Another Challenging Day with Cell Phone Companies

Our saga of sorting out which cell phone company to use continues. After much difficulty with one of the companies we were recommended to contact the Consumer Rights Organization in Israel. It took quite a few tries to send the information but finally it looked like it went through on our side. In the meantime, with another billing date approaching we looked into other companies. Finally we decided to make a move. All sounded good until the SIM cards arrived and we had to begin the process to activate the SIM cards and transfer from one cell phone company to the new one. We felt like guinea pigs being sent from person to person and pillar to post. For some reason there was a problem that they could not understand.

Finally in desperation we did what perhaps we should have done to begin with. We had been at it for hours, losing precious time which we needed for work and other important tasks. So, I put some coins in a Tzeddakah box in the merit of some Tzaddikim that we might be freed to focus on what we need to do instead of this crazy distraction. At the end of the day, finally we succeeded with half of the process and have more to do next week. Giving Tzeddakah definitely helped, there was a sudden break through just after putting the coins in the Tzeddakah box. 

Our lessons for today have been: - we are not sure that any of the cell phone companies are Yashar (straight, honest) and easy to work with. Each of them have a way to waste time and charge hidden fees. Perhaps all of this is a test from Shamayim to waste our time in mundane, useless tasks that don't get us anywhere is to force us to turn to Hashem and appeal for the time to involve ourselves in Torah, Tefillah, Tzeddakah and the tasks necessary to leading a Torah lifestyle in Eretz Yisrael. After all, it is due to our turning away from the Torah path in the Holy Land that has lead to our Exile.

- Next lesson has been that when you are making Aliyah, you need to have a budget for wasted time and wasted hidden costs. The only thing that might help to reduce this is giving Tzeddakah to appropriate reliable causes with a Tefillah to be free to lead the lifestyle G-d wants us to here in the Land where we belong.

I wish everyone much success in the journey to settle in Eretz Yisrael. There are many stresses and many challenges but at the end of the day, each time that you succeed or get past one of these major road blocks, you achieve enormously. If you can manage to continue living in Eretz Yisrael despite all these frustrations, then you have really succeeded.

Have a blessed day. Looking forward to honest service providers.

Shoshanah Shear

Chessed Ve'Emet

Exploring Cell Phone Contracts in Israel

We have had a little difficulty with our cell phone package and hence have been looking into other options. These are our findings so far.

Golan gives a number of options for packages, their big draw card for many is that it gives a service to 56 countries and 10 Giga. They do offer unlimited SMS and calls within Israel too. The contract is supposed to be for a year. If you sign up as a couple there are times that they suddenly alter one of the contracts to be only 5 months and you will have to pay NIS 49 to have a rate that suits you and you then lose being linked to the other party in the couple. About a month before the contract is due to expire you have to go online, check any special deals and call many times to find out the best price for a contract. In order to have the contract price that you want you have to pay a fee of NIS 49. If you go with Golan, calling to speak to a representative can take hours. They give an option to have a representative call you back but this can take days before you get the phone call. Golan at times has a limit of a few days to activate your card. If you do not activate on time, your contract is automatically put up to NIS 99 and you have to pay a penalty of NIS 120 in order to get the contract you originally arranged.  At the end of a year contract there is a fee of NIS 49 per line. However, this often ends up being at all different times of the year, not together if you sign up as a family. Hence you have to be well organized in documenting the time of the year and spend time constantly checking special deals. Every time you wish to switch to a special deal is at a fee of NIS 49

There is a company called Annatel that offers contracts of NIS 49 per month for a year and at the end of the year you are locked into paying NIS 99 per month with no option to alter this from what I understand.

Rami Levi offers unlimited phone calls and SMS in Israel and the option of either 1Giga, 5 Giga or 10 Giga. There are no overseas calling options. There are also no family deal options. The 5 Giga will be a cost of NIS 25 a month and the 10 Giga at a cost of NIS 50 a month. At the end of the year, in order to keep to the contract price you have arranged you have to pay a one time NIS 29 per line.

To call Rami Lavi took about 5 minutes to have someone answer.

Hot Mobile offers unlimited calls, SMS and MMS in Israel; 5 Giga and options for calls to 31 countries. They have a special deal for a couple and if you are a couple plus another family member there is a further special package rate. Hot Mobile offers delivery of SIM cards to your door at no extra charge and gives you a month to activate the SIM. At the end of the year there is the same need to check packages about a month before the contract will end. The one time fee to keep the contract you are on is NIS 39 per line. Hot was quite easy to get through to and the person was very kind and helpful. That part was a pleasure. When I told her I am an Olah and speak Hebrew but request her to speak slowly, she was happy to do so.

