Matrix has been advertising a lot about their Multi country sim cards. But is it really worth going for Matrix Multi country sim card?
Points to note before buying Matrix sim card:
Buying a local sim card at destination country could be cheaper:
Similarly, when in Singapore, I picked up a SingTel sim card for 50 SGD. It came with some 42SGD worth talk time, 6 months validity and also I got a SingTel bag free. I could call India at very low rate by prefixing 001991
Local sim cards will have validity of several months 9which will extend after a recharge) and we can use same number in each trip. With matrix, number changes every time. Local sim card will also serve as Sovereign.
Related: Read all Singapore related posts
Airport charges apply on top of regular rentals
When we went to Srilanka in 2011, my first international travel, I did the mistake of buying Matrix sim card. It was just a 2 day trip and we could have managed without a sim card, but I was tempted to have a phone so that we could communicate with rest of the team. Picked up a Matrix issued Dialog SIM Card at Chennai airport. If you buy a Matrix sim card at airports, an additional amount of INR 150 + tax will be charged. Matrix representative at airport will not disclose this fact, but it will be written in small letters at bottom of the sheet.
The sim card kept looting me of my money all through the
journey, through their unsolicited schemes, forcing me to literally switch off the phone. There was No option to SAY NO to these schemes and I would get an alert stating the amount charged. No proof (like SMS) was available, hence I clicked screenshot using camera. My friend Praveen Kumar bought a local sim card in Colombo airport and he got a cheaper and trouble free deal. May be this is an isolated case and we shouldn't conclude all matrix issued sim cards will be same. But my first experience with Matrix wasn't pleasant. After this, I decided to avoid using Matrix Sim card again.
Related: Read Srilankan posts
There're a few positives using Matrix SIM
Their USA package seems cheaper than buying a local sim card. When in US, I had the option of buying a prepaid SIM for 65$ or 35$. I didn't feel the need to spend that much and managed with a US$ 10 prepaid calling card. I had to look for a payphone to use this card and it wasn't so convenient. My hotel and places in NJ didn't have a pay phone on which I could use this card. For another type of card (Cost US$ 2) I had to register first with a phone number, which again wasn't viable for me.
May be there were some other options I wasn't aware of, but Matrix US offer at $1 per day looks good. Similarly, there could be some other countries where buying a prepaid card is not cheap or not easy and matrix might be better solution.
If your office reimburses your telephone expense, matrix will work out fine, as they'll send a detailed bill. Difficult to claim otherwise.
matrix guys will come to your home/office and will give you a sim card- this is a better option than buying at airports. So next time you plan your international trip, study about availability of local sim card at your destination. If available at decent amount, it would be a better bet than matrix sim card.
Matrix also supplies data cards and ipad sims. These are not as easy to find as a regular sim card.
Also read: Using Opera browser may save your data bill
When travelling abroad, being able to call home or make local calls will be a critical requirement. Its well known that carrying our own local sim cards with international roaming will be very expensive. Because of this, companies like MATRIX have come into existence, offering pre-activated sim card of destination country, for which you pay a rental. Matrix executives claim that you’ll save a huge amount by purchasing their sim cards. This post acts as a fact finder.
Points to note before buying Matrix sim card:
Buying a local sim card at destination country could be cheaper:
Yes, international roaming will be very expensive. But this doesn’t mean that you can’t buy a sim card at your destination country. Matrix Representatives cleverly hide this aspect. Almost all countries allow visitors to buy a local sim card, usually pre-paid at airport or other places. When we went to Thailand, we picked up a preactivated sim card from our tour guide for 100 baht (INR 190). It came with some 45 baht talk time and we could manage our 5 day stay within this amount- couple of calls to India (at 1 baht per minute by prefixing 0060091) and few local calls.
if we'd opted for Matrix sim card, we would have paid minimum INR 1000 (Rs 500 rental, plus call charges as explained below + airport charge + taxes and service charges and so on. Call to India would have costed Rs 40 per minute (15THB+5THB) as against INR 2 in our local sim card. Why Matrix cards are 20 times expensive and still they claim to be cheap?
Similarly, when in Singapore, I picked up a SingTel sim card for 50 SGD. It came with some 42SGD worth talk time, 6 months validity and also I got a SingTel bag free. I could call India at very low rate by prefixing 001991
Local sim cards will have validity of several months 9which will extend after a recharge) and we can use same number in each trip. With matrix, number changes every time. Local sim card will also serve as Sovereign.
Related: Read all Singapore related posts
Airport charges apply on top of regular rentals
When we went to Srilanka in 2011, my first international travel, I did the mistake of buying Matrix sim card. It was just a 2 day trip and we could have managed without a sim card, but I was tempted to have a phone so that we could communicate with rest of the team. Picked up a Matrix issued Dialog SIM Card at Chennai airport. If you buy a Matrix sim card at airports, an additional amount of INR 150 + tax will be charged. Matrix representative at airport will not disclose this fact, but it will be written in small letters at bottom of the sheet.
The sim card kept looting me of my money all through the
journey, through their unsolicited schemes, forcing me to literally switch off the phone. There was No option to SAY NO to these schemes and I would get an alert stating the amount charged. No proof (like SMS) was available, hence I clicked screenshot using camera. My friend Praveen Kumar bought a local sim card in Colombo airport and he got a cheaper and trouble free deal. May be this is an isolated case and we shouldn't conclude all matrix issued sim cards will be same. But my first experience with Matrix wasn't pleasant. After this, I decided to avoid using Matrix Sim card again.Related: Read Srilankan posts
There're a few positives using Matrix SIM
Their USA package seems cheaper than buying a local sim card. When in US, I had the option of buying a prepaid SIM for 65$ or 35$. I didn't feel the need to spend that much and managed with a US$ 10 prepaid calling card. I had to look for a payphone to use this card and it wasn't so convenient. My hotel and places in NJ didn't have a pay phone on which I could use this card. For another type of card (Cost US$ 2) I had to register first with a phone number, which again wasn't viable for me.
May be there were some other options I wasn't aware of, but Matrix US offer at $1 per day looks good. Similarly, there could be some other countries where buying a prepaid card is not cheap or not easy and matrix might be better solution.
If your office reimburses your telephone expense, matrix will work out fine, as they'll send a detailed bill. Difficult to claim otherwise.
matrix guys will come to your home/office and will give you a sim card- this is a better option than buying at airports. So next time you plan your international trip, study about availability of local sim card at your destination. If available at decent amount, it would be a better bet than matrix sim card.
Matrix also supplies data cards and ipad sims. These are not as easy to find as a regular sim card.
Also read: Using Opera browser may save your data bill
3 comments:
Gifts have the magical power to change any atmosphere or any mood. Imagine someone missing you, and a simple gift can melt the distance between two hearts within seconds. Sweet memories are the ones we always cherish, and gifts reinforce the cherishing further. Visit www.hongkongfloristshop.com for more details.
Relationships are the mainstay of our life, and it gives us the reason to cheer about life. Whenever you experienced something significant, readily you rushed to your loved one to tell them about it. After all, sharing of enjoyment increases it further. Visit www.germanyflowershop.com to experience the way of sharing your sentiment.
hmmmm...now i know the full story on matrix )
http://sushmita-smile.blogspot.in/
Post a Comment