Dual Number GeoSIM Now Available
 

The new Dual Number GeoSIM is now available.

The SIM has a UK and US number with free incoming calls in the US.

To compare with the standard SIM online at www.globalsimcard.co.uk/which_sim.php

MrEd:

I believe you mean free incoming calls in the U.S. are only calls to the UK number. Calls received on the U.S. number cost 25 cents per minute.

Receive calls for FREE in USA when UK number called

Dual IMSI SIM | FREE incoming calls USA | Roaming in USA | GeoSIM International SIM Card | Global SIM Card

I saw a few things on their web site. They do charge 25 cents for calls made to the U.S number. "If the caller dials your Geosim’s US number an additional charge of $0.25 per minute will be incurred."

And they also have a fair usage requirement. Do companies with a fair usage policy have an exact ratio that some computer monitors? Is 50/50 considered fair? What about 70/30? Or ??

"15.2 Fair Usage. The usage of the SIMcard and any of its calling systems is expected to be a fair balance between free incoming calls, chargeable incoming calls and chargeable outgoing calls. Excessive volume or duration of only free incoming calls or free call forwarding, determined at Geodesa's discretion, acting reasonably, will constitute abuse."

Geosim, which one is it $0.25 or $0.35. See excerpt below:

If you have friends, customers or clients in the US, they can conveniently call your US number on the SIM cheaply. If someone calls your US number, you will be charged $0.35 per minute in addition to any existing incoming call charge on our rate sheet. For example, if you are in Europe you will be charged $0.35 per minute to receive the call as there is no incoming call charge in Europe on our standard rate sheet. However, if they call on your UK number, you still receive for free.

looks like more and more companies are hidding this in their terms whilst it should be mentioned as part of the service.

I see that travelsim.co.uk has updated their terms also using this fair use where you are left at their mercy if they want to cut you off.
I would really like to know what the limit is, do you give a warning or do you cutoff someone whenever you lie or give then a change to improve.
What is the timegframe this usage is measured on 1 3 6 12 month time /

Just looked at ekits website and don't see those fair use terms. They are also offering dual sim so maybe they are the answer to these terms.
on ebay.co.uk you can get a sim card four 10 pounds having 5 pounds credit, also being used in the us.
on ebay.com you can get one for $20 having $10 credit, seem like a good deal and lower price than above offer.

On travelsim website I noticed a $1.5 per month charge to keep the us number active.

I will order one soon for ekit

Bbob:

I also noticed the GeoSIm requires an annual fee to keep the SIM and your credit alive.

"Is There An Annual Renewal Fee? Yes. A nominal annual fee of £11.91 + VAT is charged." (That's about $20 U.S. )

Personally, I would rather pay $10-$20 to a company like Ekit in the form of a recharge credit to keep my SIM working for another 15 months rather than paying a $20 annual fee that added nothing to my prepaid account.

On ebay, you can get a dual US/UK sim card for $9 with $3 shipping....it seems to have everything the more expensive one has and is far cheaper than geosim...19¢ to receive a call on the US number in Europe as opposed to 20p.....no further annual fee...nothing about fair use.....and ekit has been around for a while.

Given my druthers, that's the direction I would go..

(Question for those in the know...why would you get the European sim card from ekit as offered on ebay ($20+$3 shipping)...as opposed to the US simple ($9 + $3 shipping...I just dont see the advantage of the former unless I am missing something (which happens with me all the time BTW)

I did see an ekit card on ebay $5 but that had incoming for free only in 3 or 4 countries. It did have the usa number.

The $20 offer seemed to be a normal card free incoming in many countries.

This is the link to the uk ebay: International Travel Global SIM Card - call from 49c/m! on eBay (end time 21-Aug-09 16:55:46 BST)

The $9 US sim card on ebay has a dual number, lists all the same countries for free receiving of calls as the $20 card. As I pointed out in another thread, it omitted the fact there is a 19¢ charge to receive calls in Europe which come in on the US number but I just don't see any difference between that card and the other "foreign" ekit card.

Go to ebay USA, do a search for ekit sim card and see what I mean. But again, there might be something I'm missing.

Depends on the primary point of usage. On the US-EKIT card the rates within the US are cheaper, on the EU-EKIT-Card the rates within EU countries are cheaper...

Chris

Why do people keep changing the subject to discuss different products on the wrong threads? Would you visit a friend's house and then talk to someone else who came, but totally ignore the hosts? Shall I spilt the thread and move some posts?

