I wrote a few weeks ago asking about Cell phone service in Buenos Aires. Well, I thought I would share my personal experience. I went to an "official" office of Personal on Florida street where they happily sold me a prepaid SIM card for $40 Pesos assuring me, after careful inspection, that it would work with my phone (a Nokia purchased in Europe). They told me that It would take about one hour to activate so I went on my way. The phone never activated and I returned to the Personal office where they explained to me that Argentina uses an uncommon 1900 MHZ GSM system that is incompatible with most of the rest of the world. So, why did they sell me the SIM chip to begin with? Frustrated, I ended up buying a new phone from them with supposedly $120 Pesos of credits.

Three days and three visits to the same office later, my phone still doesnīt work. I also found out that 70 percent of everything the sales reps told me were blatant lies. A kind women helped me tranlsate a conversation once with one of the representatives (I am only conversant in Spanish). She understood my situation and what happened perfectly. She explained to me that these people are only employees and that if I wanted something done I should go the Personal head office on Corrientes Street. Unbelievable.

I like a lot about this country but doing business here is not one of them. I donīt think borroring $100 Billion Dollars and then deciding not to pay it back is the solution to improving this economy. I think they could improve their business practices a bit. Sorry, Iīm a bit frustrated after my phone fiasco.