Ekit review

bbob · **Ekit review -** 10-08-2009, 13:47

After the recent offering from other supplier on dual number sims for use in Europe and the US I had a closed look at the offers.

Price of the card

Both globalsimcard.co.uk and travelsim.co.uk both active here on the forum

Globalsimcard offers the card including 5 pounds credit for 29,99 English Pounds
Travelsimcard offers the card including 12 pounds credit for 34,99 English Pounds
Ekit offer the card including 5 pounds credit for 10 English Pounds.

Ekit is an offer on ebay.co.uk

As far as I can see all above prices don’t included shipping and shipping is extra. I choose shipping from ekit with tracking number 4 pounds extra. Postage paid on the envelope said 5.53 pounds so they are not overcharging.

Ekit clearly has the lead here for price. Their offer for the card is only 1/3 the price compared to the other 2 options.

When I got the card and looked online I did actually have $10 of credit instead of 5 pounds. $10 is a bit more than 5 pounds so no problems here.

As I am not a frequent user the main reason for me buying the sim was fair use. Both Globalsimcard and Travelsimcard have recently changed their terms and now have a fair use policy active. The problem I have in general with fair use it that it says nothing. You don’t know the rules, the policy nothing. It’s up to them to decide when you violate fair use and above that when they do deactivate your sim they also take any credit you have left on your account. ! So be careful how you use your account as they can shut you down and take your money.
They will tell you that they are tolerant but there terms are clear. They don’t have to give warnings, nothing, just shut you down. I can understand the need for policies but be open about them.

Ekit does not have fair use in their terms and this was one of the reasons I choose to buy their sim.

Website backend

You can login to the ekit website using your number and pincode. It’s nice, you can see your account, change details, forwarding, look at the calls you made, invoices, top up your account.

They have some sort of travel journal that you can use to update friend when traveling. Nice feature but not everyone will use it.

There is a list of toll free customer service numbers in many countries.

You can check the rates that apply to your card online. Ekit seen to offer different packages having different rates so this is a good option.

I also have 2 normal card from above suppliers and they also offer backend information. The ekit website looks more professionally setup and streamlined.

Rates:

As I am in Belgium lots of time, I also noticed that both globalsimcard and travelsimcard are charging for inbound call into Belgium. !

This is strange as Belgium is on of the EU countries and seems the only one now to have incoming calls.

Ekit does charge a 35 cents connection fee for outgoing calls and same fee for incoming calls outside zone1. The rates seem fair and it’s difficult to tell if their offer is better or worse than the others.

So does Ekit have good rates:

What I comes down to is your calling profile. When calling a lot another supplier might be cheaper in your case. When calling less Ekit might be cheaper. It’s all up to the user and there is no way to tell who has the best rates.

To see if Ekit is good for you look at the calls you make, receive, check 2or 3 month usage and compare rates between different provider.

Use:

The ekit sims seems straightforward in use, manual is clear. To activate us calling dial 2 picode when turning on the phone.

I will test the serive in the next few month and during a US trip soon.

FBlack_111 · 10-08-2009, 16:05

bbob:

Good review, and well said. So many people are just looking for the absolute cheapest rate SIM and with free incoming calls they often miss a few very important factors. I have used two of their Passport SIM's for over two years and am very happy with Ekit.

Customer service is really important. And Ekit has some of the best. Also, I really like Ekit's terms and policy to keep the SIM alive. They will even allow you to reactivate a SIM that has been turned off due to lack of use and they will reinstate your expired credit. Most companies just turn you off and keep any credit left on your SIM. I once lost over $30 on a prepaid phone card that expired.

Lastly, I also really hate those innocuous "Fair Use" requirements. Imagine telling your company or family NOT to call you since their incoming calls could trigger a shut off of your SIM if the incoming call ratio becomes out of balance.

bbob · 10-08-2009, 16:24

Just did some testing and noticed that I do not get any called id when in Belgium. Tested this on 2 networks. I do get caller id when using antoher card in Belgium.

Does ekit have caller id or might this be a local problem

highered · 10-08-2009, 17:35

I haven't used my new Ekit Passport card yet in Europe, but the caller ID works in the US (which I realize is a different IMSI, so perhaps it's not illustrative of anything).

I am happy with the service so far.

I am pleased that I have been able to send SMS messages for free to the UK number using my Google Voice account (despite the fact that Google Voice officially supports only US numbers for SMS messages). I like that better than paying 10 ¢ through the ekit website (the travel journal page) to send the SMS messages. Though I won't use the travel journal for actual journal purposes, I think it's a neat idea in that you can have it record the cities/countries your phone is turned on in, which could be a very nice security feature for some families.

