I need a new cell phone company!

[mommyoftwo]

We have a horrible plan and keep going over on our minutes with massive charges. Even though our contract isn't up until this summer, I think we might actually save money by cancelling our service and going with another company. Is there an easy way to compare plans from different companies? I'm ideally looking for a plan with free incoming calls, a favorite calling list where calls to those people are free, a decent amount of anytime minutes and night time minutes that don't start super late. Mobile to mobile calling would be nice too. If anyone has a plan they want to recommend, let me know. We pay $70 right now and I'd like to not go much above that. Any recommendations.

[katiesmommy]

Sheesh, what company do you have now!?! Anyway, if you want mobile to mobile, you need to find out what company the people you talk to most have. For myself, everyone I know had Cingular, so it made the most sense for me to get Cingular as well. I know that Sprint's nightime starts at 7, not sure what others do. T-mobile has the favorite calling list.

[BillK]

What cell company is best is so very dependent on where you live it's rough to give a recommendation w/o knowing the general area you're in.

For example - here in the Pittsburgh area Verizon Wireless (yes - the devil) is the best carrier coverage wise. T-Mobile has some nice plans but the coverage in our area stinks on ice - and Cingular has horrendous customer service.

My major gripe with Verizon is how they cripple their phones and disable so many nice features on them (features the phones come with before Verizon gets their hands on them) to force you to use their pay services. Sadly they're still the best one for my area so I suck it up and deal with them - as much as I hate to.

[Mommy Of A Little Angel]

We have T-Mobile and love it. We have actually had them for 3 1/2 years now. We had such a horrible experience with another company - like $850 bills for no reason, turning off our phones for not paying after they admitted it was their mistake. We have never had a problem with T-Mobile at all. Our bills are always what we expect. I think for the two phones we pay $85/month with all the taxes in there. We have free nights/weekends, free mobile to mobile, 1000 texts/month, and a whole lot of minutes (DH upgraded it when he was doing a lot of contract work and on the cell all the time. I am not sure what it is, but we never even get close to using them all). They have the favorites list now too so that might come in handy for you.

I would check out websites for various providers. That is usually a good place to see what they charge without being in a store and having the pressure of a sales person.

Good luck! Finding a good cell company can be hard!

[DebbieJ]

Bill is right. I have Verizon b/c my whole family does, so we all talk for free.

~ deb
DS born at home 12/03
Breastfeeding After Reduction is possible! www.bfar.org

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[BillK]

http://www.howardforums.com/ is a good resource for all things cell phone related btw...

I really wish T-Mobile had better coverage in my area - they have nice plans, a good selection of phones and they don't cripple their phones like Verizon and Sprint do.

[scoop22]

we have verizon wireless and love it. we have had this service for 6 years and have never had trouble with them. we got our family in on this and we talk for free. it does depend on where you are. we have moved a few times and we always make sure we have service where we live. they were good about things when we said we weren't getting the signal we wanted. they offered us free cancellation.


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[mommyoftwo]

I live in the Youngstown, OH area and I'm looking at t-mobile. We have sprint right now and have had all kinds of problems with them lately. We used to be very happy with them and most of our friends had sprint too. Now people have all different companies. Our sprint plan is 5.5 years old and my biggest complaint is that we only have 400 shared anytime minutes. We always go over that because my husband uses his phone all the time for work. We got new phones a couple years ago and were told we would get rebates then they wouldn't give us the rebates. Then my phone broke and I had to get a new one. I had to sign a two year contract my phone does diddly and squat and I still had to pay $100. Until last week when I finally got them to fix it, my DH's caller id didn't work (it's been like that for over five years). They kept telling us they didnt' know what was wrong and there was nothing they could do. Oh, and when we moved, they wouldn't let us change our phone numbers without buying a more expensive plan. So I'm pretty sick and tired of dealing with them. I just got yet another bill for way over our plan and I've had it. The holiday specials seem like a good way to get a great deal.

[BillK]

T-Mobile's coverage in Youngstown looks pretty good to me - and they have a deal now for 2 Motorola Pebl's for free and 1000 shared anytime minutes for like $49/mo. I'm sure you chose the "my favs" plan (you add 5 favorite numbers that are free calls) it'd be a bit more money though.

http://www.t-mobile.com/promotions/onlineoffer2.aspx?PAsset=Pro_Pro_HTMLFTClock&WT.mc_n=ConsDirectFT1000_index&WT.mc_t=OnsiteAd

[hez]

Us, too. Our best friends here have Verizon, too. We've got 500 shared minutes & free long distance/roaming for $59.99 (ends up ~$65 with all the taxes/fees), and have never gone over our minutes 'cause everyone's In, and especially becaue it's free to call each other. It's nice to see the months when we've used 800+ minutes, but only ~250 of those count towards the shared plan!

[ribbit1019]

We have Cingular. ;) Though I am not sure how well I like their coverage by you. I really like the roll over minutes.
And give me your house # so I can call you there instead of your cell. :)

Christy
Wife to Richard
My Waterbabies
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[mommyoftwo]

So I called to complain about our service issues knowing that I wouldn't get anywhere but wanted to let them know I'm unhappy. I was told that it didn't matter that we have poor service, constantly dropped calls, calls not going through etc. Apparently, they aren't responsible for lack of service. The only way they will waive the early termination fee is if you are dead or in the military. What good does the phone do me if I can't use it? I don't understand why they have such a terrible policy. I've been a customer for over five years. You would think that they would be a little better about the way they treat their customers but I guess it's all about money. Anyway, I just wanted to express my frustration!