Cell phone companies - help me to decide

**Clutterbug Jen** · 06-30-2008, 11:21 AM

Right now I'm trying to decide which cell phone company to go with since I was with Cell One and have to change by the end of July.

I was going to originally go with AT&T prepaid so I could get unlimited mobile to mobile with my son.

But - when I ordered a phone from them, it was a total nightmare and the bottom line was that they sold me a phone BUT in the end, they said they couldn't ship it to my zip code [HUH? What the heck!]

So, finally they did refund my money but I swear every single person I talked to was totally incompetent and believe me, it was many that I talked to!

I'd still like to go with AT&T prepaid but am afraid that anytime I'd have to deal with someone that I'd get screwed around again and there's no way I could deal with what I did for the past 3 weeks with the order situation.

Then I thought about going with Verizon Pay as you Go and everything sounded good until I found out that yes, you get a 99 cent fee charged for each day that you use the phone.

No big deal really UNTIL I found out that they charge you that even if you don't get to talk to anyone.

Say I were to call my sister and I hadn't made any other calls that day but that she wasn't home or whatever ...

Bottom line is, I didn't get to talk to her but they still charged me 99 cents. To me, that doesn't sound like it'd be such a good deal after all, ya know?

So, I guess my question is .. if any of you have AT&T prepaid, how is their service and if you deal with your local AT&T store and not on the phone with the toll free # people, have you had any problems?

Sorry this is so long [I can never seem to say anything without writing a book.

]

Love,

Jen

**Momof4cats** · 06-30-2008, 01:23 PM

The only dealings I've had with AT&T was a couple of years ago when I was going to get a prepaid phone. They looked my street up on the map (I live in the boonies) said 'no problem' with the coverage, sold me a phone and away I went.

After I got the phone fully charged I discovered I had no signal whatsoever. Took the phone back and requested a refund. Didn't have a problem getting the refund, at least. I ended up having to go with Verizon because they were the only carrier who had a signal in my area.

**ewokgirl** · 06-30-2008, 02:45 PM

My husband I use Virgin Mobile, which is a pay-as-you-go plan. We pay about $15 every three months for each phone's service. You're only charged for the minutes you use. You do have to pay at least every three months for more minutes, even if you have several stored. (I think I have about $40 in minutes for my phone because I so rarely use it!) This plan works very well for us because we aren't big cell phone users.

The only drawback I've experienced is that there isn't reception out in really remote areas. But as long as your typical usage is in highly-populated areas, this shouldn't be an issue.

**Clutterbug Jen** · 07-01-2008, 09:27 AM

Momof4cats, I think that if I were to deal with an AT&T store instead of the phone that I may have much better luck.

ewokgirl ... I had Virgin Mobile at one time, no problems with it except it didn't have good reception when I was in Walmart or other buildings such as that.

I'm not in a heavily populated area so not sure how it'd work if I were to have to go out of town [which isn't often unless there were to be an emergency.]

Thanks so much for your input gals!

Love,

Jen

**leezza** · 07-01-2008, 09:39 AM

I use BOOST mobil through Nextel service I believe......you can buy their phones at Target for as little as $25-$30.....and phone minutes come on cards in amounts of $20-$50.....the $20 amount usually lasts me at least 3 months, (I use it mainly for the walkie talkie service). Coverage is good I can talk to Alaska from California and MOST places around the US.

This service is not the best if you use your phone alot because the per minute is kinda high, but I have no complaints so far.

just my 2 cents : )
leezza

**Tater** · 07-01-2008, 06:40 PM

Verizon here! We can't find a place that we don't have a signal except in the middle of the ocean when we were on a cruise!! Its $107 per month for three phones, unlimited text. Never had a problem.

**itsahumanzoo** · 07-01-2008, 06:47 PM

We used Virgin Mobile for a little while. There was a special on the site and we both got a free phone when we bought $20 worth of talk time. We rarely used the phones, and it cost about $15 a month for each of us. The customer service was great too!

**itsahumanzoo** · 07-01-2008, 06:48 PM

Oh also, if your current phone is still set up, you can use that same number with Virgin Mobile. But you have to set your Virgin Mobile up before your current phone service ends.

**Buckeye5** · 07-01-2008, 07:27 PM

We gave up our Alltel cell phone service one year ago. Saving $120 a month. Family bought the cheap trac phones and buy minutes as needed. We always can find extra free minutes to add also from the internet. We live in a very rural area and they have worked fine. The way I see it, it is one less person I owe money to a month. Love it.

**happimommi** · 07-01-2008, 09:22 PM

We have AT&T and have had no problems, we pay $70 a month for 3 phones and we have unlimited mobile to mobile and free nights and weekends, which my DD16 really takes advantage of (last month she racked up 600 night and weekend minutes, thank heavens they were all free!!!) We also have rollover which we really like. We signed up on the internet and have never had a problem.

**janis362529** · 07-01-2008, 11:46 PM

Our prepaids are At&t for hubby. We bought it at Walmart about 30 minutes from our house. When we went to register it we found out they had no service for our area but we still got it hooked up and well it works just about no where and it does not roam. .(he travels every where so it not being in our area was not that big of a problem)
I have a trek phone and I love it. No daily use charge, it roams with no added chage it just does not give you group plans.

We have a Sprint plan cell that is currently off since we had a habit of bring home a $300 bill. So until we fix that issue we will be using prepaid

**EmilyD** · 07-02-2008, 02:02 AM

I have been using Tracfone's for over 5 years.

Simple, easy , convenient.

I use it for travel, I do not talk on it a lot, and I don't use it to text etc. , it has a couple of games and if I am REALLY bored I play them occasionally.

I did buy a double minute card and that has worked out well.

I have a car charger and ear piece and a home charger. I very seldom have any place I can't receive calls.

Costs me nothing every month. I was down to 400 min. so I bought a 120 min card tonight for my trip this week. Got 240 m in and 90 days extension on due time. Also, you can buy cards just about anyplace anymore .. I get mine at walmart.

My home phone has unlimited long distance so it works out well.

**SSGWilkesWife** · 07-02-2008, 11:35 AM

We use Tmobile. They have a pretty good prepaid plan also....they are running specials now. Most prepaid plans you will pay more on a monthly basis if your a phone talker, contract is the best way to go. You can also get a prepaid phone at walmart or whatever and then call tmobile to set you up a regular account, they get you with the new phone contract but if you buy your own phone you can get a shorter contract or not one at all. Happy phone searching.

I told my family we were going back to using beepers...........my kids looked at me and asked what is a beeper! LOL You can even do that now because there are no pay phones any more.

**Clutterbug Jen** · 07-02-2008, 11:42 AM

Hi all!

Well, it looks like I'm gonna be ending up with Verizon or at least for now.

I had bid on a cell phone on Ebay [for a verizon phone] and thought for sure that someone would outbid me.

I only bid $25.00 on it and it stayed at $19.01 for days but no one did outbid me so I got it for $19.01 + $10.00 s/h.

Thanks for all your help!

Love,

Jen