My biggest caveat with Ekit would be to remember that they have FOUR different SIM cards, each with different rates. I think that is very confusing.

FBlack_111 · 10-08-2009, 19:55

highered:

When you sent an SMS to your UK Ekit number from Google Voice, were you in the US when you got the SMS? Were you in US or Global mode on the Ekit SIM. I also did a test of Google Voice SMS and sent it to my UK number. I turned on my phone in Global mode here in the US and the SMS was received. But I was charged 10 cents.

highered · 10-08-2009, 23:34

Quote:

Originally Posted by FBlack_111

When you sent an SMS to your UK Ekit number from Google Voice, were you in the US when you got the SMS? Were you in US or Global mode on the Ekit SIM. I also did a test of Google Voice SMS and sent it to my UK number. I turned on my phone in Global mode here in the US and the SMS was received. But I was charged 10 cents.

I was in the US with the phone on in US mode when I sent the SMS to the UK number using Google Voice. I was not charged for receiving the SMS.

When I sent an SMS through the ekit Journal website, I was charged 10¢ (as expected). When I sent an SMS through Google Voice to my US phone number I was also charged 10¢ (as expected).

I have the Passport SIM.

I do note that the SIMple SIM (ekit, SIMple Calling SIM card) states that there is a 15¢ charge for receiving an SMS while in the US.

wcross · 11-08-2009, 09:29

I just receive my Telestial/ekit Passport SIM card. Everything worked great for both voice and SMS on both the US and UK numbers roaming on the Rogers network in Canada. Their customer account website worked great and charges were posted within seconds. Their customer service is exceptional! A comment I sent, re a small error on the printed instructions that came with the SIM card, was answered by Benjamin within a few minutes plus “as a sign of goodwill” they added a $10 credit to my account. Customer service doesn’t get any better than that!

mingelli · 11-08-2009, 19:26

in which website i can login to my account? I ordered trough telestial.

highered · 11-08-2009, 20:24

Quote:

Originally Posted by mingelli

in which website i can login to my account? I ordered trough telestial.

https://www.ekit.com/ekit/Signin/
enter either your US or UK phone number (with country code) and the four digit PIN.

FBlack_111 · 11-08-2009, 20:45

You can also log in at: Recharge Minutes

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	(#1 (permalink))
bbob (Offline) Senior Member Prepaid Expert Posts: 489 Join Date: 20 Feb 2007 Country:	Ekit review - 10-08-2009, 13:47 After the recent offering from other supplier on dual number sims for use in Europe and the US I had a closed look at the offers. Price of the card Both globalsimcard.co.uk and travelsim.co.uk both active here on the forum Globalsimcard offers the card including 5 pounds credit for 29,99 English Pounds Travelsimcard offers the card including 12 pounds credit for 34,99 English Pounds Ekit offer the card including 5 pounds credit for 10 English Pounds. Ekit is an offer on ebay.co.uk As far as I can see all above prices don’t included shipping and shipping is extra. I choose shipping from ekit with tracking number 4 pounds extra. Postage paid on the envelope said 5.53 pounds so they are not overcharging. Ekit clearly has the lead here for price. Their offer for the card is only 1/3 the price compared to the other 2 options. When I got the card and looked online I did actually have $10 of credit instead of 5 pounds. $10 is a bit more than 5 pounds so no problems here. As I am not a frequent user the main reason for me buying the sim was fair use. Both Globalsimcard and Travelsimcard have recently changed their terms and now have a fair use policy active. The problem I have in general with fair use it that it says nothing. You don’t know the rules, the policy nothing. It’s up to them to decide when you violate fair use and above that when they do deactivate your sim they also take any credit you have left on your account. ! So be careful how you use your account as they can shut you down and take your money. They will tell you that they are tolerant but there terms are clear. They don’t have to give warnings, nothing, just shut you down. I can understand the need for policies but be open about them. Ekit does not have fair use in their terms and this was one of the reasons I choose to buy their sim. Website backend You can login to the ekit website using your number and pincode. It’s nice, you can see your account, change details, forwarding, look at the calls you made, invoices, top up your account. They have some sort of travel journal that you can use to update friend when traveling. Nice feature but not everyone will use it. There is a list of toll free customer service numbers in many countries. You can check the rates that apply to your card online. Ekit seen to offer different packages having different rates so this is a good option. I also have 2 normal card from above suppliers and they also offer backend information. The ekit website looks more professionally setup and streamlined. Rates: As I am in Belgium lots of time, I also noticed that both globalsimcard and travelsimcard are charging for inbound call into Belgium. ! This is strange as Belgium is on of the EU countries and seems the only one now to have incoming calls. Ekit does charge a 35 cents connection fee for outgoing calls and same fee for incoming calls outside zone1. The rates seem fair and it’s difficult to tell if their offer is better or worse than the others. So does Ekit have good rates: What I comes down to is your calling profile. When calling a lot another supplier might be cheaper in your case. When calling less Ekit might be cheaper. It’s all up to the user and there is no way to tell who has the best rates. To see if Ekit is good for you look at the calls you make, receive, check 2or 3 month usage and compare rates between different provider. Use: The ekit sims seems straightforward in use, manual is clear. To activate us calling dial 2 picode when turning on the phone. I will test the serive in the next few month and during a US trip soon.

