell without a large charge. Some Verizon and Sprint phones can take a sim but make sure you turn off the Verizon or Sprint service on the phone so it will use the sim and not Verizon or Sprint. One way to test this call someone and ask them what number comes up on the caller ID. If your US number shows up your phone isn't setup right. Att, T-Mobile, and Cincinnati Bell are GSM carriers so they all take a sim. You need to find out if the phone is unlocked, most aren't. You can call your carrier and ask them if it's locked and have them unlock it sometimes they will unlock it for free but don't count on it. You can save yourself a call if you know someone with different GSM carrier swap sim cards and see if the phone work. If you have an iPhone you're most likely out of luck you can unlock them yourself but you have to have the right software installed. Most other GSM phones can be unlocked for a small fee from many websites but make sure to do your research. People really need to learn about their electronics if they plan on using them in any abnormal way. A little time will save you lots of money in the long run.

[firedog]

Wow! We should of asked our friends here before we ever tried Digicel. Our phone does have a SIM card, which was changed out during the process. Probably like you guys are stating, needed to have Verizon shut off, manually. Seems strange though, our bill is an add on from Digicel to Verizon. You would think Digicel would honor their SIM card and minutes. Next time, NO Phone!
See ya soon.
Thanks again for the advice.

[ColonelPanic]

Next time, NO Phone!

If you can swing it, this is absolutely the way to experience Hedo.

[hobosam]

The add on is a roaming charge.

[looonie22]

With AT&T we just added for $20 the Jamaica plan and it was prorated so it only ended up costing an additional $12.

[HedoIIIlover]

I also go NO PHONE.. nothing I can do to change things here once I am there anyway.. and the charge for the internet is not bad for the half hour we "need" it.

[sabinaandscott]

we may be old fuddy dudies...but no cell phone. We invested $$$ years ago in and answering machine to find out that those claiming to have called us, never did in the first place. Much like call display..."I called you"...sorry...nope...you never did.
Anyway...seems like research is needed before trusting a phone compny. or sales rep..also do you really need a phone that badly when on vacation???
If you do, from all the psts I've read, the best bet seems to be buy a cheap disposable in Jamaica and don;t try to switch your own phone over. If you become a Hedo regular...you can buy more minutes each time you go, savinew sometimes $100's of dollaRS.

[funlover]

we always go no phone too. if grandma needs to reach us if there is an emergency with our kids, she has the number, hoping she would never call it since it is hedo's number and we just tell her we are at superclubs negril!

[Hedobill]

I have always used our Verizon phone just as it is. You can get a 30 day calling plan from Verizon that gives you a discount on calls from Jamaica. Check with them the price is $1.99 a minute for calls back to the USA.

[Miss B Haven 2]

we were at Hedo in March.....our cell provider is Rogers back in Canada....we paid 25$ extra to set up a 1 month international service...unlimited calls and unlimited text....got our bill when we came home....no extra charges...no roaming fees....we left our phone on at all times