Your Cellular Phone Service
 

I just took a job with SunCom therefore, I just got a cell phone. I'm wondering, what do you all think about the service and plans that you have. I've heard so much about different companies from my customers that I'd like to hear what ya'll think.

What about your phone? Who has the best? Why do you like yours? How have you personalized it?

Just curious!!!

I currently have Sprint PCS service. I like it, I like it a lot! :D Basically because it has nationwide long distance so I could keep my local number in PA (for my parents to call to call me locally) when I was in school in FL. :cool: I haven't had any problems with service too much and the minutes are pretty good. You just have to catch them during a special to get the best minutes.
It also depends on which Sprint phone you get. I have a Sanyo 4400 (or something like that...the one with the speaker phone :p) and it works fine for me and the speakerphone comes in handy in the car! But my sister and a couple of friends have that grey Samsung flip phone, and they are always losing service with it and having low battery life.
I don't know too much about the other services but I would like to hear about them. :D

i also have sprint and i am not too pleased. i hate the fact that my night time minutes start at 8:00 pm. i always go over my day minutes, so i decided to change my plan. i went to the local sprint store to inquire about changing my plan. i was told that if i changed my plan, that my night time minutes won't kick in until 9:00 pm. i work a rural area about 15 minutes from my city. i cannot get services down there because there are no towers in that area. i am contemplating on getting a cricket phone; however, the circuits are always busy and the phone cuts off.

what are the benefits of using suncom? i have thought about switching.

what is a cricket phone?

i have at&t and seem to be the only one of my friends who is happy w/the service and my overall package. each month, i have 800 anytime minutes and unlimited nights/weekends, which includes long-distance. whenever i had questions about bills, customer service has been great and even deducted charges from my account, even when it shouldn't have been done.

Suncom??????
 

I JUST left Suncom! :mad:

HC they have like 3 workers and 50 million customers waiting?
HC you have to sign-in on a *blip blip* clipboard?
HC all I needed to do was make my payment?
HC the chick told me that they are charging $2 FOR A *blip blip* receipt?
HC I was :eek: and :mad:?
HC she saw my expression and said that she wasn't going to charge me?
HC :cool:
HC the little upper management peeps came in?
HC they tried to speed up the service?
HC I waited up in that binch for more than 30 minutes, ONLY to make a payment?
HC I was telling another customer who came in after me, that they could hire me to "take" the payments?
HC they needed an "express lane" only for payment peeps?
HC you can't even make a payment at the "cart" in the mall? wtf?:confused:


Oh, other than that, they aight. I recently got a upgrade 1/2 off...:cool: You can also access directory assistance...that's nice! :D

I'm seriously thinking about shopping around for another provider to see if I can do away with all these "charges".

I like them better than PrimeCo/Verizon. I had them and their customer service was HORRIBLE!

I currently have Cingular and I like it. I have unlimited nights and weekends and I hardly ever go over my day time minutes. Service is pretty good. I hardly ever drop a call. The only thing is the kind of phones they have. They are pretty outdated. I have one of the new Ericsson phones. Suprsingly it's good because when they first came out they sucked! Other than that, after previously being with primeco and sprint, I'm happy :D

I have Cingular, also, and I'm pleased as well. I believe they now have a program where you can upgrade your phone every two years. It's a year this month that I've had my current phone so maybe next year I'll see what that is all about.

Verizon
 

I've had Verizon for the past two years with the Single Rate East Plan. I have not had any real problems. I use it for long distance too (thankfully ALL of my long distance calls are in the plan area):)

Voicestream
 

I had Sprint. I always went over day time minutes, but never used all the weekend and evening minutes. Customer service was bad, and phone would cut off often.
Now I have voicestream. 3000 anytime minutes for $49.
Great plan for me. Customer service is not the greatest. Phone doesn't cut off as much as Sprint did.

Stillwater15, ditto!

I too have AT&T and it's wonderful. Customer service is excellent, and I never have a problem with dropped calls or reception. Their rebate incentives are good too. I've been with them for 3 years and have had more rebates than I can remember. AT&T also has an excellent phone upgrade program. When the company promotes a new phone, current customers receive HUGE discounts over the standard retail price. (Gee, you would think I work for AT&T) :D

doesn't your credit ratings have to be great inorder to get services with at&t ?


a cricket services is similiar to a home telephone. it allows you to have unlimitied talk time-day and night. the fee is around 40.00 a month. long distance is extra.

I have Sprint PCS also...I will admit the only thing that drew me to Sprint was the fact that they had the coolest phones. ;) :D

Right now I have a beautiful phone that is always on roam (it seems). However, when I go to Atlanta, or the larger cities service is great and rarely roams.