	(#2 (permalink))
FBlack_111 (Offline) Senior Member Prepaid Fan Posts: 167 Join Date: 27 Feb 2008 Country:	10-08-2009, 16:05 bbob: Good review, and well said. So many people are just looking for the absolute cheapest rate SIM and with free incoming calls they often miss a few very important factors. I have used two of their Passport SIM's for over two years and am very happy with Ekit. Customer service is really important. And Ekit has some of the best. Also, I really like Ekit's terms and policy to keep the SIM alive. They will even allow you to reactivate a SIM that has been turned off due to lack of use and they will reinstate your expired credit. Most companies just turn you off and keep any credit left on your SIM. I once lost over $30 on a prepaid phone card that expired. Lastly, I also really hate those innocuous "Fair Use" requirements. Imagine telling your company or family NOT to call you since their incoming calls could trigger a shut off of your SIM if the incoming call ratio becomes out of balance.

	(#3 (permalink))
bbob (Offline) Senior Member Prepaid Expert Posts: 489 Join Date: 20 Feb 2007 Country:	10-08-2009, 16:24 Just did some testing and noticed that I do not get any called id when in Belgium. Tested this on 2 networks. I do get caller id when using antoher card in Belgium. Does ekit have caller id or might this be a local problem

	(#4 (permalink))
highered (Offline) Junior Member Amateur Member Posts: 17 Join Date: 02 Aug 2007 Country:	10-08-2009, 17:35 I haven't used my new Ekit Passport card yet in Europe, but the caller ID works in the US (which I realize is a different IMSI, so perhaps it's not illustrative of anything). I am happy with the service so far. I am pleased that I have been able to send SMS messages for free to the UK number using my Google Voice account (despite the fact that Google Voice officially supports only US numbers for SMS messages). I like that better than paying 10 ¢ through the ekit website (the travel journal page) to send the SMS messages. Though I won't use the travel journal for actual journal purposes, I think it's a neat idea in that you can have it record the cities/countries your phone is turned on in, which could be a very nice security feature for some families. My biggest caveat with Ekit would be to remember that they have FOUR different SIM cards, each with different rates. I think that is very confusing.

	(#5 (permalink))
FBlack_111 (Offline) Senior Member Prepaid Fan Posts: 167 Join Date: 27 Feb 2008 Country:	10-08-2009, 19:55 highered: When you sent an SMS to your UK Ekit number from Google Voice, were you in the US when you got the SMS? Were you in US or Global mode on the Ekit SIM. I also did a test of Google Voice SMS and sent it to my UK number. I turned on my phone in Global mode here in the US and the SMS was received. But I was charged 10 cents.

	(#7 (permalink))
wcross (Offline) Junior Member Newbie Posts: 6 Join Date: 19 Oct 2008 Country:	11-08-2009, 09:29 I just receive my Telestial/ekit Passport SIM card. Everything worked great for both voice and SMS on both the US and UK numbers roaming on the Rogers network in Canada. Their customer account website worked great and charges were posted within seconds. Their customer service is exceptional! A comment I sent, re a small error on the printed instructions that came with the SIM card, was answered by Benjamin within a few minutes plus “as a sign of goodwill” they added a $10 credit to my account. Customer service doesn’t get any better than that!

	(#8 (permalink))
mingelli (Offline) Senior Member Prepaid Fan Posts: 129 Join Date: 22 Mar 2009 Location: Italy roaming on my yacht Country:	11-08-2009, 19:26 in which website i can login to my account? I ordered trough telestial.

	(#10 (permalink))
FBlack_111 (Offline) Senior Member Prepaid Fan Posts: 167 Join Date: 27 Feb 2008 Country:	11-08-2009, 20:45 You can also log in at: Recharge Minutes