The deposit does really deter me at all but I was sure once a foreigner had an APRC, this would not be required. This was asked of me at Chunghua. Anyone have any information about how this may not be necessary? Or anyone have the same experience? Thanks in advance.
Seriously, though, it often depends on which company, which branch in that company, and even which rep at that branch, that you talk to at any given time. Keep trying (ie. visit other offices/providers, ask to speak with someone higher up, etc.). Good luck!
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Not the case at Taiwan Mobile (aka, Taiwan DaGeDa, but not Taiwan DaJeeBa).
Go to the branch near Zhongxiao/Dunhua.
Chunghwa didnāt require a deposit of me when I signed up for my phone contract using an APRC.
Relating to my topic about foreigners and telcos here in Taiwan.
The reason why they ask for deposits is because the plans here are postpaid. You use the data/time/messages (DTM) first, then you pay. If you use what you are alotted, you pay the agreed-upon price. If you use more DTM, then what is alotted, you pay for extra used.
The reasoning behind it is that foreigners should pay the deposit because foreigners ācanā rack up the bills and then leave, leaving the company with the sunk costs. While this is indeed possible, (Opinion time) I do indeed believe that the validity is growing less and less irrelevant and is becoming a poor excuse.
Taiwan generally respects human rights. Thatās a fact. However, being a largely homogenous society has created a poor understanding of discrimination in Taiwan in and outside the government and companies. Unfortunately, the government has not yet realised that it needs to crack down on discrimination. Companies fear we will take off, itās reasonable, they canāt chase us overseas, but the methods are just wrong.
Strong anti-discrimination rulings in Canada have forced companies to be innovative in managing their risks. Itās something Taiwanese companies have yet to understand, as they continue to think I am just never satisfied.
They donāt understand that there are ways to mitigate risks without blatant discrimination. This discrimination doesnāt include other āriskyā people, including, but not limited to people whom donāt pay their bills, buy more than their means and Dual ROC nationals.
Canadian companies have gotten around this by requiring credit checks for people doing postpaid plans, prepaid monthly plans that disable the function when exceeding alotted amount until the next billing cycle while turning off the taps when bills are not paid and making it easier to tie up loose ends immediately when cancelling.
Taiwan. Itās not that difficult to provide fair service to everyone AND mitigate risk. Pull up your pants now before I pull them up for you. You wonāt like it when I do it. Ask Asia Pacific Telecom.
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But one foreigner above reports he could do it without the deposit. So is there some form of risk assessment happening?
It really depends, IMO. For things like home internet, it is already unlimited and virtually impossible to rack up extra charges. I think it depends on their perception on how much you can rack up charges. All of the policies in these companies IMO is from the whim of the boss or customer call centre.
The APT saga stems, not from their unlimited internet, but their limited SMS and phone minutes.
Plus the being-in-right-place-in-right-time-speaking-to-right-people as well.
Taiwan Mobile I have been told multiple times that deposits are not required at the company. I highly doubt any of these companies do a proper credit check. It also seems to depend if the foreign customer is asking for a subsidised phone deal as well.
Gotta be careful of that illegal black market Taiwanese phone trade in Winnipeg. Theyāre just out to get hardworking Taiwanese companies.
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I did it without a deposit tooā¦
ā¦though itās in my Mother In Lawās name, no ideal if illegal but when I go into the Far East store then just call me Mrs.deleted for obvious reasons and they pretend Iām her and they are cool with it.
First bit of Taiwanese improv Iāve seen and they arenāt bad!
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Your mother in law Taiwanese ?
well she 'aint from Blighty thats for sure. (leaving that vague to console myself that I havenāt said too much online)
Never needed a deposit at Taiwan Mobile, ARC or APRC.
Probably depends what your buying. With regular jfrv i needed it qay back when to register mynphone number. If remember correctly it was refunded after 2 years when the contract expired. When i continue plans, change them etc etc i have never since needed to pay the deposit. That said after i webt back with my new aprc maybe 5 years ago they asked me tonpay the deposit. At that time my chinese was well enough to stand my ground. Simply told them i already paid it many years ago and it has not since be needed. So no. Never been asked since.
Chunghua telecome, never used another source.
Be a āling beiā and they shut up fairly fast. But gotta speak chinese to do it probably. Taiwan is good that way. Or horrible. Rules and regulations are often suggestions. And the realnrules many times staff do not know or understand so you can push your way through
Ive used every carrier since Iāve been in Taiwan
6 years ago with no arc and fob, chunghua gave me a line with just my roc immigration letter and no deposit. The situation continued when I moved to the countryside with the local chunghua office opening up new lines for me without issue.
2 years later wanted to switch to FET. They said my arc wasnāt long enough, complained to head office by email and they set up the line without issue or deposit.
A year later went with Taiwan mobile. They wanted a deposit and i refused. Threatened to call the NCC to complain, they said please dont we will give you the line without deposit.
A year later went to APTG Ya Tai. They gave me the most runaround and I called NCC on them
They said they would issue the account for a year contract and refund me when it completed. They then refused to saying I needed to cancel the line to get the deposit back.
Spoke to a manager who authorizrd the refund but itās been two months and they still havenāt returned my money. That reminds me to call Tomorrow to bitch at them that I will call the NCC again.
Buncha twats.
Moral of the story is donāt let them get away with blatant discrimination.
As an aside last year I was looking at plans in a chunghua store in Taichung and the worker asked forā¦ Surpriseā¦ a deposit.
Their prices were too high so I didnāt pursue it anyway. I realized chunghua telecom is very decentralized with each branch making their own decisions who sign up. The others are more centrally controlled.
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Explant is probably right; speaking Mandarin in Chunghwa Telecom likely helped me get the phone contract without deposit. For reference it was a two-year contract with subsidized iPhone. I performed this minor miracle at the CHT office on Neihu Road at the corner of Gangqian Road. (Also on Neihu Road was the CTBC that provided me with a credit card: 150,000NT limit, no bank account and no guarantor; another miracle!)
I should note that Senao (the sales agent for CHT) is probably the most difficult mobile provider Iāve personally dealt with. Itās been a while since I dealt with them but I recall they needed my passport for everything - despite the fact that the information they wanted from my passport was already on my APRC.
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Good job. My 2 year contract with Changhua has also just expired. They did not need a deposit or guarantor last time. My Iphone 8 is cracked and I may look at the same deal. Any idea of cost ? just unlimited data required. I seem to be paying 1400 a month now ā¦just for data.
Iām no longer in Taiwan so I donāt know the current rates, sorry.
I paid over 1000 before for unlimited data. Now its cheaper. 499 at chunghua, cheaper at other shops.
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Yes , got it thanks. Maybe better to buy a phone ā¦guess it depends how good the deals are . I am happy with an older style.
Because of the cheap unlimited deals available, this is exactly what I did. In the long run, itās quite a bit cheaper. I found a nice used Samsung S7 two years ago and itās still kickinā with no lag or anything. Actually, found it on here on Forumosa.
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