Customer service has been great with me so far, I haven't really needed to use it that much.

Daytime mintues do suck though, they give you a ratio of like 5 daytime to 6 million nighttime KNOWING that people need to use the phone during the day! Sigh...

I'm a Sprint Sucker
 

I use Sprint as well, but I'm interested in knowing more about AT&T...somebody help a sista out. Also, how tight are their phones. I love my little flip phone. But I'm always going over on daytime minutes. :mad:

WOW!!! It seems that what everyone is saying about their service is what I hear everyday (except any complaints about SunCom 'cuz you know we are the greatest)! Now, tell me what your perfect plan would be.

Anyone with questions about SunCom or At&T can e-mail me. (I love to receive e-mails, especially when I am at work!)

I have Sprint and I'm fairly pleased with their service...as long as I'm not in the Buckhead area of ATL. I'm telling you, calls will drop left and right! :mad:

The only thing that I really hate about Sprint is if you carry a balance over $20, they have to call and harass you about it. There was one month where I didn't pay my whole bill (guess I was being lazy) and my balance was like $20.55. Why come the Sprint chick had to call me and harass me about why my bill was late and why I didn't pay the whole thing. :eek:

So after letting her HAVE IT, I never really experienced anymore issues with Sprint. I will admit though, they have some TIGHT phones...I'm so ready to get rid of my StarTac. Oh yeah, I never go over my daytime minutes....it helps that I sit in my office all day and people call me there. :D

I DON'T LIKE SPRINT PCS EITHER BECAUSE YOUR NIGHT TIME MINUTES DON'T START UNTIL 9PM. MOST PEOPLE ARE JUST ABOUT SLEEP THEN. THEIR WIRELESS WEB IS LAME TOO.

You do have to have some credit but sometimes, I promise, its the luck of who's on the other end!!! I say that because I've had folks who tell me that they have sh** for credit and still come back with no deposit!! But one good thing is that you do get your deposit back at the end of your contract.

Sprint PCS
 

I HATE SPRINT! I HATE SPRINT! I HATE SPRINT! I'm currently cell phone free just because I HATE SPRINT. The first year of our marriage was lovely. The second year I got one of the lastest phones (that was not cheap :mad: ) and quickly realized that I had to divorce them. I had dropped calls left and right, but worse than that was the voicemail. I would receive voicemail notification at 9 pm and find out that I have 12 new messages. What's wrong with that? ELEVEN of them were from two to three weeks PRIOR and I would just get them three weeks later. It was because of Sprint that I didn't get my cable hooked up in my new apartment in enough time to catch the last episodes of Soul Food :mad: . Now I'm thinking about going to Nextel or Cingular.

I have Cingular, Its a pretty ok plan. However I talk way too much and my should be 52 bucks a month bill usually ends up to be about 170 or so lol. YIKES! The rents keep threatening me to take it away cuz they pay all my bills~ ANyways, I mean its how I communicate, I'm always on the go. I only have 350 regular minutes then after 9pm weeknites its free and 9pm friday-7 am monday its free. free long distance and its free if i talk to other cingular members which is good!!!!!!! :D

Re: Sprint PCS
 

Sprint works my nerves too. Dropped call after call after call.
I thought it was my phone, at first, because I have a small flip phone.Talking about having to walk outside, just to talk, on that bad boy. However I upgraded, my software, and I don't get dropped calls anymore, or messages 3 hours later. I think sprint is pretty good, and they have tight phones too. I was lucky enough to get the plan when the evening minutes started at 7 pm, but now most of their plans the evening minutes start at either 8 or 9 pm.

Upgrade your software. So that you won't have to deal with all of that.

Re: Sprint PCS
 

OK, I do have to agree with you on that. For some reason, if someone leaves you a new voicemail msg., it someone changes all of your stored messages to "new mail" status. That is sooooo irratating!!! I just tell folks to leave me a text message to avoid the frustration.

Re: Re: Sprint PCS
 

Can I just go to the Sprint store to update my software? How much did it cost you?

Re: Re: Re: Sprint PCS
 

I would like to know this too! :D

Sprint Upgrade
 

I had the software upgraded at the store when I started having the problems with the service. It still didn't do any good at all. The phone was in good condition (wasn't even a year old) so I just gave up. I can't afford to pay for something that doesn't work to my satisfaction. Having a sprint phone wasn't worth the frustration.

Re: Re: Re: Sprint PCS
 

Yes you can go to a sprint store for that, It only takes 20 min,
AND IT IS FREE!!!!!!! you KNOW I KNOW about free stuff.

