cell phone

I hardly use my cell phone but would like to have it in case of emergency. I did not like the idea that my credits were gone after two months. I heard that this has changed. Is it true that you can now buy for $200 mx worth of minutes and they don't steal them from us any longer.

Also, with the new rules with Telmex phone calls, is it true that I won't have roaming fees if I call another state with my cell phone.

Anyone knows the answer to those questions? Please?

I buy 50 pesos each 30 days.
If I do not, the balance is not lost, but can be reclaimed with another purchase.
This apparently is good for 6 months.
The problem with not renewing each 30 days is that I can not make calls.
But I can receive calls.

Thank you for your response.

So nothing has changed except that we can top up for $50 pesos good for one month. I used to buy for $200 pesos worth and after two months I couldn't use my phone anymore even after making only two calls. I don't mind the $50 pesos for one month.

The Cell phone issue has changed in Mexico. Your Cell balance is not going to be lost!

The credits always expire after two months. You have to add more credits to be able to make calls and re-activate the old credits that didn't get used from the previous two months. If you want something that never expires you will need to sign up for a monthly plan.

Remember that you do not loose your Saldo Amigo balance after the expiration date, but should you have built up a Regalo balance, you loose that.

$50 persos for one month is OK, but why not $100 or more for two months.
And should you have a screen on your cell phone, dial *133# and you will see any balance you might have and the expiration date, to include Saldo Amigo, Regalo, Sorpresa SMS etc

It depends on how much you use your cell phone.
At 50 pesos for 30 days I have accumulated 300+ pesos of unused time.
I tend to use up the time when I use my phone NOB.
Pay as you go is a great deal here in Mexico.

Under the new telecom law starting in 2015 credit lasts 1 year

the problem is that I don't use my phone. It's just good to have in case of emergency or occasional calls that I might receive if a friend can't reach me at home.

I did not know we could buy $5 pesos at a time. So the minimum per month is not so much. I don't care to accumulate regalo minutes as I'll never use them. It's just that I thought $200 pesos was too much to be cut off after two months. And I was not sure if that policy had changed with the new rules lately.

Bob says it's two months and Pete says it's one month. Is it $50 for one month and $100 for two months?

Thank you, guys. I'll go and buy credits this week. They'll hopefully tell me the truth. I was always charged $200 pesos and was never told about losing my minutes. I found hard the hard way--the only time I needed to make a call and my minutes were gone.

P.S. Okay, I just saw your answer Intercasa. That's what I thought I heard. That's why I was asking. Is that good for $5 pesos credits.

Minimums are usually 30 to 50 pesos credit purchase

Three days ago I added 100 pesos to my phone as it was out of credit. I received 50 pesos regalo credit and the message says expiration will be sometime in August. ???

If I remember correctly 30 pesos gets you 2 weeks to phone out $50 pesos one month and I know $100 pesos 2 months to be able to phone out and as intercasa says should you go over that time you have the a year before your Saldo or balance is lost, what is lost earlier is the time given as a benefit or gift when you buy say 200 pesos or 500 pesos of time.

At the end of Dec, I put in 500 pesos. I was given an increased balance of $500 but also a Regalo or gift of I think $400 additional for a total of $900. should I not renew by the 25th of February I will not loose what I have left of my $500 pesos for apparently a year, but I and others at the computer club who were experimenting lost what we had left of our Regalo balance. Now that was at the end of 2014, and was a new change, but just maybe as of this year we would not have lost the Regalo either.

I slap down 300 pesos every 2 months and never give it another thought. This is a fraction of what I paid for the same cell service in Vancouver. Up there you had to pay a minimum $75 cdn per month for a smart phone.

My biggest problem is that Telcel is now offering very fast, for lakeside 4G internet speed for your cell phone. I got 13.89 down by 14.52 Mbps up using the OOKLA speed test app on the front porch, and I have seen over 22 or 23 Mbps down when testing near the LCS. And boy does that eat into my internet balance.

I turned off my cell connection to the internet on my iPhone just went back to WiFi supplied by Telmex to my cell etc where I only get around 8.5 to 9.5 down by around 0.8 up which is more than I need anyway. Should I connect directly to my WiFi router, I get



which is more than enough. Yet just playing around my Regalo, not my Saldo went down by about 10 pesos.