Just to point out thet Geosim has updated their website to reflect thast it's $0.25.

If you have friends, customers or clients in the US, they can conveniently call your US number on the SIM cheaply. If someone calls your US number, you will be charged a £0.15 ($0.25) per minute surcharge in addition to any existing incoming call charge on our rate sheet. For example, if you are in Europe you will be charged £0.15 ($0.25) per minute to receive the call as there is no incoming call charge in most European countries. However, if they call on your UK number, you still receive for free.

Some things worth noting and checking when comparing GeoSIM and eKit. As with all such products, all have their particular merits and may be more suited to some customers and not others.

From our review:

There is a $0.35 connection fee on all inbound and outbound calls (even when called on the +44 number). Although I'm not sure if that this applies in free inbound countries.

Calls to mobiles from EU countries such as Bulgaria are as high as $1.19 per minute plus $0.35 connection charge.

There is a $0.40 USD per minute surcharge when you make a call to a cell phone (does not apply when calling to a US or Canadian cell phone). This means that if you are in Bulgaria calling a UK mobile the cost would be: $1.19 per minute plus surcharge of $0.40 per minute plus connection charge of $0.35.

Sending SMS from EU countries is $0.69.

Cost of $0.10 to receive SMS on US number.

I stand to be correct if I have mis interpreted, but leave it to potential customers to review the respective websites accordingly and to choose the SIM that is most suited to their needs.

From what I can read the connection charge does not apply to free incoming countries, this is marked clearly on the website and rate list . Just follow the *

What is important and what has changed recently is the new fair use policy that you seen to have introduced (like some others). This is only monetioned in the small print and the text itself is very unclear.

But maybe you can give us some more information on how fair use is seen. Is there a ratio, time frame, do you give warning or just disconnect.

Andy...in all due respect to you (I know you have a tough job here sometimes) I don't think any comparison between geosim and various similar cards from other companies is really off topic...perhaps comparing two different ekit cards might be so but the comparison is still being done in comparison to the geosim card. I apologize if you feel the discussion of ekit, which is a very similar product to geosim even if comparing two ekit cards is really off topic.

Thank you Mr. Ed....I still think the problem many might have with your card in your comparison is

1. The annual fee (there is none on ekit)

2. The fiar usage policy (there doesn't seem to be one on ekit)

As you say, it is helpful for potential customers to see both sides of the issue.

Good luck with your sim card.

Canada is also a sticking spot with me. eKit charges the same rates as the US. GeoSIM apparently doesn't handle Canada while running the US persona of the SIM.

Hi,

The reason that eKit do not have an annual renewal fee is that they more than recover these charges by having call set up fees on both inbound and outbound. SIM4Travel also charge a daily connection fee of 39p for this purpose. Please correct me if i am wrong but most honest users would not be in favour of this and would rather pay a very small annual fee to keep their SIM active.

People bang on about a fair usage policy. Do you not think that major MNOs like Vodafone and Orange have these in place? Subsidising free calls in certain countries costs money down all chains and i would suggest that the customers who never make outbound calls and only receive free abuse the system and are not wanted by any Global SIM Distributors, eKit included. Please rest assured that all Distributors monitor their users and all would jump from a high height on serious abuse of free inbound.

Thanks

John

A USD 35c connection fee applies to each call made (from all Zones) or received (outside Zone 1).

So there is no setup cost when receiving a call in zone1. zone 1 covers the raoming free countries including the usa.

Sure you have to look at the whole pricutre, the amount of call you make, receive and this will tell what is the best for you in the end.

Untill now fair use was not an issue but all of a sudden it was there. It's now hidden in terms and yes fair use is a problem. As you don't know what limits or rules are for fair use they can disconnect you whenever they want.
I don't care if big companies of whoever have it in their terms, it sucks. Just be honest and open and specify the limit, ratio. Tell your customers if you warn them and give them x days before they are shutdown.

So yes you can bang on fairuse because it's simply a tool to shut you down, take your money, (no refund under fair use) and they are the judge and you don't know the rules.

If you wan't to deal with those companies it's up to you. I prefer not to.

Matha:

Well said.

Oh, and the next time I visit Bulgaria I'll worry about paying a little extra to make a call. But paying an annual fee to GeoSIM is smart. Right?

My point is that for someone who uses their SIM regularly it is more viable to pay a small annual fee than pay a $0.35 set up fee for the majority of calls, both inbound and outbound. Over 365 days that $0.35 set up fee could grow into significantly more. I would suggest that any customer better off paying the set up fee and not a small annual fee would not be valued in any way by any Distributor, as the ratio of free inbound to chargeable calls would be ridiculously high.

