An impossible quest for something I don't even want: Cell Phone (1 Viewer)

[TerryS]

However, I still don't use it except for vacations. I'll throw it in my bike panniers when I commute just so I can call 911 or so but other than that, I don't use it

I was under the impression that all cell phones had the ability to call 911, whether they are subscribed still or not. I keep my old phone and car charger in my glove compartment just for this purpose.

 

[brentl]

Vince; You should enjoy getting a phone -- or three in Canada Talkl about bad customer service and dropped calls UGH

For me prepaid makes the most sense. I work midnights so I'm home most of the day anyways.

Brent

 

[Francois Caron]

Vince; You should enjoy getting a phone -- or three in Canada

Not so fast! My boss at work had a difficult time with Cantel straightening out billing address issues when two phones were split off to two separate accounts! Every time he called Cantel, he had to repeat the entire history of his problems to the airhead at the other end of the line! He was swearing and yelling quite a bit in the office, something he rarely ever does!

In my case, I have a new cell phone with Bell. It's one of those tiny new Samsung 370 phones which cost "the company" $200 along with a 2 year contract (the phone was just introduced on the market at that time and was still a very hot item). However, the last phone I had with them, a Sony CMB-3200 which cost us $160, lasted almost five years before the speaker finally let go. Since the service with Bell was already very decent at about $40/month plus tax ($25 US), I wasn't really hesitant to go for another 2 year plan. It only took under half an hour to transfer the number from one phone to another, finish off the paperwork and pay the purchase.

Bell also has a few of those $30 phones with the same type of 2 year contract. I got one for the janitor in our condo building, figured it wasn't worth buying him an expensive phone when you consider his line of work. He used to have a Fido and it was a terrible service! Half the time, the signal wouldn't reach him inside our own building!

Vince, go shopping for a phone elsewhere before you "go postal" at that place.

 

[Leila Dougan]

Vince, can't you do business through Cingular's website or call them up directly? You really don't need to deal with a store to get what you want. Just call up their sales dept, tell them what you want, and have them mail you the phones. You may even be able to place your order through the website and avoid calling them altogether.

 

[NickSo]

There are multitudes of cellphone places where i live, alot of them are fairly easy to deal with (the little 'mom'n'pop place i rent DVDs also sells cellphones, thats how many there are).

Me and my mom are on FIDO, my dad's on TELUS. I really like fido, good quality, prices are decent, but the thing i like most is the NOKIA phones. I had a 5190 (handed down to my mom), and now a 3390, they feel indestructible. I've dropped both of them more than once, and they were fine. Compared to my dad's old Motorola Startac phone (loose, squeaky hinges, snapped antenna), these nokia ones were awesome.

Sorry to hear troubles getting a cellphone

 

[Graham Perks]

I've been been with Sprint, T-mobile, and now AT&T. Sprint sucked so bad it was incredible. Dropped calls, voicemail showing up 24 hours after people left it, no call signal, and customer service was pretty dire too. Great marketing and great prices but just a shame the phone system itself is pathetic.

T-mobile was great, and I was a happy customer, except they had very poor reception in the building where I work. When I got moved to an office with zero T-mobile signal, I reluctantly switched to AT&T.

However the grass was greener; AT&T have been great so far. Excellent signal. My wife skipped T-mobile and so come straight from Sprint. She was shocked to hold an hour's conversation with a friend on her new mobile, not dropping once! She didn't think it was possible!

Anyway, AT&T just put out a PR saying they are simplifying their plans (they'll just have local & national, no regional), however they are also cutting minutes much like the other providers.

Basically you need to figure out what you need the phone for - where are you calling from, and where are you calling too (local, national?), how many minutes you'll need. Are you mainly in the city/major freeways, or out in the sticks often? If in urban locations, digital-only is great! Out in the country, you'll need an analog-compatible phone. With analog will definitely cut down your options fast. No T-mobile. No AT&T GSM (new system they're switching over to), only AT&T TDMA (old system; my wife loves it though, better coverage but less features).

