Lots of good comments on last nights blog about the cell phones. Sara asked about whether an American Trac Phone works up here in Canada, she is down in Az. The answer Sara, is no… the U.S. phones do not work as soon as you hit the border, too bad, as they are a lot cheaper for Canadians.
Bill and Karen left a comment, about a nightmare of a storey with their Bell Cell Plan. The phone agent indicated to them they had a data plan for their smart phone, when in fact they didn’t, and ran up a $2,500 bill in TWO days! Yikes… One thing that I forgot to mention in last night’s blog, was that Bell made a MAJOR update to the web site, and you can easily now track your daily usage, and when my phone flips over on Oct. 28, I will be checking to make sure I do not run into the problem they had… you can go to yesterday’s comments and read their whole story.
Still up in Bracebridge today, and helped David with a whole bunch of yard work. It was raining here all morning, but we got started right after David treated me to a great breakfast out at a Family Restaurant! Thanks David!
It was cool and wet here as David makes his way to the back yard to clean up the shed… David had surgery on his arm this week, so that is why the vice-grips we needed are in his mouth! He will be flying on one wing for a while…
Now for all the full time residents of Az. and Ca. this thing below is a snow blower…
We fully serviced the John Deere Tractor for grass cutting, changing the oil, greasing and lubricating every piece on it that moves. It is now safely tucked away in the baby barn.
We also cleaned up the garage, (aka man cave) put away a bunch of stuff in the basement, and did all the good things that needed doing this time of the year.
Looks like all the work is done here, so soon will be heading south to Orillia to have dinner with my Mom. After that, it will be due south to Woodstock and back to the RV.
Till tomorrow…
I just want to clarify one thing... you said above ...
ReplyDeleteThe phone agent indicated to them they had a data plan for their smart phone, when in fact they didn’t,
That is not correct... We did have the US Data plan, We bought the $100.00 per month US data plan before leaving Ontario. (my concern was that perhaps Bell hadn't activated the plan I had purchased, that is why I called them to find out what was going on.)
On our 2nd day in the US we got the text notification that we had exceed the limits of the data plan and the charges were adding up by the minute so at that point I shut off the phone.
I am not trying to start an argument, I just want you to be very careful and not make the mistake that we did, thinking that we were covered and could use the smartphone as we do at home. I don't think I am a high data user, but some apps I have must chew through the data very quickly. I can only imagine that the weather app would be updating every minute or two as we drove along changing locations. Gas Buddy was probably updating as we approached new locations/gas stations, who knows what was running in the background that chewed through the data so quickly, but I leave all that stuff running in the background while I am in Ontario and the Bell Rep said I could leave them all running while in the US, he said this $100.00 data plan will more than cover what my current usage was.
I was just looking on the Bell site and I see the US data plan, the same $100.00 one that I purchased in June before leaving for the US. That plan covered our data usage the first few hours into the US and then we went over the limit and started incurring the per mb data charges.
I know you are going to monitor it, but be aware that the data usage does not show up on the website instantly, it will be 48-72 hours after the fact. Like us, you may incur the high charges before you even know it and before the Bell website is updated with the information you are seeking.
Good luck, because I will be most interested to know the outcome. I hope you are right and you can use your smartphone as you would at home.
Our son in Montana is fighting with his snow blower right now. He was checking it out to make sure it would run. Better to do it when the weather is still kind of nice then when there's snow everywhere. It won't start. Sure glad it's him and not us.
ReplyDeleteThat's a bummer. We'll have to figure something out for our short Canada stay!
ReplyDeleteI just read Bill and Karen's explanation..when we cross the border..we leave our Canadian phones at home and we purchased pay and talk phones for US use..yes I do miss the iphone and all the apps but to get a bill of that magnitude is sure not worth even the risk of being charged even half that!..so we play on the safe side and just say no thanks!!
ReplyDeletenow as for snow blower?..what's that for..does it work on rain?