I Jumped The Gun (Keitai)

[aquamarine]

After hopping back over the ocean, I walked into a SoftBank with my documents in hand, ready to pick up a phone so I could allow my company and friends to get ahold of me. The papers I had were my passport, money, credit cards, address info and a document stating my gaijin card would be in my hands within two weeks. The first shop I went to told me to go to hell and they couldn't help foreigners at all, not even with a pre-paid phone that was being hocked for 20,000 yen (for a chunk of crap phone).

I ended up going to the next station over from me in Saginuma, and was told they would happily sell me a prepaid phone, no problems what-so-ever. I sat down, and sighed, then asked when I could get a regular phone on a plan.... the young lady blind-sided me and said "Right now! Which do you want?" at which point she pulled out a sheet listing all of the phones they had... minus the iPhone. I was so dumbstruck by this that I didn't think things through and rushed a little too quickly. I ended up pointing like an idiot at a phone that said "Number 1 Sell" (the Samsung OmniaPOP).... a phone that is meant for tweenage girls. Fucking hell.

Oh... but it gets worse... since I didn't have my gaijin card, I had to pay FULL PRICE for the fucking handset. 78,000 yen!!!!! I was fine eating the cost since the phone apparently did everything I need (I wasn't even thinking iPhone, even though I had told my buddies I wanted one). Now I'm stuck with this piece of shit phone that is broadcast as a Media phone. The fucking thing does/doesn't do the following...

-Does not play MP3's... only WMA and even then, only half the time as it has some MAJOR glitches
-Sometimes plays AMR ringtones, sometimes doesn't.
-Doesn't have GPS support, although every website online that ISN'T SoftBank said it does (what in the fuck?)
-The same fucking phone back in Canada... THE SAME ONE.... has GPS, why the fuck does this one NOT have it!?
-Piss poor UI and slow slugging 'vibration' reponse whenever I type on the crappy touch-pad leading for a horrible tactile sensation that lags
-A UI that is sooooo teeny, users are forced to use the little dangling strap-stylus that comes with it. Try typing something when you have fat gaijin fingers.
-Custom ringtones are non-existent unless I want to use the voice-recorder feature which makes every sound seem like it just got raped with a broken bottle wrapped in electrified barbed wire
-It did NOT come with a battery charger... what in the hell is that all about????? I had to spend 2,800 yen extra in the shop just for a charger!!!
-It has already somehow 'forgot' and lost my entire contact list TWICE and SoftBank's explanation was "You probably did something wrong". Fuck you...

So.... what are my options? I bought this fucking thing on August 25th and already want to take a shotgun to it. I know I can simply cancel my contract (two years) and pay the 40,000 yen penalty, but where's the fun in that? I've talked to the folks at SoftBank support and went in person (on the 27th of August) to explain how disgusted I am with the handset and how un-English-friendly it is as compared to most others. Would anyone out there have ANY interest in taking over this godforsaken contract, or perhaps want to buy this nearly brand new handset? Or do I just need to wait till January until I can 'upgrade' to a new handset which would require me to (yet again) pay full price for it?


HELP.....?

[Oh!Saka!]

You should of went with AU.

When I moved here in 2007, I went to the nearest shop with the same documents you had and got the phone of my choice at the same discount price any Japanese would pay.

[Sarutaro]

After hopping back over the ocean, I walked into a SoftBank with my documents in hand, ready to pick up a phone so I could allow my company and friends to get ahold of me. The papers I had were my passport, money, credit cards, address info and a document stating my gaijin card would be in my hands within two weeks. The first shop I went to told me to go to hell and they couldn't help foreigners at all, not even with a pre-paid phone that was being hocked for 20,000 yen (for a chunk of crap phone).

I ended up going to the next station over from me in Saginuma, and was told they would happily sell me a prepaid phone, no problems what-so-ever. I sat down, and sighed, then asked when I could get a regular phone on a plan.... the young lady blind-sided me and said "Right now! Which do you want?" at which point she pulled out a sheet listing all of the phones they had... minus the iPhone. I was so dumbstruck by this that I didn't think things through and rushed a little too quickly. I ended up pointing like an idiot at a phone that said "Number 1 Sell" (the Samsung OmniaPOP).... a phone that is meant for tweenage girls. Fucking hell.

Oh... but it gets worse... since I didn't have my gaijin card, I had to pay FULL PRICE for the fucking handset. 78,000 yen!!!!! I was fine eating the cost since the phone apparently did everything I need (I wasn't even thinking iPhone, even though I had told my buddies I wanted one). Now I'm stuck with this piece of shit phone that is broadcast as a Media phone. The fucking thing does/doesn't do the following...

-Does not play MP3's... only WMA and even then, only half the time as it has some MAJOR glitches
-Sometimes plays AMR ringtones, sometimes doesn't.
-Doesn't have GPS support, although every website online that ISN'T SoftBank said it does (what in the fuck?)
-The same fucking phone back in Canada... THE SAME ONE.... has GPS, why the fuck does this one NOT have it!?
-Piss poor UI and slow slugging 'vibration' reponse whenever I type on the crappy touch-pad leading for a horrible tactile sensation that lags
-A UI that is sooooo teeny, users are forced to use the little dangling strap-stylus that comes with it. Try typing something when you have fat gaijin fingers.
-Custom ringtones are non-existent unless I want to use the voice-recorder feature which makes every sound seem like it just got raped with a broken bottle wrapped in electrified barbed wire
-It did NOT come with a battery charger... what in the hell is that all about????? I had to spend 2,800 yen extra in the shop just for a charger!!!
-It has already somehow 'forgot' and lost my entire contact list TWICE and SoftBank's explanation was "You probably did something wrong". Fuck you...

