Our second eSIM experience was much better!

The day wore on yesterday without ever hearing back from Maya Mobile. Really terrible customer service, and I will leave a review in that regard. Eventually, 24 hours after buying their eSIM, I sent a new email to customer service asking for a refund. Ten minutes later, the refund was granted... no questions asked.

So at least there is that.

In yesterday's post, I mentioned that Airalo is the market leader for eSIMs and that there are maybe a dozen other companies vying for sales in that space. Well I was wrong. I did some more research and there are in fact now 46 (give or take) eSIM companies selling online.

So, there is a lot of competition. The problem of course is that it's time consuming to sort through and find the best deals. 

With my money refunded from the first eSIM, I set out to try another one. This time, I decided on a company called BNESIM (BNE stands for "Best Network Ever"... I guess we'll see!).

Even better pricing, although I decided on a smaller package. This time, I bought an eSIM for Turkiye that allowed 5 GB of data for 30 days, priced at only $3.95 USD ($5.40 CAD).

Once again, I found the process easy to install and it connected to the network quickly, however this time it took four or five minutes to actually connect to the 4G data. But once it did connect, it didn't drop off like the last one. So far, it remains connected.

I think the problem with the Maya one was a glitch. In doing the research trying to correct the problem, I came across many Airalo customers with similar problems. So it happens to them as well.

I'll have to try a few more eSIMs in different countries before I'll actually recommend the BNESIM brand, however I am sold on the convenience of eSIMs provided they work out to similar or less money than buying a local SIM card. 

There's a really good fruit and veggie shop nearby,

Everything is really good quality!

We're really enjoying grocery shopping and Ruth's cooking! And gluten free bread for sandwiches at lunch! 

We did a lot of walking yesterday... three or four times out with Gus, and once on our own so that we could do a power walk with stops at the outdoor exercise machines.

Happy hour ussie on the back deck with backgammon.

Of course Gus manages to snuggle his way up there and sort of make room for himself!

We haven't done anything in the way of exploring Istanbul. We've just been living the local life in the neighborhood. But we've only got four days left here, so we better get out and see some new sights!

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Good deal on this light duty Greenworks Electric Pressure Washer.

And in Canada...

Check out the deals at Amazon.ca.