NOWO (Portuguese Mobile Operator/Network) 🤦‍♂

[nelsonic]

Context

I've been using my 3 Mobile SIM on EU Roaming in PT for the past few years and it's been very good. 👍
Having a foreign Network Operator in PT means I get to use all the local networks. 💡
Which means I get better coverage than someone who is local and bound to one network! 📶

But there is a downside to having a foreign mobile number in PT ...
Many PT services (banking, utilities and e-Commerce websites) require a PT Mobile phone number.
Also, with Brexit, there is some uncertainty about the continuity for free roaming for UK customers. 💭

NOWO

After a bunch of research I determined that the best value for money Network (for someone over the age of 25) in PT is "NOWO" https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nowo see: https://www.nowo.pt/movel
It's a Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) that uses the MEO (old PT Telecom / TMN) network.
So it has excellent coverage/signal quality for a fraction of the price.

"NOWO" is pronounced "Novo" (as in the "new" network), naming things is "hard".
Obviously they couldn't get the domain "Novo.pt" which is why they misspelled it. 🙄

The cheapest NOWO plan is €7.50/month for 500mb of data and 500 sms/mins.
https://simulador.nowo.pt/simulador/inicio

The Google Chrome automatic translation to English is a bit of a fail (but you get the idea):

NOWO does not have an English version of their site. Given that a PT social security (Numero de Identificaçao Fiscal or "NIF") is required, foreigners aren't going to get a SIM in a hurry. 🚫

By contrast the cheapest deal in the UK is Lebara £3.95/month (€4.65/month) for the same 500mb of data, 200 mins and unlimited sms!
uswitch.com/mobiles price comparison site by @RobStallion 😉

Or £4.95/month (€5.82/month) for 1Gb data (double the data), 500 mins and unlimited sms!

Life in the UK is much cheaper for a lot of things. Sadly the Mobile Operator Oligopoly in PT means that prices unnecessarily high. Eurostat places PT in the middle of the pack in terms of Retail Price Index for EU: https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php/Comparative_price_levels_of_consumer_goods_and_services
So on the surface it looks "cheap" to live here (and it is, if you're an Expat or Digital Nomad who made/makes their money working in a country with a higher income and spends it in PT...), but for the locals who are stuck earning PT min wage, it's grim. All Utilities (Power, Gas, Internet, etc.) are more expensive in PT which disproportionately affects lower income people!
If only the Telecoms Regulator of Portugal Anacom were minimally competent and required the established telcos (or MVNOs) to provide competitive prices ... 💭

Ordered the SIM Card on Jan 10 2020

I placed the order for my SIM card on Jan 10 2020:
Email confirming that I have ordered the SIM Card (translated). Received Jan 10, 2020, 3:17 PM:

PT original:

Paid for the SIM Promptly (the same day I received the Email)

I went to the ATM to pay for the SIM Card order. ATM Receipt:

The Problem

The SIM card never arrived. It's been 16 working days (or 24 calendar days) since I ordered it.

Customer Support?

NOWO does not have a public customer service email address! https://www.nowo.pt/contactos
All they have is PREMIUM Rate Phone Numbers!

I tried searching the internet for a customer support email and some of the forums suggested info@nowo.pt.

I attempted to email info@nowo.pt but the email was rejected by their SMTP server:

I Called 16805 the "New Customer" Hotline

https://www.nowo.pt/contactos/

Just spoke to Neusa dos Santos who informed me that because I was "already a customer" I had to call the (existing) "Customer Service" line not the "New Customer" line.
The "Customer Service" line is €0.30/min. 🤦‍♂

Called the PREMIUM Rate Customer Support Phone Number.
The first call dropped after 4 minutes. (the line just went dead.) €1.20
and spoke to someone who has assured me that a new SIM card will be sent.
The person put me on hold twice during the call. So it ended up taking 13mins 03sec.
So that phone call cost me €2.70
In total I spent €3.90 and 30+ mins calling the customer support line. 😠

Just received this "Customer Satisfaction Survey" email:

PT original: (yes, those &nbsp&nbsp are in the PT version too!)

I answered the Survey:

https://www.nicereply.com ...

What if the Exorbitant Customer Service Line Does't Solve my Problem?

I've searched LinkedIn for "Nowo" https://www.linkedin.com/search/results/all/?keywords=nowo
and sent LinkedIn Connection Invites to all the Employees who work for Nowo.

Once I am connected to a handful of them, I will send an email directly to the Customer Service Manager

Next Action: Wait Another 7 Working Days ⏳

[nelsonic]

The reasons I opened this issue are:

• This is an incredibly frustrating UX for someone wanting to pay to use a product.
• Deliberately not having any email support forces people to use the phone.

  The reason they don't have email support is so they can charge for the tech support calls.
  i.e. punishing people for the bad UX of their onboarding process by forcing people to pay more!

• no-reply / noreply email address is an epic UX fail No Reply Email Address noreply@dwyl.com (antipattern) dwyl/hq#468

Having an issue open is a way of tracking "progress" on this.
The outcome I expect from this life/business lesson is we need a much better system for our email!
GOTO: dwyl/app#267

[nelsonic]

Eventually received my NOWO SIM card.
inserted the SIM into two working phones and get "No Signal" on both.
Tried searching online but there is no user forum just this FAQ page:
https://www.nowo.pt/suporte/faqs/diagnostico-rapido

Their solution: "try turning your phone off and on again".

And if that does not work, call their support line for €2.70 ... 🤦‍♂
Never mind the fact that if your SIM card does not work
and you don't have another phone, you cannot call their support line ...

My time is worth so much more than the "saving" of using this infernal MVNO!! 💸

[nelsonic]

Eventually managed to get my SIM card activated after calling their tech support and spending another 11 minutes €2.70 on the call. 💸 Now I need top-up the account with €7.50 each month ... 🗓