If it were up to me, I'd set the ratio to whatever it should be, clearly specify it, then have it enforced automatically after certain conditions are met (like warnings for instance). This can be a far fairer way to solve the problem because if the fair-use rules are enforced at the distributor/carrier's discretion, some others may get more leniency than others.

adam Í can only totally agree with you. If they need some rules specify them so everyone can check themselfs if they are within the rules.

Many companies implement fair usage policies including Mobile phone, SIMs, Broadband providers etc. It is in place to protect the majority of customers and the company in question. It is not put in place to penalise fair users. Major companies such as O2, Tiscali and lots of others all have fair usage policy on many of their products or services. Few of which specify the criteria.

It would be easy to implement a fixed ratio/policy However, it does not work because a customers usage may vary over time with the type and number of calls made or received. One month they may only receive calls, the next 3 months they may make and receive calls, then the next month make lots of calls.

A reputable dealer will undoubtedly use discretion and warn/request that the cusomter they may be infringing the fair usage policy a number of times before disconnecting (in sever cases) or start to charge for incoming calls on the customers account. Where significant and blatant abuse is obvious, a dealer may decide to immediately suspend an account.

Significant abuse may also indicate other fraudulent or illegal activites.


Additionally, if a fixed fair usage criteria were in place and published, then it would have to be at such a level it would penalise genuine fair users. This impedes business and increases costs for end users. Remember that freeloaders/abusers cost, and these costs have to be bourne buy someone, which would be other fair users.

One analogy could be that, a company does not publish what checks it makes to prevent credit card fraud because this allows fraudsters the opportunity to work around them. Similarly, if a fixed fair usage policy were published, the abusers would take it to the limit. As above, that limit would have to be "high" so as not to cost the company in question too much, and so it does not inhibit fair using customers.

As you can see it is a dynamic balance that has to have some flexibility and consider many factors.

Abusers come in many forms, some are individuals, some companies including other SIM providers. Sometimes the abuse is a few hours or some times hundreds of hours per month. A fixed policy would not work for all, thus necessitating each case to be judged on its own "merits".

The saying goes, "you can't please all of the people all of the time", but most companies will do their best. There will always be a some that feel aggrieved or hard done by. Often these are the abusers themselves, who from experience know full well what they are doing and often move from company to company "abusing" as they go until the the latest "unfortunate" company finds out what hey are up to.

Ultimately, a fair usage policy is there to protect the company and therefore it's existing and "fair using" customers. Fair using customer typical agree with this approach as they want a reliable and stable service provider who is not exposed to the risk of increased costs, or companies not being able to provide the relevant service they have paid for.

I think most of us understand the general reason a company implements a Fair Usage policy.

But in their Terms, they usually have a statement that essentially says that in addition to Terminating the user account, they can also charge extra for the so called Fair Use violations. I don't like surprise charges.

GeoSIM Fair Use section says: "Geodesa reserves the right to monitor usage, to apply call charges and/or withdraw the service from any SIMcard ... "

They just have over broad requirements. They have no policy to warn a user of a potential violations. IE: a Notification and Cure provision. The ratios are a mystery. Is 49% vs. 51% a violation. Over what time period? I have been burned in the past by hidden requirements. What if they decide to charge a $2.00 a minute penalty on calls they consider violating Fair Usage rules?

What I really hate it the argument other companies are also using it. So is that a reason for you to do that same as other companies ?
If I jump from a cliff will you also do that, come on grow up and use real argument and not these.

You explained your view on fair use, saying if a limit is in place people will try and find the limit. This can be true but using fair use does not give anyone a clue, we just have to trust it's used the right way.

But to trust you we can only rely on your terms. Nowwhere in your terms do I read that for example you will fist give a warning to a customer, you can say you will but if it's not written in your terms it's just not valid and you can always refer to your terms saying it's not written there. The same really applies to everything you say that you will be tolerant or whatever. Your terms are the ones that legally bind you. In these terms it really says you are the judge and decide without telling on what ground. This almost looks like middelage justice to me.

And as fbiack even metioned you reserve the right to even charge more. This is really even taking it a step further. Also any credit is not refunded so you are also taking this away from a customer.

Aslo if you claim to be clear about your costs, write the fair use policy on your website not hidden in term. You state you have a yearly charge for the card so you are open about that but for some reason (marketing) you fail to do this for fair use, just hide it in the terms.

