There are quite a few cell phone providers in Italy but the one we went with is called TIM (Telefono Italia Mobile). TIM is the largest cell service provider in Italy and it has the best coverage. Because we arrived at our apartment in Rome around 10:30 pm we waited until the next day to sign up for cell phone service.
Before we left for Rome I had researched TIM and found a store in Trastevere that was very close to our apartment. We arrived a little after 10:00 am and found a helpful sales representative who spoke English well enough to help us. (In anticipation of our trip we had recently purchased global versions of the new iPhone 8.) The clerk told us that we could get a monthly plan with 1,000 minutes of phone service and 10 gigs of data for €10.00 per month; SMS texting was not included but since we only use iMessage we didn’t care. There would also be a one-time charge of €25.00 for the SIM cards. After we handed over our credit card we were told that subsequent months would be billed automatically. We explained that we would only be in Italy for three months. He typed something into the computer and reassured us that everything was setup properly. He installed the new SIM cards and handed us two cards containing our new phone numbers. He said that everything should be active within ten minutes. This was all as expected. We left the store and continued on our way to find a grocery store. It was going to be a great first day.
When we got back to our apartment we edited our contacts and put in our new phone numbers. To test things out we tried to call each other. Something was wrong. First of all, we didn’t know how to dial. We weren’t sure whether we needed to use the country code nor did we know whether we needed to use the city code. We tried a few combinations and nothing worked. The Internet service was working just fine so we figured it was just American stupidity. This all happened on a Friday. Since that particular TIM store was closed on the weekend we decided to return on Monday and learn what we needed to do. It didn’t matter – who were we going to call in Italy?
Of course I couldn’t stop thinking about this. Were we really so unsophisticated that we couldn’t figure out how to dial a phone in another country. I did some googling and tried calling some numbers but nothing worked. I went into my phone’s settings and was horrified to find that it displayed a phone number that was different from what was written on the cards we got from TIM. Deborah’s phone had the same issue. The number that the phone was displaying was the number hardcoded into the SIM card. An inspection of the SIM card confirmed this. This was very weird. A mystery was at hand.
When we returned to the TIM store the clerk was obviously trying to suppress his laughter at the stupid Americans who didn’t know how to dial. He took my phone and dialed Deborah’s phone. The call went through. It worked the other way around too. Boy were we embarrassed. We asked him about the differences in the number written on the card and the number on the SIM. He didn’t care. He said our phones worked and that’s all that mattered. Outside, on the sidewalk, we tried calling one another. No problem. Wasn’t this exactly what we did the other day? We left feeling a little uneasy but at least we could now make phone calls.
A few days later we both started receiving occasional texts from TIM. Naturally they were written in Italian. We copied and pasted the messages into google translate and found that they were advertisements for things like furniture and clothing stores. We ignored them.
Our next visit to TIM came when I decided that I needed to make some international calls. Our service was not setup for that. A little wiser and more experienced we decided to try the TIM store in downtown Rome on the Corso, which was not far from Piazza Venezia. It was a much larger store and we assumed we’d be better served.
I explained that I wanted to dial the US and naturally enough he asked for my phone number. In response for providing my phone number I received a shocked and amazed look. It seems that the exchange I provided was not valid for TIM. Deborah and I exchanged horrified glances. Finally, after an extended discussion with us and some of the other TIM store people, the clerk took our suggestion and looked up our account on the computer. The name on the account was not mine. He informed us that he couldn’t help us and that we might want to return to the store in Trastevere to help sort this all out. The saga of TIM was only getting worse. It was time to consider disputing the credit card charge and starting over. The problem was we were never charged!
During the initial visit we should have been charged for one month of service and one SIM card for each of us for a total cost of about €70.00. We were never charged. I don’t think we were passing on our good looks. What the heck was going on? Were our ‘real’ phone numbers being used for some illegal drug trafficking or were we unsuspecting pawns in other nefarious enterprises? Italy is a wonderful place but it’s as corrupt as any third world country with a tin pot dictator. Our thoughts ran to all sorts of wild ideas.
We returned to the store in Trastevere and had international calling enabled. I put €20.00 on account to cover these calls. They had no interest in discussing the name on the account nor the discrepancy in phone numbers. We decided not to mention that we had never been charged. I wound up making about €13.00 worth of international calls. I was told that the remaining credit could be used toward my next month’s bill.
That afternoon I created an account on TIM’s web site. All that was required was for me to give them my email address and my phone number (navigating a web site that is only in Italian was a bit of a challenge). Want to know the name on the account? You guessed it – Sharon!
If you thought that was the end of the story then you are an optimist. Soon after Deborah and I got text messages from TIM telling us that our accounts had run out of money. If we didn’t recharge soon our service would be terminated? This was shocking. We had paid for the entire month. How was this possible? We decided to try a different TIM store. This one was also on the Corso but it was close to Piazza del Popolo. On the way we started talking seriously about dropping TIM and signing up with Vodaphone; could they be any worse?
We showed the clerk the texts we received. He asked for our phone numbers which initiated the same conversation about our phone numbers having an invalid exchange. Eventually the clerk decided to ignore this issue and investigate. He called TIM customer service and found out that those advertisements we had been receiving were draining our account. The monthly charge of €10.00 does not actually pay for the month. TIM treats that €10.00 as an account credit and pro-rates your payments on a daily basis. If you use any other services, that €10.00 will not last for the entire month. What a great way to do business! The clerk turned off the advertisements and credited our accounts as if nothing ever happened. What can go wrong next?
Soon we received a new set of texts from TIM stating that it was time to recharge our account and if we didn’t our service would be terminated. A full month had not passed. What new horror was about to be inflicted upon us? We happened to be near Termini Station when we got these new notices so we decided to visit the TIM store there.
We found out two new and interesting pieces of information. First, TIM will not automatically charge your credit card each month. You have to go to the store and recharge you phone in person (or use their web site). Second: the €10.00 charge is not for a month – it is for 28 days. We each paid our €10.00 and were on our way.
Soon after I got another message about my account running out of money. How was that possible? I had just paid for a new month. This meant another trip back to Piazza del Popolo; we were running out of TIM stores to use and this one seemed the best choice. Again the clerk called TIM customer service and discovered that I had been signed up for a voice mail notification system (I’m still not really sure what it was) and that it was siphoning funds from my account. We had the clerk turn off all optional services from both of our accounts but he was unable to refund me the amount that had been used. I paid an additional €5.00 to fix things. It was just graft and corruption.
All of that was several weeks ago. We’re not going to be in the country much longer so we’re hoping that we won’t be hearing from TIM again. We may not have paid that €70.00 but we consider that we paid for it in aggravation.
We’ve decided to chalk all of this up to experience and have learned a few things…
- Make sure the phone number you get matches what’s on the SIM card (duh!)
- Insure that all optional services are turned off.
- Know how long the billing cycle is.
- Understand how your phone account is paid for each month.
Our next stop is Bulgaria. We’ll be getting new SIM cards and new service providers. Wish us luck!
