Yes you can recharge in Florence

LTO from Toronto

4 - recommended

I know that the post complaining about recharging in Florence was old post but I travel there regularly and you can certainly buy Uno Mobile recharge vouchers at Carrefour Markets which I have done many times. It is not a well-known carrier and the person at the cash register may say they have never heard of it, but have them look it up. I have also purchased at the general Tobacco stores which sell for all carriers.

Worked very well in Italy

SoCalRobt from Los Angeles, CA

4 - recommended

Easy to install and get up and running. But wait until you are in your destination country before trying it out. The service worked pretty much as advertised. We used it exclusively in Italy, and it worked just fine. Only lack of service occurred in the rural mountain areas, and that was to be expected. The only real problem was that I could not monitor my data plan usage. We had purchased the basic 1 gigabyte data plan, but whenever I went to check how much I had used, or what was left, I would only get a black screen with the letters "tba" displayed. When I installed the SIM card, and checked the handset's (an iPhone 4S) Access Point name, it displayed "iphone.vodaphone.it" I reset it to what the instructions indicated, "web.unomobile.it" Everything seemed to work, we could access our USA email, and surf the web. We were in Italy for 3 weeks. When we made the initial order we paid for additional cellphone minutes. We were careful to minimize our calling out from our cellphone, and we utilized free Wi-Fi at hotels and restaurants as much as possible. All that being said, the service worked very well indeed and with little stress or effort on our part. We would definitely recommend it to others, and would use it again in the future.

Great Product

Frequent Flyer from Miami, Fl

5 - recommended

I was in Italy for 20 days, the SIM card worked perfectly all over the country. I used it the entire west coast of the country and also some rural areas. I never lost coverage. I installed the SIM card here in the U.S. And when I arrived in Italy the phone was working immediately.

Perfect !

John from San Francisco

5 - recommended

Simply fantastic !

Uno Mobile not well known in Italy

tombinitaly from Colorado

2 - not recommended

Instructions for configuring the data plan were complicated, if ultimately successful if you aren't afraid of the guts of your phone.

Realize that the data plan is 3G and is painfully slow.

1Mobile is not a popular service provider in Italy, as witnessed by my inability to purchase a recharge from any of the places listed in the documentation. I finally bought $25 of minutes through Cellular One (the least they offered--but far more than I'd use in a week). While it's not their fault my phone was stolen right after that, the inflexibility of the recharge options left a bad taste in my mouth.

After my phone was stolen, I was unable to access their customer service/support from an Italian land line. I called multiple times, and there was always a busy signal and never an answer. And yes, I know how to make phone calls from an Italian land line.

I finally sent a desparate e-mail about the theft and the need to brick my phone and promptly got an automated e-mail response that someone would respond within 48 hours!

Luckily they cancelled my service earlier than that, but the lack of access to their customer service was stressful and frustrating.

Years ago, I bought a TIM Sim card from Cellular One, and it worked perfectly in Italy. The experience this time--even before the theft--was fraught with frustration.

Service Carrier Poorly Known in Italy

Franco from Boston

3 - not recommended

I traveled to Florence, Italy last month; when I went to add more "talk time" to my phone, to my surprise, I discovered that there was not one place in Florence who could sell me a Uno Mobile/Carrefour recharge. Went to ten different places; they had every other carrier but this. 8 of the 10 had never even heard of Uno Mobile/Carrefour. Even worse, none of my Italian friends or relatives had heard of it. I was able to recharge in Rome. But the fact that I could not do so in Fllorence, a major city, was really troubling. I would NOT purchase this deal again.

Cellular Abroad Response
Uno Mobile is a sub brand of Vodafone. The way it works in Italy is that the recharge vouchers are generated on a machine. In sum, if the vendor sells one brand, they sell them all. The problem can be that if a foreigner comes in and asks for a voucher, and perhaps mispronouncing the name "Uno Mobile," the vendor will assume that the traveler needs a non-Italian top up. If you write the name of the brand (Uno Mobile) on a piece of paper and have them check, 100% they will find it in all places they sell top ups.

21 days in Italy

Cap from Niagara Falls Ontario, Canada

4 - recommended

Sim card was great but unfortunately somehow the phone pocket dialled and we used most of our minutes. Thank goodness this was on the last few days as I did not have enough time left to order more minutes.

some cons

Kothar from Highland Park, NJ

3 - recommended

The locked keypad is a pain, especially because the long press unlock fails half the time. You have to hit exactly the right spot.

