scatcat

I just wanted to let others know that this cell phone worked perfectly. I got 45 minutes of free incoming calls while in France. It is expensive to call out, but it's also nice to have with you at all times. I even called my husband from the plane as we were about to depart from Zurich.. It was simple to add minutes on line. So I was quite satisfied with this purchase.

cruiseluv

scatcat,

Which phone are you talking about? The $49 one?

Thanks!

scatcat

Yes, the cheap $49 one. Worked great.

grandmere

I'm glad to hear it worked so well! I bought one a couple of weeks ago and decided last night to check it out, charge it, etc., and I can't seem to get it charged. It looks as though it's charging, but it never gets "charged", if that makes any sense. Did you charge yours here in USA, scatcat?

scatcat

WE charged it before we left the USA. I don't remember if it showed to be charged all the way, but the battery held up for several days. And I forgot to take the charger, so I bought one in Munich. The first $20 in calls are also free. My husband called me several times so that came in handy. It is also free to call the cell phone from the US home phone if you leave then that 1 866 number.

grandmere

Thanks, sc; hope I have such good luck with it!

cruiseluv

Thanks scatcat.

I also bought this phone and I have charged it like 5 times and left it on to discharge( in the instructions it said that you should do that for the battery to work properly). The problem is that it seems the battery doesn't hold up for more that 24 hours!

I though all incoming calls in France, Italy and Spain were free. Is it only 45 minutes?

Grandmere,

what do you mean "it never gets charged"? Mine shows the little icon as being charged . After a few hours, the phone goes blank. Then I can turn it on but as I said above, the charge seems to last only 24-30 hours. I better bring the charger with me!

grandmere

Cruiselov, I plug it in at bedtime and the logo in the morning does not show as being charged.

cruiseluv

Grandmere,

In other words, you still see the icon/logo for the battery and it looks empty( not black)? If you try turning the phone on will it turn on?

scatcat

All incoming calls to France are free. I meant to say that there is no charge to your home phone calling France if the caller dials the 1 866 number. This feature is only 45 minutes as I understand it.

grandmere

Here is probably another "duh" type question from me, but my Telestial phone card says that it is necessary to dial the "plus" sign before my number. How will people calling me from home do that b/c the regular phones do not have a plus sign; the cellular phone does, however.

cruiseluv

Thanks scatcat, that is my understanding as well.

Grandmere,

My understanding is that the + sign has to be used by you for phone calls you initiate, not the people back home trying to call you.

Maybe scatcat will comment again and set us straight.

gracejoan3

Grandmere

The + or 00 is for you dialing calls only..not incoming calls

grandmere

Thanks, all; it evidently is taking a village to get me going with this cell phone. (And I'm not even in France yet!)

scatcat

grandmere

You will be surprised at how easy it is to use, just like our cell phones at home except you do press and hold the 0 key before dialing. That will make the + sign appear on your screen. As far as calling it from the states, anyone should be able to figure it out if my husband did. He still hasn't figured out email.

jscarbary

I also bought the $49 Telestial phone and it worked perfectly (held a charge no problem). However, I never got any free calls despite the claims to the contrary on the literature that came with the phone. I left the instructions at home to dial the 866 number and then to dial my cell # but I was charged for every incoming call even though they dialed the 866 # first.

grandmere

jscarbary, have you notified Telestial?

Ok, got the thing charged; when I turn it on now, I get message to insert SIM; is it ok to do that here in US or should I wait?

Merci, merci!

gracejoan3

grandmere,

Most certainly put it in now and play with the phone so you will know how to use it.

You should have all those instructions for testing etc. I have a new RangeRoamer and my directions were to call my house phone and from my house phone to the new cell..just do not answer and there will be no charges...

a bientot......

cruiseluv

This phone will not work in the US, so unfortunately I don't think we can test it.

Am I wrong? If there is a way to test it I would love to do that!

gracejoan3

I think you can probably test it as I did my RangeRoamer..

Why don't you call Telestial and get the answers to all from them.


Range Roamer had all this information available on their website. I printed it out and played with it..had a ffew questions and called them for those answers....