Oh the challenges of opening up a cell phone account in France, along with any other form of an account. You really don't realize how easy we have it in the States until you need to do an everyday task here.
On the first day, my number one priority was to get a phone that I could use to talk with friends in France and ones back home. Easier said than done.
Monique took me to SFR, her service provider, to start up an account. First, we realized it is impossible to unlock my iPhone to use with a French sim card. So, the option of pre-paid cards is out, unless I want a toy phone that does nothing other than ring or buy the iPhone for full price-- 600 plus Euro a.k.a $900.00. My other option is to start an account and get the iPhone for 99 Euro. Sounds simple enough.
That's where we were wrong. To open an account you need: a passport, utility bill, proof of housing, and a debit card. Well I had all of those things, except one snag-- they wanted a French debit card not an American one. We were told to return after I opened my bank account with a check or carte bleue (the French version of a debit card).
The only reason I was able to open a bank account without signing away my soul in blood is because of Monique. She set up an appointment at her bank and introduced me as her American niece who would be living with her for the next year. They made a million copies of everything-- my passport, visa, Arrete, proof of housing and utility bill (both of those were provided by Monique). Then they needed detailed information of where I was born, my parents names and my income. It took like five minuets for me to explain that my middle name was not connected to my first name-- for example they have names like John-Pierre. So, he thought my first name was Caitlin-Honeyman. There have been a handful of other times where I've tried to explain Honeyman is my middle name, not part of my first name. He also proceeded to explain to me that a carte bleue is a debit card so it will be deducting money from my bank account, and that is not a credit card like we use in the States... Haha... So, after an hour of paper work and signing I finally had my very own French bank account.
We then proceed back to the phone store with a RIB (a slip of paper that is like a debit card till you get the real one) to open my phone account. One helpful tip, when opening an account in France make sure and get a nice person. If the person helping you seems to be rude in anyway.. just walk away. I had all my paper work ready, had fully researched the phone plans and was jumping with anticipation for my new phone. We were in the process of setting up the account when she asked for my carte bleue and I handed her the RIB-- she looked at me like I was dumber than dirt. "Je ne peut pas utiliser ce choses pour ouvert une forfait," ("I cannot use this to open an account") she said with disdain. I looked at Monique and did everything thing I could to not break down and cry.
That was when Monique swept in and did that best thing ever-- she put me on her account! I chose the illimythics pro plan, which gave me the option to call landlines in the States for free. Downside-- I had to pay eight Euro extra for Internet and texts weren't included, which is kind of a big deal since no one calls here; they all text. The reason no one calls here: French cell phone plans are weird-- they do the amount of talk time by hours. So, I get 3hours of talk time for 50 Euro a.k.a 70 bucks a month. That's nothing compared to the 900 minuets I have back home through AT&T. And, normally unlimited text is included in the plan.
After I opened my plan, I immediatly started to try and use the Internet. It wasn't working...waited an hour...wasn't working. I called SFR, they told me it could take up to two days to start working. OK...decided to try and call the States...wasn't working. After, waiting for two days for the Internet to kick in and the ability to call the States I finally called their helpline. I was informed that I hadn't been signed up for the Internet and couldn't call the States for a month. The snobbish lady at SFR had not made any of those options available to me even though I was paying extra each month for it. AGH! The helpline was very...well...helpful, and I was able to start using all the options I was paying for.
I've had my phone for almost a month, and I've already switched the plan to just illimythics. That includes texts, Internet for free and a bonus option to double my talk time. You realize, it's the little things like Skyping that are more important than being able to call home from your cell phone. Also, because of the awesomeness that is the iPhone there are several applications you can use to easily talk to friends back home-- such as Ping!, an app. similar to BBM but just for the iPhone (it's unlimited texts for free to anyone with an iPhone).
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