May 23, 2011 03:25 PM
2484 Views
I came to read the reviews and Write a review after I have used the matrix connection 2 times.
The experience was different on both these occasions.
1st time it was a short trip of my parents via Dubai to USA, I had taken only the Dubai card where they were charged only Rs 25 per day rental, 1 free minute to India and Approx Rs 45 per minute there after with free incoming in Dubai. This turned out to be a good deal for a short duration. I got the SIM card posted to Matrix from USA when my parents reached to USA.
Pros: Mobile connection available to my parents immediately after landing in Dubai.
FREE Incoming, ensuring that anyone can get in touch with you with their money without any charge to you.
Cons: Probably a little expensive for outgoing calls to India.
2nd Time it was my business trip to USA which I had to extend for some time. I had taken the$30 per 30 days plan with 300 free minutes. The Catch with USA plans is there is no FREE Incoming. And you can easily eat up your free minutes in no time. The charges above the free minutes of$ 0.25 per minute are pretty expensive. Certainly you will have better bill plans available in the local market where you are visiting. e.g. AT&T(on whose network matrix operates) provides prepaid at$ 0.1/minute($25 minimum) which is the same rate(rather less) as of Matrix free minutes - 300 mins in$33(10% surcharge by matrix)
Pros: Mobile connection available to you immediately after landing. Free anytime minutes as per Bill Plan. You can modify the bill plan midway by calling on the support number. [I changed from$15 to$30 to increase my free minutes]
Cons: Very Expensive once you go above the free usage, there is no facility to check how much you have used so far, the way you can check for your prepaid connections in India. So you will come to know about this only when the bill gets generated. Even the bill frequencies are not aligned with your contract start date making it very complicated to comprehend the bills.
Some times there can be a glitche in your service and you may need to connect with customer service to get that rectified causing hassle to you for that duration.
Caution:
One of the point which many people have complained about is charges which are not explained to them. In my case I agree to this to some extent that the sales representative does not tell you these specifically but these are mentioned on the bill plan document; e.g. 10% surcharge on the total amount is written on the plan shared with me; only this was not made specifically clear to me by the sales rep. So its your duty to read the thing completely before your sign.
The Bottam Line Suggestions for All travellers: Read all the details of the plan being offered to you from Matrix and then only go ahead to decide on the connection.
This connection would be best for people who plan to travel for very short durations such as 7-15 days where you do not want to waste time in searching for SIM Cards from local vendors once you reach there. This connection would be best if you are getting a free incoming like in Dubai Card.
Keep the calls to minimum and under the free allowances you have.
If you have option to get a local SIM card at cheap rate once you reach there: go ahead and take the card and stop your Matrix Service:-)
Suggestions to Matrix: Provide bill plans that compete with the local telecom operators and not with international Roaming. Who uses international roaming anyways?
I would certainly use matrix next time if the charges are more are less same what are available from the local operatotors.
