Using a US cellphone in foreign countries is prohibitively expensive.  For this reason we brought an unlocked GSM cellphone.  We planned to buy prepaid SIM cards in each country where we would stay for a long time.  We also brought a SIM card from GymSIM that offers discounted international calling around the world, so we could use that for the shorter hops.  Since Gina loves her iPhone, we signed up for a special plan from AT&T for international calling.  We also set up a service called RingCentral that would forward my cellphone number from the USA to whatever random, low-cost SIM cellphone number we were using at the moment, so we could always be reached with a single number.  Finally we installed Skype on all our laptops.

What actually happened?  As the trip commenced we discovered that we were so busy and made so few voice calls, that it was not worthwhile to buy local SIM cards at each stop.  We just used the GymSIM for the odd mobile call, and placed almost all our calls from our hotel room through Skype.  Using Skype you can videocall for free, and you can call normal phones anywhere in the world for something like 2 cents per minute.

In France however we knew that it would be too expensive to use the GymSIM (even discounted it is still almost $1 per minute) and we wanted the convenience of mobile phones as well as mobile Internet access.  So it was time to select a prepaid SIM card from a French carrier.  The choices were Orange, Bouygues and SFR.   I chose Orange, the mobile phone company of France Telecom.  They appear by volume of advertising to be #1 in Paris and they have stores everywhere.  I went into one store and although the wait was an hour long, they were able to give me a prepaid SIM card with voice and data access.   The rate was reasonable, especially if you made a large prepayment.

After the first week, we realized that the charges to Gina’s iPhone were racking up at an astonishing speed, despite the AT&T international plan.  We were calling to each other and she was calling many different vendors and agencies.  The bill was already hundreds of dollars.  So I returned to get another prepaid SIM card for her along with a low-cost cellphone. 

Finally we were done? 

Well, after three weeks of flawless service, Orange began sending my phone a text message every night at midnight (causing it to beep all night until I learned to turn off the beep).  The message said “Please come to one of our stores or we will turn off your phone in 21 days.”  Huh?  After a few days I walked into a store, waited the obligatory hour, and spoke to the Orange person.  He looked at the message for about 60 seconds, punched three digits into the phone and said with absolute confidence “You can ignore the messages, it is fine” and sent me on my way. 

That night I once again got the late-night text from Orange.  Beep.  We were now down to about 8 days and I had an ominous feeling.  I poked my head into an Orange store the next day but saw an even longer line… and walked past. 

Finally the 8^th day came and my phone stopped working.  Every time I dialed out, it played a longwinded message.  But I still had some connectivity.  If anyone called me, it sent me a text message that said “A caller tried to call you.”  No caller ID information however.  After a few days I had a dozen messages like that. 

Visiting the store had not worked.  The personnel obviously were not well trained.  I downed a coffee, mustered my best French, crossed my fingers, and dialed Orange customer service.  It recognized my number and said that my phone had been turned off and it was necessary to go to an Orange store. 

The next day I went to another Orange store – long wait – after which I was told a central line they needed to call was down, so there was nothing they could do.  I should try again another day.  Au revoir.  Another day I was walking down the street and noticed an Orange store with a short line!  I ducked in, and they said only the original store where I had registered the service could help me.  At this point I was ready to walk away from Orange forever, but I had already told a number of people my local number.  Also I had opened the account with $100 prepayment to get the best rates, and most of it was left.  I wanted badly not to give a free $100 to Orange. 

Finally I made it back to the original store.  A lady explained my identification had not been properly entered.  She did not explain why the problem had started only after three weeks of service.  I despaired of asking her in French.  I fantasized they were systematically disrupting the cellphones of foreigners.  Could this be some elaborate anti-terrorism measure?  I proudly displayed my passport and other identification papers – I was legit.  She entered the data and handed me back the phone. 

“Will it work now?”  “Oui of course” “Hmmm.  Why isn’t it working yet?”  “The system needs time to process the change.  It will start working soon.”  This was a Saturday. 

By Monday it still did not work.  Back to the original Orange store.  Thank goodness it was just a few blocks from home.

The man there reviewed the changes the lady had made and said they were all in order.  “But then why not working my phone?” is probably what I said.  “Of course your phone would not start working over the weekend” he replied. I swear, this sentence makes sense in French.  I nodded along.  “You have to wait until later today, but don’t forget, you have to turn your phone completely off and on again, so it resets.”  Ahhh.  But of course hours later… it made not one bit of difference.

Where do you think I was on Tuesday?  Yes, back to the Orange store, confronted with yet another retail person. “Five times sir!  Five times I have come to the Orange store!  Please sir, help me.”  I had practiced this in French all morning.  My intonation was spectacular.  His eyes widened.  He sighed.  He picked up his phone and called Orange.  We waited ten minutes together, listening to American jazz.  Finally the phone rang and a voice gave him instructions.  He shook his head woefully.  He hung up and typed on my computer record.  I am not sure, but I thought he changed my home address to be the address of the Orange store itself.  Seconds after his keypress, my cellphone resumed function (without a restart).  I thanked him and fled.  The problem never affected Gina’s cellphone and hopefully never will.

NOTE:  This picture is from the Internet.