Thus spaketh David Horne, _the_ chancellor of the royal duchy of city
south and deansgate:
    > {{{{{Welcome}}}}} <bhx___spam@trapped___hotmail.co.uk> wrote:
    >> Thus spaketh Danglerb:
    >>> I bought a nice triband phone before leaving the US, and also
    >>> bought a UK o2 sim so I could hit the ground running and give
    >>> people a number to reach me at.
    >>> Nothing but a mess.
    >>> O2 sim I bought turned out to have ZERO minutes included instead of
    >>> 250, and o2.co.uk has to be the most worthless website I have ever
    >>> tried to use. No real information of any kind, won't accept US
    >>> credit cards, but gives no error message showing that is the
    >>> problem. I finally topped up L10 at a Tesco, and one 18 min call
    >>> home popped the whole amount. Website still doesn't show any cost
    >>> or call information of any kind. I put in another L10, but its
    >>> turning out just about as useless as can be imagined.
    >>> I think I would have been better off leaving in the US Tmobile sim
    >>> and letting it roam.
    >> International calls on O2 PAYG are a rip-off, this is where they make
    >> their money, they charge about £1.50 min, though with a one off
    >> payment of £4.99 you can add the International Caller Bolt On calls
    >> are then 15p/min to USA/Canada. Still a rip-off considering from a
    >> landline you can call the USA for 0.5p/min or free with certain VoIP
    >> providers like VoIPStunt.com or inclusive calls providers. Virgin
    >> Mobile charge 20p min to the USA without any need for extra bolt ons.
    > I pay 9p a minute on Tesco (PAYG) Extra using an 0870 call through
    > service.

Yes, you just have to hope the other person isn't busy or answers pretty
quickly, as with dial-through services you are paying as soon as you hit
their system, and therefore costing you to listen to a ringing tone or
busy tone etc.

Thus spaketh Mark Hewitt:
    > "Danglerb" <[email protected]> wrote in message
    > news:[email protected] ups.com...
    >> I bought a nice triband phone before leaving the US, and also bought
    >> a UK o2 sim so I could hit the ground running and give people a
    >> number to reach me at.
    >> Nothing but a mess.
    >> O2 sim I bought turned out to have ZERO minutes included instead of
    >> 250, and o2.co.uk has to be the most worthless website I have ever
    >> tried to use. No real information of any kind, won't accept US credit
    >> cards, but gives no error message showing that is the problem. I
    >> finally topped up L10 at a Tesco, and one 18 min call home popped the
    >> whole amount. Website still doesn't show any cost or call information
    >> of any kind. I put in another L10, but its turning out just about as
    >> useless as can be imagined.
    > Totally OT but I've never seen anyone British ever use 'L' to mean
    > pounds.


In the not so good old days of L,S,D?

Following up to "{{{{{Welcome}}}}}" <bhx___spam@trapped___hotmail.co.uk> :

    >Thus spaketh Mark Hewitt:
    >> "Danglerb" <[email protected]> wrote in message
    >> news:[email protected] ups.com...
    >>> I bought a nice triband phone before leaving the US, and also bought
    >>> a UK o2 sim so I could hit the ground running and give people a
    >>> number to reach me at.
    >>> Nothing but a mess.
    >>> O2 sim I bought turned out to have ZERO minutes included instead of
    >>> 250, and o2.co.uk has to be the most worthless website I have ever
    >>> tried to use. No real information of any kind, won't accept US credit
    >>> cards, but gives no error message showing that is the problem. I
    >>> finally topped up L10 at a Tesco, and one 18 min call home popped the
    >>> whole amount. Website still doesn't show any cost or call information
    >>> of any kind. I put in another L10, but its turning out just about as
    >>> useless as can be imagined.
    >> Totally OT but I've never seen anyone British ever use 'L' to mean
    >> pounds.
    >In the not so good old days of L,S,D?
Not even then. Especially not then.
--
Tim C.

"Tim C." <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > Following up to "Danglerb" <[email protected]> :
    >>I
    >>finally topped up L10 at a Tesco, and one 18 min call home popped the
    >>whole amount.
    > I'm not surprised. 10 Lire won't get you far.

£.s.d. was "librae, solidi, denarii", and £ was in fact widely used in
Italian as an abbreviation for lira/lire.

Alan Harrison

"ALAN HARRISON" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > "Tim C." <[email protected]> wrote in message
    > news:[email protected]...
    >> Following up to "Danglerb" <[email protected]> :
    >>>I
    >>>finally topped up L10 at a Tesco, and one 18 min call home
    >>>popped the
    >>>whole amount.
    >> I'm not surprised. 10 Lire won't get you far.
    > #.s.d. was "librae, solidi, denarii", and # was in fact widely
    > used in Italian as an abbreviation for lira/lire.
The Italians did use a pound sign like the British one ( £) for
lire. As a British student staying in a pensione in Rome in the
50s I remember being momentarily shocked by a sign that said the
fee for the shower was £500!


--
James Silverton
Potomac, Maryland

Following up to "ALAN HARRISON" <[email protected]> :

    >"Tim C." <[email protected]> wrote in message
    >news:[email protected].. .
    >> Following up to "Danglerb" <[email protected]> :
    >>>I
    >>>finally topped up L10 at a Tesco, and one 18 min call home popped the
    >>>whole amount.
    >> I'm not surprised. 10 Lire won't get you far.
    >£.s.d. was "librae, solidi, denarii", and £ was in fact widely used in
    >Italian as an abbreviation for lira/lire.

Yes that always made me look twice. It was a bit disconcerting to see
something I still regard a quintessentially British being used somewhere
else like that.
--
Tim C.

Keith Willshaw wrote:

    > Indeed which is one reason I have just switched but the O2 website is quite
    > clear on international tariffs
    > http://www.o2.co.uk/mobilestariffs/t...paygo/talkalot
    > You can get an international rate bolt on for £5 which drops
    > the call rate to the USA from £1.50 per minute to 15p
    > per minute

Part of becoming a seasoned traveler is getting seasoned from time to
time. ;)

I am happy with the Nokia 3200, and will be popping my Tmobile sim back
into it this morning and never using O2 again if I can help it. It did
very marginally fill its purpose, if anybody stateside needed to
contact us quickly, they "might" have been able to, and it was mostly
this peace of mind issue. We also made a couple of calls to check on
opening times, Buckingham palace unfortunately remained closed due to
the security level, but it was slightly handy to have.

Sorry about the L vs £, still no idea where it lives on my keyboard,
but I can cut and paste.

Anybody know how long my £8 should stay good on this sim, I am
thinking of including it in a small pack of UK travel items on ebay?