Your calls will be clearer, you'll have less roaming, and almost no dropped calls. The upgrade is included in all of the plans, and can be done on any phone

TTT
 

Okay Ladies, I am currently in the midst of shopping for a new cell phone. I currently have a Voicestream/Tmobile phone and their service here sucks (to say the least). I am looking into either a Verizon, Cingular or Nextel phone. I'm leaning toward Nextel because I have had problems with both Verizon and Cingular plus since Nextel's walkie-talkie service is going nationwide, I would br able to talk to my uncle in FL for free. :)

Does anyone have a Nextel phone? If so, have you had any MAJOR problems? I did a GC search but could not find any more info. Thanks!

I really like Nextel's service. I hate their phones, but after my drama with Sprint PCS, it's okay.

Cingular and I get along royally....

Re: Sprint PCS
 

This pretty much sums it up!!

I have the $49.99 plan which is like 500-600 minutes daytime (I can't remember, I never use all of them), and unlimited nights/weekends. The service is okay, I don't experience many dropped calls at all. When I travel back and forth up north I don't roam, and I like the fact that I can be in NY/NJ/MD and my friends from SC can call and get through with no prob.

MY BIGGEST PET PEEVE with Sprint is that you BETTA not be 3 minutes late with your bill or your chit is turned off!! If your bill is due on the 23rd, at midnight and a coupla minutes your joint is OFF if you haven't made your payment! At least that's how they do me and some of my people! I HATE THEM!!! (No, not really, I just need to start paying my bill on time, and I guess we'll be straight)

AT&T Wireless
 

I've been with AT&T for about 3-4 years. Prior to them, I was with Comcast Metrophone (Now Cingular) and Omnipoint (Was Voicestream, now T- Mobile). I am very happy with them. Their plans are competitively priced, Customer Care is very speedy in resolving what little issues I have, I have very few dropped calls and unlike Sprint, they don't cut you off if you haven't paid your full bill!

As far as the credit thing goes, yes, your credit has to be in fairly decent shape to get in with them, as well as with any wireless company if you want a billed monthly plan. However, I got in with AT&T through an UNADVERTISED (my girlfriend told me about it) special where they were granting credit to anyone, regardless of your credit situation for an undetermined amount of time. No deposit required. They did something similar to Sprint- they put you on a spending limit for a year, and once you have satisfactorily paid your bill on time for a year, they convert you to a non-limit customer.

Sprint (even though I HATE them so), still has the best deal going with the $125 deposit, as well as the cutest phones. But with most carriers-you get your deposit back after a year-sometimes with interest-so if you are able to part with a large sum of money for about a year, just remember that if you pay your bill on time, you'll get it back and it will be a positive mark on your credit report!

AT&T's phone offerings are quite meager, but they are getting better. I currently have the Motorola T720- the silver color screen flip phone, and I am quite happy with it. I was a Nokia fan for years, and believe me, if Nokia ever came out with a flip phone, I would jump right on it! But for now, the Motorola is wonderful-much more functional than the Motorola V60t (I owned that one for about 2 months-sold it before I had the chance to throw it at a wall!)

Also, if your company has a set-up with AT&T, you will be able to get huge discounts on equipment and accessories, as well as extra minutes every month! If you're already an AT&T customer, and you find out after the fact that your company has an account with them, they still let you attach your phone onto the company agreement. Check it out! It's worth it! I've gotten $300 phones for like $100 dollars!

As far as wireless carriers go, here's my word of advice- do your research! Before I went with AT&T, I researched all of the companies available in the Philadelphia area. I researched pricing plans, coverage areas, what's included in your plan (i.e. voice mail, caller ID, detailed billing, text messaging, phone insurance, roadside assistance, directory assistance-don't assume all services come with your plan!) , phones, service technology used (TDMA vs. CDMA vs. GSM, etc.), roaming charges, loyalty incentives, early termination fees...all of that. Plus, don't forget about the all-important word of mouth! Ask your friends, family and co-workers who they are with and if they are satisfied. Usually, a friend or family member will give you a more honest and detailed opinion on their wireless experiences-the good and the bad- than a store salesman will. Then, you'll be able to make a more-informed choice when you go into the store or go to the kiosk so you won't get taken for a ride when it comes time to make your purchase. My advice? Treat cellphone service purchases just like purchasing a car or a house- do your research! Friends still come to me for cellphone advice!

I hope this little tidbit of info helps anyone out looking for new service! Happy calling!

