Cell Phone Plan or Pre-Paid Smart Talk?
Jill's grocery shopping ways always have me looking at my budget to look and see what can be cut out. So my cell phone bill drives me nuts every single month. I have been with At & t/Cingular since 2001. My plan is for 900 minutes for $59.99 and unlimited texting is $15.00, after taxes and fees I am looking at about $95.00 a month.(sad!! and that is with no internet). After moving in December my phone reception is worse than ever, I guess because (from what I am being told) since I live in a brick structure I guess it happens. At & t's resolution is to get a Blackberry in which they have offered me a free refurbished one. But with the cost of their Blackberry services I calculated that I would be looking at a $125.00-$130.00 monthly bill and no guarantee that that will solve my reception problem. I could care less about having a fancy phone or fancy options and not having internet on my phone does not bother me but for $95 smackers a month...you would think internet would be a part of the deal. I had bad reception in my last apartment as well which was also brick. I have tried 3 different phones and still the reception is @#%^$ to say the least.
I have over 5,000 rollover minutes banked not by my choice but because my calls drop every 2 seconds and I just use my phone only when necessary (standing outside of my townhome). If I drop down to a lower minute plan, I lose my stocked up minutes. Technically I need the 900 plan but since I can't exactly be on a call at home....I am just frustrated. At & t prices just aren't competitive anymore so either way they will be losing my business. I am considering a Tmobile contract or Pre-Paid Smart Talk for $30.00 or $45.00 a month that I have seen advertised. Can anyone tell me how Smart Talk works, do you get to pick your network? or does it depend on the phone you select?. I don't know $45.00 for unlimited calls, text, internet, and 411 calls w/ Smart Talk seems tempting. What am I missing?
There is a phone service called virgin mobile there cell phones are free and they have a plan that is unlimited texting, web, email,and hundreds of talk minutes. It is only $25 a month it is a really good deal I think.
If you decide to stay with ATT, this gadget might help you. I don't have any experience with it, just noticed it in the WSJ online last week.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142405274870363230457545155009676434...
snip:
Walt Mossberg tries out the AT&T MicroCell, a small gadget that acts as a personal cell phone tower in your home for areas lacking coverage. He says the device has some significant limitations, but more importantly, it raises the question of why you should have to pay to fix a service for which you're already paying.
If you have lousy cellphone reception in your house, you may have wished you had a cellular tower nearby. Well, now you can buy your own and plant it right inside your home.
Verizon, Sprint and AT&T all have started selling gadgets that act as mini-cell towers, broadcasting wireless phone service just like a real cell tower does, though over a much smaller area: a single house.
We too have zero reception at home, and found out about the MicroCell. My husband called AT&T and was able to get the cell tower free. We had to pay for it upfront, but they credited our account every penny including tax. (We asked why on earth we would have to pay for something to make a service we ALREADY pay for work properly??)
BOTTOM LINE: My husband was super nice and sugary sweet to the customer service rep. That almost always gets him very, very far. And when it doesn't, he wishes the person a lovely day and calls right back to speak with someone else.
So many good suggestions and so helpful. Thanks everyone! You give me hope. Someone else told me about this microcell tower I did not know how to explain what it was to a represntative. I am going to give At & t a call and see if they can help me with this. I have 4 months left on contract without being charged the cancelled contract fees. I'm not even hung up on the price that I am paying so much as I am on the dropped calls. If At & t can't help me, I looked into the Boost mobile website suggested and can't see a reason why I wouldn't give them a try. Again everyone, Thanks so much! I was really feeling like I was backed in a corner and with all your advice I am hopeful to get this fixed.
a phone service thru your computer like vonage or somethng w/the reception issue....I sometimes have problems w/reception but I live by a lake and am out in the country. Otherwise, for pre-pay I use tracfone...they are super cheap and have simple phones that you can buy almost anywhere and they also have the double min. which is a good value. Good luck!
We have 3 of their phones with the $25/mo plan 300 talk minutes and unlimited text.
My teenagaers make the most of the texting and have only used half of their talk time. Yay for me!! My phone bills are always the same and I can pay when I want to. No contracts or bills , just use top up cards of registered debit or cc. We really like this feature since we can control the teens better with it.
I normaly have service, Walmart and Meijer are buildings that are so thick I loose my signal. And with some travels when we leave the interstate no service.
I would negotiate with you current carrier to see what they can do for you too. Good Luck
I too have had AT&T since 1999. I recently decided that I was going to go to another comapany and researched them all. T-Mobile looked good, so did Cellular One, however after all the comparing and hidden pricing, they all ended up a few dollars of each other. What I ended up doing was negotiating with AT&T. I told AT&T that I was looking to switch and to another company and what could they offer me. I got a bunch of stuff, free phones, no activation fees (for the new phones), I got to keep all my rollover minutes and switched to a lower plan.(They let me go down one plan and keep my minutes.) In the end I am happy that I did not switch. Yes, you can take your number when you go, but for a few dollars, to me that aggrevation was not worth it.
