Many of you may know that I currently reside in Acapulco, Mexico. I have North American coverage that covers the US, Canada, and Mexico for unlimited data, talk, and text. When you are traveling or living in a foreign country that you do not speak the language and you are new to the area, your cell phone is a matter of safety and your lifeline.
This past week I learned what it was like to live in Mexico with no cell phone, data, maps, and Google translate, all of which I rely on daily. I am learning Spanish, but I have to translate all day, every day.
AT&T said I needed a new SIM card. In the end, I convinced them that was not what was wrong with my account. I knew another iPhone 6 was added to my account, and I currently have an iPhone 7, and my last model was an iPhone 5C. However, they insisted to send me a new SIM card to activate. Luckily before I activated the new card I convinced their technician to check the current device on my account to see if it was active. Sure enough, someone at AT&T had added an iPhone 6 to my account, then removed it and added it to their correct account. This however knocked my iPhone 7 off of my account and caused me to have no service. And I paid to have a SIM card shipped to me in Mexico because I could not convince the first two techs what the issue was.
Here are some obstacles that I had to overcome in this experience. I learned some much needed reminders on how to prep your cell service before traveling abroad!
When traveling abroad you may want to consider the following cell phone precautions:
Sim card - how old is it? Have you used it for multiple phones. Take an additional sim card with you. AT&T only mails inside of your home country, in my case the US. So if you have to have it sent to a family member or friend, the UPS with tracking is going to be pricey to ship international. Mine was $120 for 2 day shipping. And you do not want to ship the cheapest $5 shipping with UPS to Mexico. They will pawn your package off to a courier, and many times the package goes missing, is lost at a courier station, or finally arrives 4 months later. Don't skimp on shipping to Mexico! It's not worth the money you save!
Your email tied to your account. Is it the correct current active email? Do you have the password to that email? Is that email password recovery tied to a text message on your cell phone? Is that email tied to another email account to recover the password? If they need to email you a pin, and you cannot access your email, or reset your email password to gain access, there is nothing they can do to help you.
Do you realize there may be two email accounts that you have for your one phone account? There is a billing email, and that may differ from your AT&T Access ID email that you use to log into your account. Be sure you can access both emails if you use two different emails.
Do you realize that if you update your email with AT&T and they ship you an additional sim card that they cannot give you the pin for the the new pin card to the updated email. The updated email takes 30 days to be active and the old email can no longer be used.
Have you set your pin to customer service? When you call in, you have a 4 digit pin to even be able to speak to customer service about your account. If you have not set this pin, they will email you a temp pin, and if you cannot access your email tied to your account, you are screwed!
Realize that just because you have AT&T does not mean that the local AT&T branches can or will help you. I've heard different answers on whether or not AT&T in Mexico can access my American account and phone number. I will say that both local AT&T stores I went to told me they cannot access my account and will not help me.
Do you have a cellular story or tip that can help people who live or travel abroad? Do you use another carrier besides AT&T? What are your experiences with traveling abroad and your cell phone service?
Share your thoughts in the comments below :)