another quadband dual sim phone - too good to be true?

[hawkdeira]

On ebay this week, advertised from London UK, is a dual-sim quad band phone. But the pricing for the calls from the "unique 'patented' worldwide roaming SIM" seems too good to be true! A query went to the seller who replied that the special sim is a UK sim with an 077 number. Now 077 suggests one of the major UK telephone companies, eg my O2 phone is 0771. So how can they offer the 30p a minute price for all countries mentioned in the advert on a mainstream UK simcard (you don't even get it that cheaply on a Manx card with 076 or 079 prefix)! What do others think?

This is the wording from the ebay advertisement.

"This is a true world's first - DUAL-SIM Mobile Handset. This PAYG mobile is a Dual SIM handset that looks eerily like the Walkman phone. However, this is a GSM quad band handset with two SIM slots, an MP4 player and a 2.5 mega pixel camera, bluetooth etc, it does not get any better than this!

This handset is designed to work all over the world ( 177 countries) and comes complete with a unique 'patented' worldwide roaming SIM that sits in one of the SIM slots. (This new technology is gaining rave reviews and will soon be used by everybody)

The roaming SIM delivers unparelleled cost benefits to any user that 'travels' frequently. For example, all calls are FREE to receive in most countries (that means no roaming charges!). And when the user wants to make international calls, the roaming network delivers a flat fee promise of just 30p per minute from any country to any country in the world.

The traveller simply inserts their 'home' SIM ( no matter what country they are from/in) into the other SIM slot and diverts all calls to the roaming SIM when travelling. The call divert costs nothing from most operators and the user can always be contacted, no matter where they are, for FREE! The user simply switches SIM's inside the handset via a 'hotkey' button, when an international call needs to be made, and switches back for local and national calls. International SMS messaging has been set at 15p.

The roaming network charges 30p per min to make and NIL to receive in most countries apart from outer mongolia. The savings are so immense for the ardent traveller, business user etc that the cost of the handset is recouped within a couple of days on a trip. All interested parties will be provided with support details and call pricing per country."

[Malkav]

interesting......still a bit suspicious though....

[dg7feq]

would you mind writing the article number here so that we can see the original offer too?

Chris

[hawkdeira]

Chris

ebay Item number: 300093226991

Cheers

H

[andy]

I'm not a member of ebay, and don't intend to join just to ask a couple of questions.

It looks to me like the seller has two or three products together, and either doesn't understand the roaming SIM or doesn't have enough information about it, unless it is a totally new one with free roaming virtually everywhere.

I don't know any network that would have free calls to this SIM, whatever country it is from. If it is indeed a UK number, then it would probably (but not certainly, depending what it is) come from inclusive minutes on UK contracts, but no other country's network would do even this.

[GadgetKen]

While there are many reputable and ethical sellers on ebay, I regard this offer as highly suspicious. The seller has no buyer/seller rating from prior transactions, has been registered only 20 days on ebay, the description of the roaming sim doesn't have a pricing plan that is adequately described or realistically priced, and the handset is priced well below market price for current quad band dual sim phones.

Any questions you want me to ask the ebay seller? I am registered on ebay.

[hawkdeira]

Andy / GadgetKen
We went back to the seller with further queries about this 'too good to be true offer'. Particularly to press the point about (a) the 077 numbers suggested in their earlier response, and (b) whether it will be sold on the High Street (so that it can be seen before purchase).

Replies:
"No I will not be selling via retail at present. Because of my lack of bandwidth, My focus is to concentrate on high end corporate business users. The handset will have a UK identity. That identity will be a range of numbers, inc 077. No decision has been made to utilise Manx Telecom number range. Trials will begin in a few weeks across the UK."

I still can't believe there are 077 numbers available that will permit free roaming and 30p a minute international calls (surely the 077 number range is mainstream, eg O2 etc). But the latest response is toned down to "a range including 077 numbers".

If you're game Ken press the point with the seller about the identity of the 'unique 'patented' worldwide roaming SIM' mentioned in the advert.

So on balance I guess it's probably one to avoid - though I'd love to be proved wrong! And with one day to go on ebay there are no bidders still.

Cheers
H

[andy]

High end corporate buyers are always studying ebay, of course.

If they're on O2 they can already get cheaper calls in Europe for £5 a month

[hawkdeira]

Originally Posted by andy

High end corporate buyers are always studying ebay, of course.

Hohum, no bids for this phone on ebay and auction ended. So much for the high end corporate buyers (-:

It just had to be too good to be true . . .