So.... what are my options? I bought this fucking thing on August 25th and already want to take a shotgun to it. I know I can simply cancel my contract (two years) and pay the 40,000 yen penalty, but where's the fun in that? I've talked to the folks at SoftBank support and went in person (on the 27th of August) to explain how disgusted I am with the handset and how un-English-friendly it is as compared to most others. Would anyone out there have ANY interest in taking over this godforsaken contract, or perhaps want to buy this nearly brand new handset? Or do I just need to wait till January until I can 'upgrade' to a new handset which would require me to (yet again) pay full price for it?


HELP.....?

Why would you have to pay penalty fee for cancelling if you paid full price for it?

[Level3]

Hate to say it but, how about growing a pair? [Poossibly useful advice at the end, after the rant, feel free to skip ahead]:)

Why didn't you get the first shop's clerk's name at the very least so you could compalin to Softbank about him/her? Yeah, fruitless, I know.

Why did you just blow 70,000+ yen without even blinking?
Why did you just pick the most expensive phone even though it's a piece of crap and now want to turn it in?
And now you're complaining to Softbank, in Japan, that the phone's English isn't good enough for you?
Guess that explains why some shop clerks don't want to deal with gaijin at all. That first clerk really dodged a bullet by not taking you as a customer, eh?

Well, at least you seem willing to pay the price rather than just bail out like so many other gaijin. Though I also wonder why you have to pay a penalty when you already paid full price for the phone.

Remember that many mobile phone shop clerk's knowledge is even worse than a city hall bureaucrat [perhaps because they're working on commission, while the bureaucrat just denies gaijin stuff for his own personal amusement]

Read the fine print of the contract. Did you get one of those super safety "oops I spilled water on it so give me my free replacement" insurance plans in your contract? Maybe if you find the right clerk you can downgrade to something useful for free by exploiting that. "oops I spilled water on it, can I get a replacement, but something cheaper that actually works?"

[aquamarine]

All good replies, and all with good points... harsh or not.

I bought the phone as I was jet-lagged and not thinking straight, plus was blind-sided after being told I wouldn't need to wait "X" number of days before getting a real phone so, as the title of this thread goes, I jumped the gun and bought the 'best' one that was available to me at that moment.

As for paying a penalty... I had assumed there would be a similar contract cancellation fee as there is back in Canada with EVER provider. I'll have to check and see if there is in-fact no contract cancellation (in a 24 month contract from what I could figure out) fee that I'd need to pay. That would certainly be nice, and then off to Ebay I go to hock this chunk of shit phone.

[Kuang_Grade]

here's the phone he's talking about
http://mb.softbank.jp/en/products/samsung/931sc.html

While I pride myself on being able to handle and sort through alot of crazy information/data, J cell phone plans structures never fail to blunt my attempts to fathom them, so I wouldn't bank on my comments being 100% right (and I've only used prepaid in the past).

You should have or soon will be getting your bill and it should tell you when your contract period is at the top of the bill.
http://broadband.mb.softbank.jp/en/download/customer_support/billing_statement/03_Summary_01.pdf

They do have a plan that does require a 2 year commitment in exchange for a discount on the price of the some 3G phones
http://mb.softbank.jp/en/price_plans/smart.html
on which there is 9975 yen cancellation fee, but I think if you simply buy another phone and keep the line of service, they won't charge you the cancellation fee.

Likewise, if I read the fine print on this page correctly, you have to wait six months between making a contract change/new phone at discount price if you purchased a phone under the 'new super bonus' plan. So one would imagine that since you didn't buy a phone on a discount, you could get a discounted replacement phone in exchange for a 2 year contract.
http://mb.softbank.jp/en/price_plans/monthly_discounts.html

But I would suggest that you go to the main softbank shops with English speaking staff, although you might want to make an appointment to be sure one of them will be around, and bring all your previous paperwork with you to see if they can parse out the exact terms of the plan your are on and what your options are. Surely, you aren't the first person in Japan to buy a phone and then dislike it immensely there after.
http://mb.softbank.jp/en/customer_support/shops.html

I can see them being non-plussed if you had just got a phone on a discount, but given you paid full freight I would think they might try to keep you in the fold....They'll probably think if you paid that much for the phone, god knows what you'll spend on data charges.

[Western All Stars]

[Level3]

Also a thing that changed is you can no longer
get a cell phone on a short-term visa, even a pre-paid.

That's nuts. I suppose the rationale is that gaijin criminals are using prepaid phones? As if the gaijin handling the drug transactions aren't already getting their prepaid phones from their Japanese handlers?
So, make them illegal, and thus create a black market for pre-paid phones, and thus a whole new category of crime? Bravo!
Plus it gives the police the excuse to stop any foreigner who's talking on a cell phone, cause it might be illegal! Double bonus bravo!

[DrP]

The key point is that you need to have proof that you will / can be in the country as a legal resident for longer than the contract period in order to apply and gain acceptance for a domestic contract. No one cares if your gaijin card is "coming in 2 weeks" - their OSS will kick you out. Some of the smaller independent shops will let this slide - but for sure the carrier main stores wont. ALSO - If you wanna avoid this hassle, then just pay the buyout cost on the phone. Since phones in Japan are heavily subsidized , you gotta either agree to 2yr contract (if you are accepted) or simply buyout handset + whatever plan is available. I dont understand what is so difficult to understand here .... RTFM.

[DrP]

This is changing everywhere - not only Japan. Providing essentially anonymous pre-pay handsets has become a global security risk. Unfortunately. Thus, laws are changing to require strict KYC adherence to crack down on illicit activities oftentimes associated with use of undocumented mobile phone subscribers. Such is the way of life these daze ... sigh