But there is a bigger problem. You dial a number and you get the error message: numero inesistente o momentaneamente inaccesibile (or something like that). I am absolutely certain that something is wrong. I had the chance to try one of these numbers sitting face to face with a friend whose phone was lying right there on the table. I dialed his number, showed it to him on the little screen of my phone for verification, then called him, and got the message just quoted.

Worked Well

J from Rochester, NY

4 - recommended

Product worked as advertised. I purchased extra minutes when I bought the SIM card and phone; however, I didn't realize the enclosed voucher was for these minutes until I ran out of minutes in a middle of a call to the US. As best I can tell there was no explanation indicating I had to use the voucher to load the pre-purchased minutes to the phone. I did that while in Italy before I learned by email from support that this was the case. So, if you purchase extra minutes before you leave be sure to use the voucher when you get to your destination. There are no directions to do so as best as I can tell.

Mi-fi for Italian travelers

Chef from Bristol,VT

5 - recommended

Amazing product Internet every where in Tuscany! In the car, hotel,restaurants!

Good way to go.

Jim not a runner from Coeur d'Alene, Idaho

4 - recommended

It is much easier than trying to get a phone locally, but it costs more, too. It is a good way to go for someone who has never been here before. You pay for what you get, the ability to get a phone without a lot of hassle.

Thank you

Limey from banner elk, NC

4 - recommended

made keeping in touch with family in US easy,thanks

..wouldn't use anyone else ..

Cali Girl from San Diego, CA

5 - recommended

..worked like a dream, great reception calling to U.S., easy to add minutes!

Works fine

BJ from Portsmouth, NH

5 - recommended

I bought the least expensive phone with SIM card for Italy that I could find so that I would have access to a phone when needed during a two-month stay in Sicily. It has worked perfectly. I use it only for short calls to the landlord or to make dinner/hotel reservations, and it has served me very well.

Using the cellphone in Italy

Happy Wanderer from Rome, Italy

4 - recommended

Locals said to us either 00 or the plus before calling all numbers in Italy. This differed from the directions that came with the SIM card, but the advicefrom the locals was worked.

Cellular Abroad Response
This is correct, you can use the + or 00 to make local calls. Our instructions specifying to dial directly without the + or the 0 are also correct. In sum, either method works.

Very good coverage

Soccer Mom from San Francisco

5 - recommended

My daughter has been in Italy for a couple of months now. I am impressed by the quality of the signal, even when she was in a rural area of the Dolomites. It is reassuring to know she has a reliable product. Thanks!!

I would use this product again

Mu Mike from Italy

4 - recommended

We used our phone while we traveled around Italy. We had no problems with our coverage.

Peace of mind

New World Travelers from Novi MI

4 - recommended

We purchased the package just for the "peace of mind" of having some type of communication with "home" without having the roaming charges of our personal cell phones. Though we hardly used it, it again gave us "peace of mind" that we had good communication at a local level.

A lifesaver traveling abroad

Li from Phx, AZ

4 - recommended

It was great for getting connected with "can't find the hotel", shuttle pickups, etc.

SIMPLE AND EASY!

E from Austin, Texas

4 - recommended

It couldn't have been simpler, when I travel I don't want to be bothered with my personal phone so this certainly was a great value and I only used it for the calls I needed to while in Italy.

no thinking necessary

kathy from buffalo,ny

5 - recommended

my cell did not have service in Italy, and I was not going unless I could call my kids! This is a perfect uption, and was extremely easy to use.

Good deal

Chris from Milwaukee, WI

4 - recommended

Great product. Worked well in Italy and delivery and return made easy.

Needed to add phone numbers to use<

Mary from Massachusetts

3 - recommended

Happy I was able to call home but had to enter all phone numbers in there phonebook in order to use it. The phone did NOT ring for whatever reason. It was good to be able to call home and family.

The Phone worked as advertised

World Traveler from Detroit, MI

5 - recommended

We used the phone to stay in touch with family and business associates at home in the USA and to locate our tour guide if we got separated.

No hassles and easy to use!

Laura from Rhode island

5 - recommended

Great products and easy to,use. We rented two phones and had no problems. We started with a base amount of minutes but should have purchased more , as we ran out and had to order minutes. No problems with ordering however. Would recommend cellular abroad to my friends.