I’m in Johannesburg, it’s my first day back in Africa and I’ve come head on with the reality of what brought me back here. On my walk to the mall in the hunt for a sim chip for my phone my hip started aching more than it has over the past year. It’s a staunch reminder of my accident and the life long implications it’s brought to my life. I’m hoping this is due to the long travel here and will settle back to what has become my new norm.
I’m a big advocate of embracing technology to ease travel. While I’m comfortable doing/traveling the old-fashioned way, technology simplifies many task and ultimately allows me to do more things in less time by eliminating a lot of remedial but necessary task. For example, I’d rather pull up a bus schedule on the internet via my phone than have to navigate to a station to get there and find I have to wait a few hours for the next bus. Plus on this trip I have business I’ll be doing while traveling which makes it mandatory that I stay connected.
Pardon my sideline diatribe… Why am I hunting for a sim chip for my cell phone. It’s simple dollars and cents. Remember, I’m traveling unscripted and not sure what I’ll be doing or where I’ll be staying each night. I figure it out as I go. I have an AT&T mobile. Roaming calls in South Africa are $2.99/min and $3.99/min back to the states. I’m not calling many hostels in advance to confirm availability at that rate. Upon turning my phone on at the airport I received an automated text informing me roaming data is $19.95/mb. That data allows me to check email, use all the useful apps on my phone, plus stay in touch with folks or business back home. My first day here, I used my phone to make a few local calls, browse the web for hostel and tourist site info, check email, make a few Facebook post, and make a couple of VOIP calls (for business) back to the US. In total I used 30MB for the day. That’s a pretty typical and easy amount to use for most smart phone users. Hmmm, that’s 600 bucks if I stick with AT&T and I’m only on day one.
The solution, I’m heading to the mall looking for a cell phone provider to secure a sim card which when inserted in my phone transforms it into a South African cell phone with a local number (note this can’t be done with all phones, one needs to plan in making purchases in the US to make sure they have this ability.) My troubles starts here.
I’ve performed this task in many other countries. Usually it’s a pretty simple task. Buy the sim card, ensure there is data as well as phone minutes purchased stick it in my phone and viola I have a phone on the cheap from that country. I’ve paid for 2GB of data, which cost $43, more than enough data for what I’ll need over the next few weeks. This time however, once activated it doesn’t work showing I haven’t purchased any data. Showing it to the clerk whose helping me, she confirms I’ve bought the data and it’s not there but hasn’t a clue. She engages the assistance of another employee and they send me to another store in the mall for some supposed setting tweaks. Sounds fishy, but ok lets give it a shot, No luck there the settings they suggest don’t work. Back to the store, they seem surprised to see me. Go figure, I sigh and think, It’s Africa and I wonder how long this is gonna take. The lady whose been helping me has an incredible demeanor however doesn’t seem to have answers. Normally I’d be a little ticked, but I started to laugh, thinking what’s next. The computers go down while she’s hunting for answers and there’s talk of now I need to go to another store in the mall. In the meantime, I’m having flashbacks to my Kindle Rescue experience wondering what else is in store. Surprisingly, she offers to take me there which leads her to dragging me around the mall to 3 other stores and a technical customer service center. I’m chatting with her and can’t even think of being upset as she’s one of the kindest people I’ve ever met. Five hours later laughing at how ludicrous this has turned into going from place to place, they figure out the problem and oh, it was their problem all along.
I leave happy I’m connected to the world and frustrated having burnt half a day. As I reflect on the experience I realize the dozen or more folks I encountered in the zig zag back and forth were all incredibly nice and exuded top class customer service attitudes, they simply didn’t know how to resolve the issue at hand, I’m also kicking myself for not having capitalized on a perfect opportunity for those rare opportunities to connect with a local. I wish I’d had invited the lady, whom went so graciously out of her way to lead me around, to bring her husband and I’d take them to dinner anywhere they want in town on me as a thank you. I know she’d have accepted. I guess my travel wits are a bit rusty as I’m usually quick to grasp the chance to become friends with a local wherever I travel.