These are our findings thus far. If anyone has other info to add, please do so in the comments below. Please note, comments are moderated to prevent SPAM.

Shoshanah Shear

Chessed Ve'Emet

How to Purchase Cell Phone Accessories in Israel

Technology is a reality and often a necessity for work, communication and safety. So how do you know where and what to purchase? We have a few tips for you when purchasing cell phone accessories, cell phones / mobile phones too.

1) Do your research. Go online and look up whether a model, brand or accessory is popular and why. If it is not popular in Israel, the reason for this is very important and will help you to decide whether the purchase will be in your best interest or not. Regarding cell phone accessories, in addition to popularity, look into whether the item will meet your needs. 

2) Shop around for best prices. If a store says "this is the best price in town and you will really need it," shop around to find out whether the information they give you is true. 

Here is an example. We were told in a certain store that the covers they were selling for the mobile phone was the best available and the best price. Was it? We took a few hours and wandered around in downtown Jerusalem and found covers that did a better job at more than half the price.

What is the lesson? Do your homework. It might be that you find a better item at a better price. Remember, when it comes to the cover for the mobile phone, selecting the right one can mean the difference between your phone sliding out and dropping, causing you the additional cost of repairs too, to being safely held in place so that dropping or falling is very unlikely.

So make it a habit to do your research and shop around. Once you have all the correct information, you can make an informed decision and the most appropriate purchase for YOUR needs.

Have a blessed week

Shoshanah Shear

Chessed Ve'Emet

How Well Do You Know Your Cellphone Contract and Its Costs (in Israel)?

You may be aware that the cellphone industry in Israel is currently experiencing its most competitive times ever. There is at least one new provider entering the market - adding to the huge competition between Orange, Cellcom, Rami Levy, Golan and Pelephone. There are various deals - each claiming to be better than the next. But do you really know what is going on and what you'll end up paying for your monthly contract?!

A few months ago we were highly encouraged to join Golan. Golan offer a fantastic deal where for one price - you are able to call to 55 international countries and get yourself up to 6GB of Internet roaming data. What's more, if you sign up for two lines at once, you end up getting your second contract at less than half the price of the first - all for a one year period. Sounds too good to be true? It probably is! Not because of what it looks like - but because of what it could actually cost - as time goes by!

When we approached the Golan stand in Malcha Mall a few months ago, we ourselves were conned with their fancy sales-pitch talk. Indeed, the laptop of the salesman is open displaying how many hundreds of thousands of clients are currently joining Golan, with the counter increasing on at least a one minute basis! The deal was also clearly visible - as you'll see it on their site www.golantelecom.co.il. For ₪59 you'll get a line that gives you free calls to landlines and mobile lines within Israel as well as 55 international countries (mostly landlines only) as well as free SMS's - and everything else the line has including 6GB Internet roaming. In the small print - you'll see you can get another line for just ₪26 with the same package apparently all for a year - at least that's what we saw and what we were told by the physical salesman standing in front of us. But that's probably why it's in the small print!

After signing up for the contract, it was clear on the salesman's laptop that the second line would only last for 5 months - not an entire year - after which we would need to pay ₪99 a month for that second line - an amount we were never prepared to pay (and had clearly told him.) The competition is steep and it was not necessary to have to pay this amount for what we needed. We were however quite happy with the year offer as presented to us.

When we mentioned this to the salesman he explained to us that only those who are not prepared to work at their contact regularly pay more(!) When asked for an explanation, he told us that all we needed to do was to call them at the 5 month period and set up a new contract and we would be back on track with the cheaper contract - no additional or hidden costs. As long as you keep track and watch that you don't fall into a new contract with a new amount - but instead phone to update and let the company know you are not prepared for the ₪99 deal - they will restructure the contract to reflect the smaller amount again.

5 months later, we did indeed make the call, only to be told that we were lied to. In fact, we could indeed change the contract to a cheaper one (and not lose out on having to pay for the ₪99 line) but that it would also cost us an extra ₪49 because we had reneged on the original contract! When I told the saleslady on the phone that this is not what the original salesman had said, she apologised, but kept to her word. At the end of the day, it was clear, the contract that had been accepted was by far not what had been told or sold to us.

