New phone anyone?

PHONES: Why does everything have to be so complicated? Photo: Shutterstock

ONE of my neighbours wanted a new phone and sim card, as all they have now is a UK one. So I volunteered to take them to sort it out.
Well, what a nightmare! I watch UK TV and often see this stuff sold in big supermarkets for £10. You can get a great deal covering messages, calls and data, so I imagined it would be same here. After all this time of living here I should really know better.
We went to every ‘phone store in the shopping mall and all the major ones tried to explain you can have this or that for one price, but if you have this that and the other you have to pay a different price. And if you want just this and the other or that and the other it can’t be done. Then there are the ‘phones themselves.
One store told us that you can get a ‘phone for €19. This was a great price but, of course, it’s not a smart phone so you couldn’t use any of the apps that give you free international calls or messages like WhatsApp. Why does everything have to be so complicated?
We found one shop, that is not part of a major ‘phone company, and they had a selection of tariffs with companies I’ve never heard of but there were too many options. We saw one that was quite interesting but the saleswoman couldn’t explain the deal on that one.
Why not? Because she only represented the other two companies and therefore, we needed to speak to someone else. I had, by now, lost the will to live and decided that we would give up, which we did. But, as we were leaving, we bumped into another neighbour who asked what we were doing.
We duly explained the predicament and they said, ‘Why don’t you use the community package supplied by the company that deals with all the Wi-Fi and telecommunications?’ ‘Sorry what?’ ‘Yeah, for €20 a month you can get a house ‘phone with free calls and a mobile package that will amply cover all your needs.
Oh well, I got a nice morning out with good company and some lunch. Oh, and by the way everyone, if you have lived here for over a year get rid of your UK phone number and let everyone who cares know you have a new Spanish contact number
Email: mikesenker@gmail.com

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Mike Senker

Grumpy Old Man Mike Senker provokes laughter and some groans with his spot on observations of life in the modern age.

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