The story begins in the summer of 2011, when my daughter soaked her flip screen cell phone in Canadian Asian brown sauce. The only key that still worked was the 6.
It was Canadian because she was in Canada. I don’t actually know any details of the sauce, other than that it was obviously deadly for the cell phone.
iPhones were becoming popular, so an iPhone was purchased in the US and shipped to Canada. The phone was valued at $300, shipping was about $30. When it arrived in Montreal, there was a $90 duty.
Expense: $420
iPhones are very cool. However, you need a data plan if you have an iPhone. If you have a US phone in Canada, you may have to pay roaming data fees, even if you have a special Canadian plan. So, many of the features that make iPhones cool will be expensive. Thankfully, my daughter understood that and didn’t use the data.
It’s two years later and we have been paying for data service that has never really been used. It’s about $40 a month for the data. So, $40 times 24 months is $760.
Expense: $1180
Last week, I bought an inexpensive slide phone that can make calls and text. Including the phone (valued at $180), which was ‘free’ after a $30 upgrade fee, a case/cover and scratch covers, I walked out of the cell phone store after giving them about $50 and extending the service contract for two years.
Expense: $1230
I sent it to Canada on the bus with the other daughter. Bus ticket $130.
Expense: $1360
When the kids tried to activate the phone in Canada, the support people explained that you can’t activate a US phone in Canada.
So, the phone came back to the US on the bus. It was activated, tested and promptly placed in a box and shipped back to Canada. Next day delivery, $88 plus $5 for the nice box.
Expense: $1453
Delivery was attempted, but failed because my daughter was out. The next day, she went to the carrier’s office and paid the $30 duty.
Total Expense: $1483
The story doesn’t end yet. Since an iPhone can be used as an iPod, the iPhone will eventually come back to the US to play music, but it will never be activated again.
A phone is a phone. It’s a communication device. A music player plays music. It’s an entertainment toy. Communication is a recurring expense, music shouldn’t be. Use an inexpensive phone, buy a nice music player. Get the best of both worlds without paying huge data fees.