Well done, sir. I can see the horror and panic spreading across the face of the CEO of Chunghwa Telecom when he realises what has happened. “My GOD!” he’ll scream, “we’ve let a bloody foreigner get a telephone!!! AAAAAAAAAArgh!”
To be followed by the deafening sound of the very fabric of society being rent asunder.
(Wiil the last person to leave please turn out the light? Cheers.)
Some stores are more reasonable than others, but you generally can get a cellphone from most of the cellphone carriers if you are willing to agree to one or more of the following:
prepaid deposit
direct debit tied to your bank account or credit card for automatic deductions.
guarantor
Your setup looks like you have the first two. I’m interested in seeing if anyone can get the same deal a Taiwanese citizen would get, which is an account with no deposit, you pay the bill each month at 7-11 or the ATM, and no guarantor.
KG Telecom would only let me have it in my name if I agreed to automatic deductions from my credit card. Since I like to see the bill first before anything is charged, I did not agree to this, and had to have my friend sign up for the account in his name.
I’ve had a mobile phone account with Chunghwa for seven years in my name. I had an ARC back then, and it was no problem getting whatever I wanted.
Now that I wanted the new Sony Ericsson T610 phone, I went into the Chunghwa brach at Hoping and Tunhwa yesterday. They looked me up on the computer, filled out the paperwork, I paid my money for the phone (at the promotional rate) and got my phone from the Shen-nao counter. No questions asked. Of course, I have to continue to keep my account for 15 months.
I expected it to be a hassle. I expected them to say, “we can’t give you the promotional rate for the phone, because you could up and leave the country at any time.”
And indeed I have received this kind of response in many other situations. Just shows you that you have to Shop Around for the Right Xiaojie™
I’m sure that 7 years ago, the policies were different, and have changed over the years to include guarantors, deposits, etc. Heck, 7 years ago, the mobile phone market was just starting to take off, and few people had them.
Remember, just a year ago, we were able to get ChungHwa land lines and ADSL with no guarantors (I was able to get it), but the policy changed recently. I guess your no-guarantor account got grandafathered in!
