Hi, just wondering if it's normal for the phone company to be trying to charge a $500 deposit for a phone sim plan? I thought it was usually 2 months for example? The total deposit is larger than 12 months of phone bills when I'm on a max 12 month work visa. Also, they say I have to pay for deposit with a credit card which would be very difficult to get as a foreigner, so I don't understand how I'm supposed to get a sim?
EDIT:
Thank you for the advice, I haven't been peer pressured into a $500 deposit because of you guys!!! I've come to the conclusion that it is due to it being at Yodobashi as a foreigner. Since I have had friends sign up to that store in the last 2 years without this issue, which is why I went 😠Again, thank you for saving me and all these provider recommendations!!! Seriously appreciated.
Update 2: Went into Rakuten and they said they didn't and won't charge a 50,000 yen deposit or require a credit card. 🙂
by Zathira
6 comments
Which provider are you using ?
never heard of deposits being required
have you tried other providers like J:COM? Been using this for 5+ years now and application is all online
If you are trying to get it at Yodobashi or similar place they are often independent contractors who act as middlemen between the customer and provider like UQ, docomo, softbank, etc.
Sometimes that’s fine, and sometimes those places are scummy as shit and will use your lack of knowledge about the language and culture to add all kinds of extra shit on to your plan that is “mandatory” at their shop but not actually, they just get a better commission for doing it.
Always better go directly to an official shop or even better do it all online and you can choose exactly what you want / don’t want.
I have no idea if they are actually trying to charge you this money or you are misunderstanding, but when I moved to Japan 7 years ago I couldn’t actually sign up for a plan as my spouse visa was only 1 year and they had a minimum 2 year contract requirment.
So perhaps that is something to do with it.
Personally I would recommend Ahamo if you are someone who uses lots of data.
Â¥3000 a month for 20GB.
This is why I ended up going with Rakuten Mobile. While they have their own set of problems, signing up and using a foreign credit/debit card was super simple (and free), I was in and out of the shop in 10 minutes. (Just have to decline the bank account and credit card sales pitch quickly haha) Plus with the points promotions they usually have you can get many months of free service, like right now my phone will basically be free for the next 5 ish months.
Because you’re foreign.