While I have enjoyed using the Golan contract overall, the recent behaviour and the show of fibs and secrecy of the real contract has sadly made me question them as an honest company I wish to continue with. The competition is steep - and there's no reason to have to be stuck with a company not prepared to be honest - at least at the outset.

While this behaviour was unexpected from Golan - we had experienced similar behaviour from Cellcom after being told that the phones we received together with the contract (many years ago when such things were possible when signing up for a three year contract) - would be free! It was again salesman talk - and it was only when we received our first bill that we realised that not only was there a charge for the cellphones - but the charge far exceeded anything we had expected for a phone of the quality we had received!

Is there corruption within the cellphone market in Israel in general? Why is there a need for the dishonesty presented?

Do you know what your contract is actually costing you? Are you aware of the additional, hidden costs that crop up every now and again when you least expect it?

Have you had good service from your cellphone company and happy with your contract? Please write to us and let us know. Good service should well be rewarded, and we'd be delighted to share the good work of good and honest companies in Israel. We definitely need to promote and support those who are upfront and honest - from the start!

Phone and Internet Contracts in Israel: Revise Yours Regularly and Save Bigtime!

In Israel, there is a fierce war in the world of communication. Everyone is fighting for your business. When it comes to your phone and Internet contracts, there are a number of very large companies that will do whatever it takes to get your business. One of the phenomena in Israel is the situation of regularly receiving calls from some of the bigger companies Cell C, Orange etc. enticing you to use their service - after all, almost everyone has a cellphone and an Internet connection today. They're assured some success! 

When the call comes, you can be sure that the salesman on the other side will do everything he can to get your business. So much so, if you're of the softer kind of person with good manners, you may find yourself simply not being able to say goodbye. Rest assured, you probably will not be able to - unless you take the deal offered! Otherwise, you'll probably have to hang up at some point in time! One can only wonder why these people are not employed by the banks, giving as much enthusiasm at getting you to buy your own home in Israel - and assisting you with this too! 

So what does this all mean - and translate to, in practical terms? It means that you should never feel the obligation to be stuck with a cell phone or Internet contract for any particular length of time or just because that's how things are! Rather, keep a vigilant look around you all the time and enquire of special deals regularly. Calling the main companies once every 6 months at least - if not more often - may end up saving you a lot of money in the long run! In addition, even if you don't save - you may find yourself with a better phone, a faster Internet connection or a variety of other fancy advantages for the same price you are now paying for your current service!

On the cell phone market there are currently a variety of excellent offers. From the Kosher phone contracts giving you a simple phone that is able to make outgoing calls and accept incoming calls only - at very cheap rates with a fixed amount of free talk time to other Kosher phones and landlines (usually 600 minutes), to contracts which offer the best of smartphones and free unlimited talk time as well as free calls to many countries overseas - there's a great variety of options out there. If you're serious about choosing something which you know is going to last you some time - and be worth it - take off an hour or so and give each of the providers a call asking them what they have to offer. The point you should never forget - is to always sound disillusioned with the available choice and costs (since there is someone you just heard about with a cheaper deal) and put that forward to them! Once you do that, you'll stand in line to be able to get the contract choice you really do want - and at a cost far cheaper than you would have received initially had you simply gone with the option they offered you!

On that note - use this same technique in bringing down the amounts for a current deal you have. There's no need to have to switch providers all the time. On the contrary - if you are happy with who you have already, do everything you can to stay with them, but still get the discount you want! Do some homework every few months (at least once every 6 months) and find a better deal. Then call your current provider and tell them how upset you are, but you simply must leave them. 

Don't worry, they're very sympathetic (because they want your business) and will  now do everything they can to keep you! That's when they'll tell you that you really should have called them earlier because they have had some super duper new deal going on and it's only because they've been so busy with it - that they hadn't called you yet! Now that they have you on the line, they'll share it all with you and get you to "sign" on the dotted line right away. In fact, before the hour is over, you'll suddenly find your current deal bettered by some 20% or more off your current price, or you'll have a faster line, a newer phone or something - anything!

These techniques may also work with regards to banks and arranging better deals with various costs for credit cards etc. but that's for another post to be discussed in more detail!

