It's been five days since I arrived in Switzerland. I use Rakuten Mobile, so I can enjoy 2GB of free data roaming overseas. So far, it's been smooth, but after wandering the streets while making video calls to my family, I'm about to exhaust the data limit, so I decided to contract with a local carrier.
Major Swiss Carriers:
Swisscom, Sunrise, and Salt are the principal carriers here in Switzerland. If compared to Japan, they are equivalent to Docomo, au, and Softbank/Rakuten Mobile, respectively.
Swisscom seems to have the widest coverage. Given the recommendations by my colleagues and agents who are assisting me with house hunting, I chose to contract a smartphone with Swisscom. For now, I chose to go with a Prepaid plan which requires upfront payment.
Contracting with Swisscom:
I visited a Swisscom store located inside Geneve de Cornavin station, a central station. After waiting for less than ten minutes, the purchasing process began, requiring identification such as a passport. The representative offered me an unlimited data plan for 65 CHF (Swiss Francs), which felt expensive, but I paid nonetheless. I asked if there were any cheaper plans, but I was told there weren’t.
Cancelling Swisscom:
After receiving the SIM card and leaving the station, I felt as if I'd been deceived. 65 CHF is equivalent to 11,000 yen, nearly three times as expensive as in Japan. Upon proper research, I found out about a 5 Francs plan named “Prepaid Plus” on the official site. Reflecting, the explanation by the representative was quite rough, and I didn’t even receive a receipt. It felt like I was conned just for the sales rep to make some extra money. Is such deception also present in Switzerland?
To excuse my oversight, I was very tired that day. Having had a sleepless morning, followed by multiple apartment viewings, and resisting the urge to use the paid public toilets in the city, I approached the contract somewhat carelessly.
I couldn't just be a deceived and submissive Japanese in this situation. I went back to the same counter, suppressing my discomfort, and requested a cancellation. The representative seemed slightly irritated, but they refunded the 65 CHF in cash immediately, leaving me somewhat dumbfounded. Was I not deceived, after all?
Actually, I Wasn’t Deceived:
After talking with some people I met at a previous Meetup, it seemed I wasn’t deceived. Another carrier, Salt, offers plans for 59 CHF. Inspecting the aforementioned site more closely, a “Prepaid Flat” plan was indeed hidden in the details. It seems like to decently use the internet for a month with Prepaid, this is the only plan available.
Contracting with Salt:
Two young people, including one engineer, informed me they were using Salt, so I visited Salt for information. The representatives at Salt were far more amiable compared to Swisscom, explaining details on paper. They have both Subscription and Prepaid plans. I took the details home to consider and decided to sign up for Swiss XXL, believing I would indeed be in Switzerland for two years.
The good thing about Salt is the low starting price for Subscriptions at 29.95, which I find affordable. Although the lower coverage did concern me, I primarily live in urban areas with WIFI, so I see no problem.
Additional Information:
A friend advised waiting for a discount sale on an app called QoQa before contracting Subscription over Prepaid. I ended up contracting a Subscription as Prepaid seemed more expensive, but this might be worth a try for my wife.
Summary:
I penned down the unexpected complication I experienced while contracting a mobile service in Switzerland. I approached Swisscom for a Prepaid contract without much prior research and ended up cancelling the contract after the fact. Everything is pricier than expected in Switzerland. It's been ingrained in my heart to think carefully before making even slightly expensive purchases.
