Talk

Talk is cheap.

Especially on the Internet. Although I have been a high tech professional for a number of years, I still sometimes find myself a very late adopter of new technology. This week I got my first real introduction to Skype. I had it before on my Mac back home and I have chatted online with it a bit, but never really dug into it as a way to make phone calls.

But now as a lowly foreigner stuck in a metropolitan area with no cell phone, Skype means a whole lot more to me. I have seen folks using it in Internet cafes while I have been on the road. I knew it was there, but didn´t feel particularly inclined to slide myself under the web of cords and microphones and headphones and monkey around with all that high tech nonsense. I have been perfectly satisfied with email and chat.

But this week I had a couple of instances where I really needed a phone but didn't have one. One was to call a guy I met who gave me his Argentine cell phone number. I couldn't get Skype to dial the number so I probably won't see that dude again unless I borrow a real phone from someone. So that was strike one for Skype.

But it really saved me today when I had to, after an extended procrastination, call AT&T to deal with my cell phone problems from back home. Remember that my phone was stolen back in Guatemala and, although I was able to suspend the account from the web, I was not able to make an insurance claim to get the phone replaced. They only have a phone number. I also wanted to strip down my service plan to make it cheaper (since I can't use it anyway) but since I had suspended the service online, they required me to call in order to make changes. On what phone!

I had one of those $4 per month things on my account so if the phone is lost or stolen, they will send me a new one. So I had to call them on two different phone numbers in order to downgrade my plan, and to make my insurance claim. I knew these calls would suck and would take forever.
I was right.

But thanks to Skype, which, after sliding under the web of cords, allows you to make phone calls for free from anywhere to U.S. toll free numbers, it didn´t cost me an arm and a leg, and I was able to surf the web while I toiled on the "phone".

AT&T on the other hand, totally screwed me. I was already really pissed about the fact they wouldn't just let me park my cell phone number for a few dollars a month and let me pick it up again when I come back home. Nope, they made me pay for a whole calling plan, the cheapest of which came out to about $60 per month with taxes and insurance attached. This for a phone I am not using at all.

Then after some more chat, I realized that I actually had a $50 deductible on the phone which I would have to pay in order to have a new one sent to me. Great.

So after going around and around with them about how I might reduce my monthly bill, I finally suggested to them, while reading their own website during the conversation, that I change my account to a pre-paid account which is a ridiculous, usurious per minute fee, but no monthly fee at all. But I am not using the phone so the crazy per minute fees don't matter. Then when I get back home, I will start a new contract with some company to be determined at that time (AT&T may be considered) and receive a brand new phone for free. No $50 needed. And I will get to keep my phone number.

Thank you Skype for making the call easy... and no thanks to AT&T, who´s best suggestion was for me to pay $230 over the next three months for a phone and account I cannot use. Now I am paying nothing and get to keep my number.

Now back to traveling.