Pay To Recharge Your Cell Phone

Posted by pfadvice
January 15, 2007

I walked into a store the other day and when my eye caught hold of this I thought, “wow, that is some funky looking phone:

Pay to recharge your cell phone, computer or camera

As I approached closer I saw that it was anything but a pay phone. It was a device that allowed you to recharge the battery of your cell phone, computer or camera - for a hefty price: $1 for 5 minutes, $2 for 10 minutes or $3 of 20 minutes.

Upon seeing this, it immediately reminded me of gas stations charging for air and water, but I wouldn’t be surprised if these caught on. Finding a pay phone in Japan these days can be difficult to downright impossible. With most of the population carrying a cell phone, pay phones aren’t worth the cost of installing anymore. So if you need to make a call and your battery has died, this may be your only option in some places.

I may have to spend a few hours at the store some day and see how often it gets used…

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Information: January 15th, 2007; 4 Responses

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Reader Comments

Comment Number:: 1
Written by:: Phil
Posted on:: January 15, 2007 at 8:29 am

I have seen these in American airports for a few years. The prices are similar I think. I’ve never needed to use them, but they certainly could be handy someday.

Comment Number:: 2
Written by:: Amber
Posted on:: January 15, 2007 at 11:35 am

When I was in Kenya they had a similar service but that was because a lot of homes just don’t have electricity. Pay as you go cell phones are more reliable there than land lines so just about everyone has a cell phone but no place to plug it in. I wondered when I saw that how long it would take for that sort of service to start emerging elsewhere.

Comment Number:: 3
Written by:: The Sarcasticynic
Posted on:: January 15, 2007 at 2:16 pm

Yeah, I remember when gas stations first started charging for air and water. And given the reduction of courtesy and increases in rudeness these days, we may need vending machines that dispense compliments. You insert a dollar and it says, “My, you are looking WONDERFUL today! Have you lost weight? Is that a new haircut?”

Comment Number:: 4
Written by:: MomsWhoSave.com
Posted on:: September 12, 2007 at 6:20 am

I could have used this in an a pinch more than once!