My best advice is DO YOUR RESEARCH!!! I have the SunCom UnPlan and it is great!!!! I can use my phone anywhere and have great reception. What I think is the most important facter to look for is how good is the service where you are 90% of the time. Most people stay close to home so getting a "nationwide" plan isn't worth it especially when you get to spots where you can't use your phne and the salesperson says you can. My soror just switched to Tmobile from AT&T and before she could use her phone whenever she made the trip to SW VA, this past weekend, she couldn't use it at all even though she was told she'd have the same coverage area.

You'll always find bad stories about everyone's service. Just ask the questions and ask friends about their servcie and you should be ok.

I have Verizon and I haven't had a problem yet. I have never had occasion to call the customer service department for anything. Now, when I had Cingular, I called customer service so much that I knew who to ask for and she knew my situation. Me and Maria talked at least every other week. She was a nice lady but that was a little too much contact for me.

Cingular left a really bitter taste in my mouth. The phone didn't work at 9 p.m., it dropped calls left and right, half the time I was talking the other party couldn't hear me, and I even had to put the phone in the shop. Who really has to put their cell phone in the shop? And, them fools didn't even give me a loaner.

I like Verizon. It fits my lifestyle and works very well for me.

I have Sprint Service and I enjoy it because I have a wide variety of high-tech phones to choose from(I currently have the one that you can connect a camara to and take pictures) I dont like my plan because I can't use my night time minutes until 8pm and I always go over my daytime minutes. I could change my plan but that would push my night and weekend mintues to 9pm, but a sista' be in the bed by 9pm... If I could find a company that could give me soo many mintues, including nationwide calls w/o putting a time frame on when I could use the minutes, I would be happy! i.e. 3000 anytime mintues that would include free nationwide calls:rolleyes:

Re: Verizon
 

I've always used Verizon -- my current plan is 300 daytime and 3000 night/weekend for $35. However, in order to take advantage of the new long distance plan, I would have to upgrade (translation: new phone, new contract).

Re: Re: Sprint PCS
 

And ain't that the truth, Ruth! My husband initially got his Sprint phone with the $125 deposit, so if he's over that amount - too bad, so sad!

You wanna hear something funny? He discovered this morning, upon attempting to use his cell phone, that he was shut down! He called to find out how much he owed. . .

$3.00 over his limit!

How's that for service????:confused:

btw. . . I have Cingular and really like it. I haven't had a problem with their customer service. Now my phone on the other hand. . .

Re: Re: Re: Sprint PCS
 

CTFU!!

I can't believe they wasted time and money to cut off his phone over $3 (count 'em....1..2...3..) dollars. :eek: :mad: !!

SunCom: I've had Suncom since I moved to VA and I cannot say enough good things about it. They actually answer your calls on either the first or the second ring (At least when I call) Also, in my area, I have almost perfect service, and not just near highways. The only dead zone I have found so far is in my room :( . But I despise paying $2 for detailed billing, it just seems like too much money for the service.

Nextel: Well, everyone I know seems to like their Nextel, except for the Walkie-Talkie. As it seems, it is not entirely "free" and there can be many hidden charges associated w/ it. I don't have a Nextel, so I cannot elaborate.

Cingular: Is quite popular back East, and most people I know are satisfied w/ the level of service, although they have complained about the knowledge of the customr service reps.

One of the most important parts of choosing a Mobile Company is definetly LOCATION. Cingular and T-Mobile have poor reps down here, but my people in Boston have nothing but praise for them.

Also, be sure the plan you buy will suit your "talking needs". For most companies you can upgrade your plan w/o a penalty, but you cannot "downgrade" a plan w/ the same ease. So, if this is your first phone, you might want to try an entry-level plan and then upgrade if need be.

I work for Sprint and you best believe we turn em off even if you are over your spending limit by even $0.0001!! Sprint don't play!!! ;)

but I have a Sprint Camera phone the sanyo 8100 I luuvv it!!:cool:

Funny you should bring this thread back to the top. . . I was thinking of posting here yesterday.

I have Cingular and as I stated before, love the customer service, but they don't seem to reach as many areas as Sprint. I've actually been giving some thought to switching to Sprint, but (and Soror, please take no offense) the customer service stinks! With Cingular, if I have a problem, or need to pay my bill late for some reason, they work with me, but Sprint doesn't seem to be as compliant. But it seems as if Sprint's service area is much better than that of Cingular. Guess I'll stick with what I have until Cingular's areas improve because I do want one of those fancy phones!

I must concur with btb87. I have had so many problems with the way Sprint bills you---it's RI-diculous. However, I love my pic phone too! Dayum gadgets!