Cell phone companies

[satyrlovesong]

I've been a happy Verizon customer since 1999. Ok, technically I started with AirTouch and Verizon bought them, but either way I've been fairly happy with them. When I was doing all that travel for teaching they let me change my plan every month depending on where I would be, and they have been supportive and helpful at every stage

Comments

[ribbin]

I know my girl uses Metro PCS. It works in Sac, the entire Bay Area, and other major towns (New York, Miami, Chicago, etc.) It's cheap, unlimited talking and texting. The downside is that it's got very limited coverage. It works in Davis, but I don't know how good the coverage is. You can ask her at crystal_rfox.

[satyrlovesong]

I'll look into that. Thank you.

[1evil_kitty]

I have Metro PCS. :-) I luvs it. Unlimitted calling is for the win when I use my phone as much as I do. Go to their website to look at the coverage area map. www.metropcs.com.

I pay $60.00 a month for my phone and that's with all the bells and whistles. If I'm not mistaken I do believe my phone reception is actually even pretty decent in your garage. I should bring over some beer and perhaps pay closer attention to my phone reception. ;-)

[teamnoir]

For comparison, my t-mobile plan includes two phones, a blackberry with blackberry service and a motorola with standard data support, (Ie, web browsing and bluetooth modem). I pay about $80/month and the two of us are never anywhere near to my minute limit, (which is trivial to track).

And for the record, the best verizon could do would have cost me $250/month and couldn't do bluetooth modem at any price.

[cahwyguy]

If you are happy with Verizon (as are we, since Airtouch days as well), you might just consider reducing the minutes on your plan. You might also see if your employer has any arrangements -- I know that working here at the ranch gives us a corporate discount of 15% with Verizon. You should also consider when your contract end date is so that you don't get hit with a penalty.

[satyrlovesong]

*nods* Yeah, I thought about it but reducing my minutes significantly would only lower my bill by $5. I'm on their most popular plan.

[loupyone]

For $40/mo from verizon I get 450 minutes, free nights and weekends, free long distance and roaming and unlimited IN calling (verizon to verizon). Added to this, when i signed up again recently, they basically gave me a $300 phone and 2000 bonus anytime rollover minutes. This translates into around 80 extra minutes a month, for a total of 530/mo. Texting and picture messages cost extra.

I didn't see a whole lot that was less expensive than this. Check out T-mobile and metro PCS. Also, how about pre-paid cells? And check on that 15% discount. i just signed up for it after years of being eligible. For some reason, they don't advertise it.....

[satyrlovesong]

Yeah, that's the plan I'm on now - and I've been with them long enough that I'm beyond my two years. They offered me a free month to sign up for another year, or a new phone (which I do need) for a two year contract. *shrugs* I just don't think I use $40 worth of service. I did, before I got my new work phone but now I used that. I just don't want to lose my number.

[tsgeisel]

Keep in mind A) you might be able to find a better sign-up incentive by going into a store and talking with someone and B) get better reception perhaps with a different/newer phone.

My local store is always willing to match the online price, and while they can't do anything on the basic plan, they have wiggle room for other things, including potentially accessories and fees.

I've got Cingular now, and they work for me.

[emilia_romagna]

metropcs has a $29 dollar no frills plan.

[cinnicat]

I currently have Cingular on my company's plan. Unfortunately, I don't have minutes really, so I get widely ranging monthly charges from $26-$60, depending on usage. But that's my company's fault. :)

However, the service has been good, and I need that travelling all over North America as I do.

[lrc]

Where I live, I pretty much have my choice of Verizon.

I guess ATT works there now but for central california, especially the bay area, Verizon seems to have the best coverage.

[terpsichoros]

I've actually found the opposite. I carry a verizon phone for work, and have ATT/Cingular/ATT/Borg for my personal phone. In areas at the fringes of urbanization, including a bunch of RenFaires, AT&T is quite often the only carrier which has signal, though Sprint has been better, and there are some areas where Verizon gets better coverage.

In my experience, AT&T has the least worst customer service, though I wouldn't rate it "good". Verizon support was nearly useless when trying to do something complicated at my previous employer, and screwed things up several different ways on the same case.

If you want a "smartphone" (Crackberry, Treo, etc), Verizon is much, much more restrictive about downloading useful stuff onto their phones - not quite as bad as Apple, as you can download anything which causes money to go to Verizon. Verizon was the last to have Google Maps for its smart phones, and still cannot connect real GPS to their phone, for example.