Remember, with your Internet connection, there are two parties involved, the Sapak - ספק - or Service Provider (ISP - such as Triple C, Netvision, Smile etc.) and the Tashtit - תשתית - the supplier of the actual line to operate the traffic - such as Bezeq. The trick is to make sure you get a deal which links the two in the best possible way. This can often be achieved best by speaking directly with the Tashtit who may well get the Sapak on the line with you to discuss a better deal together - and end up linking them with only one payment made (instead of two separate payments to each provider.)

Bottom line: Everything costs. You won't get away from costs. However, always keep a check of what's going on regularly to ensure you can have the best technology you'd like to at the best possible prices. If you do this, you will at the very least be budgeting in the best way to have the best. If you don't do this, you'll find others talking about deals you can only dream about - as you continue with you 1 Mega line and brick cell phone, at the price you paid for them when you started using them 10 years ago!

Have you had good experiences with companies / services etc. you'd like others to know about? Do you have tips for our readers? Please be in touch with us so that we can post them. Do you offer a particular service that's just out of this world and want to drive the traffic in your direction? Do be in touch with us. We would love to put up an article written by you, or alternatively we will write one up ourselves with the details you provide us. Let's get the word out there about providers who are assisting those making Aliyah to be able to better integrate successfully in Israel, with great service, honest and good prices and quality goods.

Fines for using a Cellphone while Driving in Israel

Someone on a social network forum asked about the law and fines if using a cell phone when driving.

I often see such questions and find answering them of little benefit. Mostly the questioner is more interested in finding a loophole in the law than in considering potential consequences to life if / when not following that law.

It's more than the law, it's common sense. Don't use a cell phone while driving! Not if you value your life and the lives of others. If you think I'm being difficult, my introduction to the dangers of cell phones and driving was 20 years ago as an occupational therapist in a hospital. I was on a ward round and sad to hear the cause of a new high level spinal cord injured patient was a selfish driver in the vehicle behind the one that he was a passenger in. The driver had decided that talking on a cell phone was more important than paying attention to the vehicle  in front of him, loaded with labourers on their way to work.

A more recent example was just a week ago of a young woman who lost her life due to texting and taking selfies while driving. In this case it was only the driver, (responsible for her own life), who lost her life. We surely know that the news reports of similar incidents where many others lose their lives or functional ability, ending up in wheelchairs, bedridden, in lengthy coma's etc.

Isn't it amazing what a perverted society we have become where instead of being concerned about the risk to life and quality of life for ourselves and others we are more afraid of breaking the law and getting a ticket.  

New Regulations of the Ministry of Communications

Below you will find a list of new regulations in the communication field. Please read them carefully but try to understand this is like a “newborn”. It will take time to implement them, it will take even longer to get used to them and teach companies how to adapt to them.

It is up to us, the consumers, to make these laws become a reality. Right now they are only on paper and, as a diamond, will need polishing.

I have created a prototype of a small claim form for you ready to be served in court. You will find instructions on how to use the form on the second page. After filling out a few blank lines concerning the main points only, you will be able to present your case in court, even in low-level Hebrew.

The New Regulations - Effective as of 2011

• The commitment period will be reduced to 18 months in the cell phone industry;
• Lower mobile fares when making overseas calls - similar to a stationary phone call, the consumer pays only to the supplier abroad without having to pay additional fees (double) to the mobile operator in Israel;
• Everyone will have the option to block SMS services;
• Customer service centers, (run by the Israeli mobile operators) must attend/respond to clients within 24 hours (for emergencies only);
• Cancellation “penalties” in the communications field: Companies will be allowed to charge up to 8% of the average invoice value – multiplied by the remaining months until the end of liability;
• Cellular operators will be required to offer routes that allow setting limits in advance on the level of expenditure: As soon the bill reaches 75%of his allocation, the consumer will receive an alert and choose whether to increase the amount;
• The E-mail mobility: Soon it will be possible to leave your Internet provider and “move” your existing e-mail address to any other competitor, for a period of six months, free of charge;
• Contracts: The essential points in a contract must be presented in one page only;
• Payments for services: Will be permitted only by the written permission from the consumer;
• Cellular operators will be required to advertise all of their rates on their websites;
• Privacy and Secrecy: Cellular operators will be required to delete the details of the client`s payment at the end of the contract;

I hope you can enjoy your new consumers’ rights in this new year and don’t forget to use the two ultimate weapons you have: Your wisdom and the small claims courts.

 Sincerely,

Tzvi Szajnbrum, Attorney at Law