Originally Posted By Innocent lil mouse I am not too worried about coverage because it seems like everyone has good coverage where I live, but I am concerned about price, phones, and customer service. I have heard such horror stories. My needs are simple. I need a small cell phone and about 200 minutes a month and text messages and an easy way to fix problems if I have a problem. Any information would be useful.
Originally Posted By friendofdd This is one that is convenient and has no contracts. You can change options or get out of it at any time. https://secure.consumercellular.com/pw/
Originally Posted By peeaanuut I dont ever have coverage problems with my phone. But ever since Cingular switched to AT&T their customer service has sucked. Before when you phone had a problem under the insurance I could walk into the store and get it replaced. Now I have to do about 10 backflips and mail it to 100 places to get it replaced. The coverage is still good though.
Originally Posted By Inspector 57 Let me suggest a company NOT to go with: T-Mobile. We got good pricing and nice phones, and we get decent customer service. Seemingly, a pretty sweet deal. The teeny tiny little snag is that our phones don't quite work when they're... inside buildings. Driving along on the highway? No problem. Standing outside in the rain? Check. But ten steps inside of a department store -- or any steel-framed structure? Forget it. T-Mobile sucks.
Originally Posted By x Pirate_Princess x I57..which is why I switched to Sprint. I use my cell as my house phone, and it didn't work in my house.
Originally Posted By Pixie Glitter Oh, wow, that's interesting that you've had that problem with T-Mobile! We have used T-Mobile for six years, and the only place we have ever had difficulty getting a signal is in Disneyland, and then only within the last two years. We've consistently had far better reception/tower coverage than local friends with other carriers. I suppose your geographical location has something to do with it.
Originally Posted By peeaanuut t-mobile has spotty service in areas. Sometimes its the only company to get a signal and other times the roles have been reversed. Their customer service seems to be quite good from some that I have read about.
Originally Posted By rtjl72 these are good things to know for when i come there on vacation. i was kind of hoping that our 3 families could keep in touch with each other by our cell phones, but maybe they will not work in the park. 3 of us have u.s. cellular and the other 3 adults have verizon. my u.s. cellular is great and as long as i go to a company store and not a leased store for service i feel i have always been satisfied. my work cell is nextel. unfortunately, it doesn't work so well in our rural areas. i have to take my own cell and use it at work most of the time when i am out in the country. so much for a homecare nurses agency wanting to make sure their nurses are safe!
Originally Posted By 8 ilovemickey 8 I have Verizon and I have never had a problem with them. My boyfriend has ATT and it seems like he is always using my phone because he doesn't have service. New Every 2 is also really nice. I basically get a new phone every 2 years for free. If anything happens to my phone I just take it in and they give me a new one and I don't even have insurance.
Originally Posted By x Pirate_Princess x My Sprint phone even gets service in POTC, when my TMobile hardly ever worked at Disneyland, even sitting in the open, waiting for Fantasmic!
Originally Posted By Sport Goofy I've used Sprint for nearly 10 years. I think they have the best network and I've never really been in a dead spot anywhere in the country. I travel a lot, so I get to see firsthand how well service works in a lot of different places.
Originally Posted By wonderingalice ^^Yep, me too. Not sure if they still rule the 'spectrum,' but back when the FCC was first selling the airwaves to up and coming cell service providers, Sprint bought up the most. Their network really is the most complete out there. I have EMBARQ as my provider and they work off the Sprint network. Coverage is excellent. (Though I've never tried it in Pirates of the Caribbean for fear of being thrown overboard... *LOL* ;-) For the most part, unless a company messes up your bill, there's not a lot of reason to contact customer service directly once service is established. It's easier to just log-in online to check minutes of use, etc. And in most every case, customer service is fine - as long as the bill gets paid. It's when customers try to play the system that things get sticky. Yes, companies will make payment arrangements to help folks through rouch financial patches, but... those arrangements must be met. The non-paying customers seem to be the most vocal complainers, in my experience. ;-)
Originally Posted By wonderingalice Meant to mention... I've had the same service/number for about 14 years.
Originally Posted By DVC_dad I have heard horror stories about ALL PROVIDERS, obviously I am with AT&T posting on this snazzy iPhone , but I have been with the same provider since 1996... And HONESTLY, I have never had any problems that were not handled quickly, easily, and professionally. It wasn't AT&T until this year though. It was in 1996 Bellsouth Mobility, which sold out to Cingular a few years later, and then Cingular becomes AT &T this year. Overall I have been very happy for a very very looooong time.
Originally Posted By MissCandice <<<The non-paying customers seem to be the most vocal complainers, in my experience. ;-)>>> As someone who works for a cell phone provider in customer service I can totally say how TRUE that statement is. Oy vey.
Originally Posted By x Pirate_Princess x I didn't talk on my phone on PIrates, I was taking pics, and noticed I had full signal
Originally Posted By rtjl72 aww, but my experience with us cellular is that i did pay by bill and had the receipt in my hand to prove it. but the store i went to to pay posted the payment to the wrong account. so i get a call at 8 at night saying how my service will be turned off because i did not pay and unless i authorize payment direct now i am in big trouble. i don't think so!!!! in all my 35 years of marriage and before i have never had a late payment for anything. and i had ahad that phone nember with us cellular for over 10 years! the person on the phone would not listen! she just kept treating me as if i were a delinquent and had plotted for a life time to never pay any bills. i finally drove across town and went back to the store and took care of the whole mess. but there was never any apology. that was a franchise store and now i go to the company store and am received cordially and usually by name. i told them why i was going to frequent their store instead of the other in town and they said that stuff like that happened all the time at the franchise store. why? i wonder why one mistake was not enough?
Originally Posted By vbdad55 <I have heard horror stories about ALL PROVIDERS, obviously I am with AT&T posting on this snazzy iPhone , but I have been with the same provider since 1996... And HONESTLY, I have never had any problems that were not handled quickly, easily, and professionally. It wasn't AT&T until this year though. It was in 1996 Bellsouth Mobility, which sold out to Cingular a few years later, and then Cingular becomes AT &T this year. Overall I have been very happy for a very very looooong time. < I'm with ya -- I have been with the same carrier for over 20 years -- first they were Cellular One - then became Cingular - now AT&T - but same network, and I am with them because I have had precious few inssues in that time - and now being a long standing customer ( they mention any time I do call - usually over a bill due to my daughters - they are quick to credit items - sometimes I am not even sure ifthey should be credited) -
Originally Posted By ecdc >>As someone who works for a cell phone provider in customer service I can totally say how TRUE that statement is. Oy vey.<< Same here. I like my job, but sometimes I want to smack myself in the face to make sure I'm not dreaming when I hear some of the things I do. That said, working in the industry, even I can admit it's pretty lousy and needs a lot of work. I just read a blog today by Walt Mossberg on the wireless industry's practice of locking all the phones and controlling every scrap of content on them. It's absurd, and I believe we'd be better off if we just let people take their phone to whatever carrier they wanted, whenever they wanted, and put whatever they wanted on there.