Also, if you can't use your phone now in your house, who's to say you will be able to with a new company. I went to the Dells this summer and I was the only one out of 5 adults that had phone service the whole time. T-Mobile and Sprint had spotty service and Cricket had no service at all anywhere.
All I can say is do the research, to me, they all end up the same in the end.
I have tried calling At & t a couple of times and plea my case, they seeem like they are willing to lose a customer. I am concerned that the same thing will happen with another provider and there are no guarantees but I am not sure what else to do. $100 bucks for one line w/o internet and I can't use it in my home, is killing me. I can deal with dropped calls and bad service areas like at Walmart, etc...but at home, it is so frustrating that I can't even see straight. I thought after them seeing me us 200-300 minutes on a 900 minute plan they would be willing to help but it did not seem like they had any options for me other than to send me a Blackberry. Maybe I will give them one more try but I was thinking w/ a prepay that if I didn't like it at least I am not stuck in contract. Thanks for your input. I have been with them a long time and it's hard to break old habits.
Another option you might want to consider is Magic Jack for your home. It costs $19.95 for the year if you have a computer/internet at your house. My boss has it and loves it. Then you can get a throw away phone and still have reception in your house.
If you are willing I would be persistent with AT&T. When I negotiated with them I was stern and pointed out my long history. Maybe you just got a sour person that day, try again, they seemed like they wanted me to stay.
Just because it's an old habit doesn't mean it's a good one. You don't reward lousy service a restaurant by tipping big while bending over backwards to accommodate the server's shortcomings, so why do the same with your phone company? Assuming you can get out of your current contract without paying exorbitant termination fees, then drop 'em like a hot rock! Even with some fees, it's still worth paying the ETF to get rid of a lousy service provider. And don't worry about losing your saved rollover minutes either. If you're never going to have the chance to use the saved minutes, then it doesn't really matter if you have any at all.
I'm almost certain that all the major phone carriers have a "trial" period built into the contract where you can test the phone and service at your home and if it doesn't work you can then cancel without penalty so long as you do so within a specified time window (Just DON'T send off for any phone rebates until you know for sure that you're sticking with the service and phone). So, you might not have to go with pre-paid if you do prefer the big-name carriers.
Finally, if you're concerned about contracts, some companies (like T-Mobile) do offer contract-free plans so long as you provide your own phone. Your existing at&t phone should be compatible with T-Mo's network, so you might want to look into that option too.
I switched to Boost Mobile over a year ago and it was one of the best decisions I ever made! I use my cell A LOT. In fact so much that we did away with the land line. For 50.00 a month I get unlimited minutes (including long distance), unlimited text messages, and unlimited internet. Plus since it is powered by Nextel technology it has the Nextel walkie-talkie service (not something I use) and has great coverage. Even in the middle of nowhere SD, where my family is I get a signal which is pretty unheard of. Now that I'm in my new house on the river, it doesn't have a great signal in the house all the time, but few things do along the river.
I never have to worry about a big cell bill creeping up on me or how many minutes/texts I've used. I have a Motorola i465 which has a Blackberry look/feel to it. They do offer blackberry service and actual blackberry phones. I think the flat rate for BB service is $60/month.
Would I be able to keep my same phone number?
Yes, I kept my same number. HTH
I also have Boost Mobile because I couldn't imagine paying $1300 a year just for a cell phone. I pay $50 a month just like icoupon2 does. (As a matter of fact, thats where most my texting goes LOL.) I use the internet feature all the time for coupontom while I'm in the store and it works great. I had Cricket prior to the Boost phone and their coverage was just too spotty.
You can keep your old number. Phones are available on line and at Best Buy.
Here's a link to their site.
I have a basic plan that I top-up $20 every 90days, and pay $.20/min for any calls made, so for $20 I can make 100min in calls over 90days. Any unused top-up $'s are rolled over for as long as your account is active. This is great for me because a very rarely use my phone. Right now I have about $54 in top-up money.
Then I have another phone set up for my son, with the $25/mo for 300 min, w/unlimited text and data usage. He makes the most out of that unlimited text. He would like the next plan that is $40/mo for 1200 min, w/unlimited text and data usage. They also have a $60/mo unlimited calls, text, and data usage.
The phones can be a bit pricey, but there are no 2yr contracts. They range from $10 - $100 for the PayLo min plan phones. And $70 - $250 for the beyond talk plan phones. The phones are sold in most stores. Target, and Radio shack even have them on sale every now and then.
I also have a Virgin Mobile and love that I pay up front and use the min/text that I buy. $20 unlimited text is worth it for me...so I add 400 min for $30 every month and with tax it's about $55. MUCH less than I was spending when I had ATT
I also live in a brick structure, the basement apt in my building and I have great reception with the phone too. Occasionally a dropped call, but not enough to annoy me.
They have that $25 a month plan that has unlimited text and 300 air time minutes.If you don't use all 400 every month .IMHO Might save you 30$ a month
Was thinking of changing to it....they didn't have that option (at least I don't remember) when I first dropped contract billing with ATT and went with Virgin. I love the pay as you go option.
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