- Thread starter DMLVT
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Cell Service
One of my sons has Verizon in the US. When he came to visit, he found that he could call from here, however, he didn't try to do so. So I don't know what it would have cost him.
I say that because I read something recently about roaming and it said that the person being described in the article could use his phone in other countries but would be charged long distance charges in the other country. Whether you would have to pay more to call the US from the DR on a Verizon cel phone than would somebody who lives in the DR and bought his phone here is something you may want to investigate.
I say that because I read something recently about roaming and it said that the person being described in the article could use his phone in other countries but would be charged long distance charges in the other country. Whether you would have to pay more to call the US from the DR on a Verizon cel phone than would somebody who lives in the DR and bought his phone here is something you may want to investigate.
DMLVT said:I have Verizon cell service in the U.S.A. If I bring my phone to the D.R. can I call back home?
I have brought my Verizon tri band phone to the North Coast and found that it dosn't work there at all. I bought a cheap $26.00 US cell phone in Puerto Plata and use a Verizon calling card to load minutes into the phone.
John
Funny thing, I use to have a Verizon phone and they wouldnt let me call the DR from the US because they said too much fraud there. If you were allowed to use it there I would have been more pissed than I was when they told that to me and I switched carriers. Verizon sucks in the US.
Scott
Scott
Yes, But
The roaming fees will probably be enough in 10 minutes to afford to go to Orange and buy the cheapest cell phone they have and load it with their card , use it and give it away when you leave, or keep it for the next trip. Frankly if you don't have to phone the USA a lot go to a calling shop, located everywhere, pay about 4-6 pesos a minute ( maybe 10) and call from a booth.
DMLVT said:I have Verizon cell service in the U.S.A. If I bring my phone to the D.R. can I call back home?
The roaming fees will probably be enough in 10 minutes to afford to go to Orange and buy the cheapest cell phone they have and load it with their card , use it and give it away when you leave, or keep it for the next trip. Frankly if you don't have to phone the USA a lot go to a calling shop, located everywhere, pay about 4-6 pesos a minute ( maybe 10) and call from a booth.
Rick is on the money
Sound advise, I have a cell in the US that works in the DR, but never use it because of the expense involved. Do what Rick says and you will come out ahead.
Charlie
ricktoronto said:The roaming fees will probably be enough in 10 minutes to afford to go to Orange and buy the cheapest cell phone they have and load it with their card , use it and give it away when you leave, or keep it for the next trip. Frankly if you don't have to phone the USA a lot go to a calling shop, located everywhere, pay about 4-6 pesos a minute ( maybe 10) and call from a booth.
Sound advise, I have a cell in the US that works in the DR, but never use it because of the expense involved. Do what Rick says and you will come out ahead.
Charlie
If you are frugal
Ask them to program the displays and the voice messages in English, as they will do that happily though last time I was there the voice prompts were not aligned with the actual options (nor in Spanish) , e.g. 2 is change password and it's really add time, 3 is time remaining but it is really something else. Quite odd, really, just try 1,2,3,4 until you find out what is what.
Still if I am right that calls to USA are only around RD$10 a minute from a Codetel/Verizon/Turitel office (or similar) , if you don't plan to make 200 minutes of calls, just go to the shops. It is handy to have a local number on a cell for people to call you in an emergency so relative to the total cost of a holiday another forty bucks might be a good idea for a lot of visitors.
Roaming is certainly not unless roaming fees have fallen but I've heard anywhere from US$1 to US$4 a minute .
And don't need a phone/camera/MP3 player, that chops, shreds, slices and dices, e.g. just a phone - you ought to be able to get a Motorola at Orange in the RD$1800-RD$2000 vicinity or even less. E.g.: US$37 or so with RD$100 Orange card included.chuckuindy said:Sound advise, I have a cell in the US that works in the DR, but never use it because of the expense involved. Do what Rick says and you will come out ahead.
Charlie
Ask them to program the displays and the voice messages in English, as they will do that happily though last time I was there the voice prompts were not aligned with the actual options (nor in Spanish) , e.g. 2 is change password and it's really add time, 3 is time remaining but it is really something else. Quite odd, really, just try 1,2,3,4 until you find out what is what.
Still if I am right that calls to USA are only around RD$10 a minute from a Codetel/Verizon/Turitel office (or similar) , if you don't plan to make 200 minutes of calls, just go to the shops. It is handy to have a local number on a cell for people to call you in an emergency so relative to the total cost of a holiday another forty bucks might be a good idea for a lot of visitors.
Roaming is certainly not unless roaming fees have fallen but I've heard anywhere from US$1 to US$4 a minute .
Escott said:Funny thing, I use to have a Verizon phone and they wouldnt let me call the DR from the US because they said too much fraud there.
Scott
Verizon told me the same thing, but I had to try it out anyway. I placed a 2 minute call from my home in Illinois to a cell phone in the DR and it worked fine. I was billed $1.30 for the call. I later tried another call and got the same result; successful call of 12 minutes for $7.80 (65 cents a minute). Obviously too expensive to use indiscriminately but OK for an emergency.
I'm gonna bring my Verizon phone with me on my next trip just to experiment a bit. Gotta satisfy my curiosity!
Swede
m65swede said:Verizon told me the same thing, but I had to try it out anyway. I placed a 2 minute call from my home in Illinois to a cell phone in the DR and it worked fine. I was billed $1.30 for the call. I later tried another call and got the same result; successful call of 12 minutes for $7.80 (65 cents a minute). Obviously too expensive to use indiscriminately but OK for an emergency.
I'm gonna bring my Verizon phone with me on my next trip just to experiment a bit. Gotta satisfy my curiosity!
Swede
I think that you will find it more expensive to call from the DR to Ill. because of the roaming charges involved. The absolutely best thing to do, if you bring your own phone, is to make sure that you have an unlocked Tri or Quad band phone and purchase a local SIM card.
Be sure that your phone is unlocked prior to leaving home. You will find that you can not get it unlocked in some of the smaller cities in the DR.
Another thing that I do is put my US number on call forward to my DR number just before I leave the States. Phone rentals are also so very inexpensive, and most auto rental agencies offer this service. $13 to $30USD per week You will have to charge the rental phone with a calling card and any local will be more than happy to help you do so.
Charlie
PS I just received my cingular bill and for me to make a call from La Romana to Indianapolis, including the roaming charge is $2.68 per min. The same call using my Orange SIM card in my US phone is $.32 per min.
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In the DR too!
In the DR too! You pre-purchase minutes but cannot get balance updates as you get with Orange, for example, so you are going it blindly. Also, your minutes are DR use only and they charge you extra for international calls.
All this you find out when your bill starts increasing AFTER you have signed
on for 18 months since they don't tell you these minor details.
Go for Orange or Centennial!
Escott said:Verizon sucks in the US. Scott
In the DR too! You pre-purchase minutes but cannot get balance updates as you get with Orange, for example, so you are going it blindly. Also, your minutes are DR use only and they charge you extra for international calls.
All this you find out when your bill starts increasing AFTER you have signed
on for 18 months since they don't tell you these minor details.
Go for Orange or Centennial!