I tried to send a copy of a picture showing some of the Telcel packages but failed therefor I DELETED my failed attempt. Sorry

CanuckBob wrote:I slap down 300 pesos every 2 months and never give it another thought. This is a fraction of what I paid for the same cell service in Vancouver. Up there you had to pay a minimum $75 cdn per month for a smart phone.

What I lost before was everything. I made no call at all. I never used that phone but when I wanted to (after two months) i had no time left. So, the $200 peosos that I had paid was completely gone after two months of not using my minutes. That's why, it got expensive for people who did not make calls (or just once in a while).

If you do not use your phone at all for six months, Telcel will cancel your balance.
Just use it once a month to call someone and you should be OK.

la luna wrote:

CanuckBob wrote:I slap down 300 pesos every 2 months and never give it another thought. This is a fraction of what I paid for the same cell service in Vancouver. Up there you had to pay a minimum $75 cdn per month for a smart phone.

What I lost before was everything. I made no call at all. I never used that phone but when I wanted to (after two months) i had no time left. So, the $200 peosos that I had paid was completely gone after two months of not using my minutes. That's why, it got expensive for people who did not make calls (or just once in a while).

TelCel may have a plan that is for minimal use. Go and see them.

Telcel has an "Amigo" plan which costs 100 pesos for two months. Minutes are accumulated. Ideal for people like me who just want them for emergencies and occasional use.

First as gringal stated the Amigo plan is the most economical plan available. And should you make almost no calls and should you built a carry forward balance of hundreds or thousands of pesos  you can always transfer your excess time to someone you know who also has the same plan and maybe you might even get your friend to pay you for that extra time (money) you transfer to him or her.

Remember though that the money transferred goes from your Saldo balance to a regalo balance on the phone that received your gift. Which means your friend still has to pay at least $50 pesos for one or $100 pesos for 2 months to keep your account active.  

Playing around with my 4G connection today, I lowered my regalo by several hundred pesos. There are many who could use extra time even if it is now labled regalo because we surf the net sometimes via Telcel, not WiFi.

And if you do surf the net via Telcel there are other plans offered by Telcel, that might save you money

MexicoPete wrote:First as gringal stated the Amigo plan is the most economical plan available. And should you make almost no calls and should you built a carry forward balance of hundreds or thousands of pesos  you can always transfer your excess time to someone you know who also has the same plan and maybe you might even get your friend to pay you for that extra time (money) you transfer to him or her.

Remember though that the money transferred goes from your Saldo balance to a regalo balance on the phone that received your gift. Which means your friend still has to pay at least $50 pesos for one or $100 pesos for 2 months to keep your account active.  

Playing around with my 4G connection today, I lowered my regalo by several hundred pesos. There are many who could use extra time even if it is now labled regalo because we surf the net sometimes via Telcel, not WiFi.

And if you do surf the net via Telcel there are other plans offered by Telcel, that might save you money

I have vast accumulated pesos on my account and wanted to transfer a bunch to a friend, but was told you could only transfer 100 at a time.

The amount has gone up over the years and it might be as much now as $200 to $500 pesos per time, I don't remember. There is also a very small charge for each transfer, something like 2 to 4 pesos again I don't remember. I do know that you could transfer the maximum amount each time and soon have transferred quite a bit. Is there a time limit between transfers, gosh I can't remember. Shall sign into my Telcel account and see if I can find the answer, something that might take me more time than someone who reads better Spanish than I.

I tried looking up the answer and I would rather confirm what I think I read on line at the local Telcel outlet. I don't want to post false information. More Monday or Tuesday

I checked while I was at the Telcel office today, for their interpretation of the new regulations. Things are changing and there is some confusion.

You can gift or transfer up to 200 pesos to a friend per call. Your friend will receive up to 3 or 5 pesos less dependent upon how much you transfer from your Plan Amigo to your friend.

Now the confusing thing is that it would appear that the receiving person only has ten days to use this time before it goes away, which didn't used to be the case

So using the code 7373 and the persons number you want to send the money to you are able to transfer from 5 or 10 pesos up to $200 pesos per call to your friends.  Exactly how do you do this, I don't remember, but most any teenage could show you how.  Good luck. And it will be real simple to do, once you learn how. The only trouble is I don't remember how. :)