My only conclusion at this point is that based on your terms, I would advice no one to buy the card. The same applies to other companies having simular terms and hidding them.

So be honest, write fair use on your website and wite clear terms that are indeed fair to everyone by giving warnings and stating this in the terms. I am looking forward seeing those changes but my feeling tells me that you will not change anything because it not good for marketing. This would just make you one of the companies that just follows the rest and nothing special to consider.

See here's my problem with fair usage....

I would suspect your ads all played up the idea of roaming free in x number of countries...there was no asterisk next to it or anything like that. So people would assume there is no limit on the amount of roaming one can do within the given validity of the card.....in addition since one pays more to call a mobile under the concept used outside North America and a few other places i.e. caller pays a substantial amount more, don't you guys get a piece of that action?

Again I'm not questioning your right to do it but I also have a problem with stealing people's credit....people should always have the right if they are disconnected to get back whatever portion of their credit was left when they were severed from the network.....

JMHO

I have a real problem with the notion that what I agree to in a contract is absolutely binding ("iron clad" against me), but the other side has the right to change the terms in their sole discretion. In U.S. domestic contracts, some courts have started to balk about this. Binding arbitration clauses buried in standard terms and conditions have been tossed in Washington State and California, sole discretion clauses have been invalidated, and the ability for one side to modify the contract at will has started to fall.

I understand the objection to callback services and believe there is some legitimacy to these, but someone who tells his family to call him/her every night or texts his friends and tells them to call him is a different story. Many people get these SIMs because they are free calls to their friends in the UK (if they are on the right plan). When I used to live in Dubai, I packed a dual SIM phone for precisely that reason.

Although I understand the reason behind any FUP, I hate when the provider does not state exactly what the actual limits are...

Frankly I find it ridiculous that you can break some (intentionally vague) FUP by answering your phone! Especially when it costs the people calling you 40-50++ cents per minute using the default provider and 10-20 cents when going with the cheapest voip of today (that might not exist tomorrow).

Yes, I know the competition is fierce and everybody is throwing in freebies and sometimes you aren't prepared to pay when people actually want to have those freebies. However excuses like "FUP is there to protect fair using customers" aren't acceptable and I might add an insult to logic. Those "fair using customer" are the ones just not using the freebies you advertise and in fact the ones that are most unfairly treated because of this! If you want to be fair just charge what you have to charge and that's the end of it, it's not like we haven't seen all kinds of billing systems already.

FYI with eKit the .35 connection fee only applies in countries without free incoming. For me the thing giving eKit the nudge so far is the cheap roaming in Canada. That will allow me to ditch my Rogers SIM. I've ordered a gedoessa sim because I have some credit that I want to move to it. I'll give it a work out and report back.

What also really sucks is that these companies did not used to have fup policies before. They than change their terms and either you exept these new terms or if not you stop using the service.

If you are not willing to except the new terms nowhere can I find that I get my money back. I have both globalsimcard.co.uk and travelsim.co.uk (they also changed their terms) so there only seems to be on option now ekit.

In the end, you just want a company that is still around; with a working SIM, and not shut down and holding $50 of your cash. In my opinion, any company who starts out with rates that seem too good to be true, or onerous terms, are prone to fail.

It's hard to get references on most companies so you have to rely on their good will and customer reviews. That's one reason I like Ekit. I have had one of their SIM's for over 2 years now. They also have a very customer friendly Service Life policy. I have not seen this from many other SIM vendors.


Their web site says under Service Life "You can restore the expired credit by contacting Customer Service and recharging your account by a minimum of USD $30."

Reliability and proper financial backing are important, but there aren't many ways to know what the reality is with respect to this. United Mobile had been around for a long time, used to have good customer support, was innovative, and had a solid product. Then poof!

As you say there is no guarantee. We had yackie, maxroamd some more examples, not poof but platform problems. IOM had platform problems before.
There can be 1 conclusion, don't buy to much credit from a supplier and look at their terms because using fup they can just take away your money.

Ekit looks like a good deal, if they will still be around in 1 or 2 or 3 years you never know.

I just got my new tri-imsi geodessa card. Italy has its own roaming platform. Does anyone know why. They call it "prime."

What is the Italian identity good for and which network (via MCC-MNC) is it from?
How do you switch between identities (IMSI's)?

That identity and part of the roaming arrangements come from TIM

Is the switch between the IoM and TIM IMSIs automatic? If not, how does the end user know how and/or when to switch between identities?