If you're really living out in the countryside, try Tracfone at Wal-mart. Non-urban analog is pretty much their business plan.

Once you've figured what you're going to use the phone for, you can decide what plan & phone you want. Do the website thing for plans. (And choose a Nokia phone; I have the 8390 and it's great

You can also try online places like amazon.com.

The phone company dealers often have the worst prices. Try the independent shops e.g. any of the million booths in the mall.

 

[CameronS]

I broke down last September and finally bought a cell phone. I went with Verizon and have had no problems whatsoever *knock on wood*.

The plan was great:

600 Daytime minutes
Free Long Distance
Free Nights and Weekends
Voice Mail
Call Waiting
Caller ID
Call Forwarding
And I might have some other stuff that I never use like 3-way calling.

The price was right: $39.99 a month.

I couldnt be happier, and I only signd a 1-year contract. But I did do everything in one day, and only worked with one sales rep.

Vince, I know Cingular seemed to have the best plan for you, but just go with another company. There has got to be someone willing to help you at one of the competitors.

 

[HienN]

I am not sure why you are having so much trouble. I have had cell phones over the last 3 years, first with Sprint and now with AT&T. In both cases I bought the phones at electronic stores, and haven't had any real problem to complain about. With Sprint I had to activate service myself by calling an 800 number (5 minutes and it was all set), and with AT&T the store even offered to do it for me. I was in and out of the stores in less than 30 minutes. I switched from Sprint to AT&T to get a better phone and plan (phone was free and more free minutes) but other than that am happy with both companies.

Don't give up yet. I love my cell phone

 

[Jay H]

I was under the impression that all cell phones had the ability to call 911,
whether they are subscribed still or not. I keep my old phone and car
charger in my glove compartment just for this purpose.

They are, at least they're supposed to. I haven't tried yet though. Last year, I spent $35 on my cell phone just for my trip to Alaska but it's been idle ever since. I just every now and then make sure the NiMH battery is full as a drained battery can damage it. But other than that, it's off and I don't put money in it. In the end it's cheaper than the cheapest postpaid plan out there, assuming you aren't going to be using it at all. Obviously you get no free minutes or anything like that.

Jay

 

[John Thomas]

with Verizon (they were called something else at the time)

I believe that they were called GTE Wireless. My first cellphone service was with them and boy, it was pure hell. It seemed like every month I had questionable charges on my bill and it took forever for them to straighten them out. If I'm not mistaken, they've been sued for overcharging people during that period.

Also, does anyone have problems with the alleged service area that their providers have? For example, with GTE/Verizon, they sold me a contract stating the service would cover the entire state; in fact, it only covered the western third of the state - when you crossed the TN River, it went into roaming mode. Around here that seemed to be a big problem among all the providers.

Anyhow, I'm with AT&T Wireless now and haven't had a problem yet. (keeping fingers crossed)

 

[Thomas H G]

I used to be like you Vince. I didn't own a cell until Aug of last year. (I'm a senior in college) I thought I was the last person to get a phone.

Well I'm a big fan of Nextel phones. If you're going with a family thing, the direct-connect feature is the best for that. That's how my 2 brothers and I stay in contact. The range is across the state of TX and it's suppossed to be nation wide in a few months. It is a bit on the expensive side though. I pay about 70 bucks for unlimited direct connect. Free incoming calls all the time and unlimited calls on night and weekends. I have 300 minutes to use any other time and I never go over. Oh yea, and web service. I have a apt line just cause it's good to have one, but it's only a basic line. I use the cell for everything. There coverage

 

[Vlad D]

Vince,

I'm reviving this thread because I'm curious to know how your story ended. Did you ever get the phones?

 

[Vince Maskeeper]

I did get phones, eventually, from Cingular. I gave up after the bimbo at the first store told me to come back in 2-3 hours and decided I would deal with exactly zero more seconds of bullshit. My girlfriend broke down and drove to the mall location store and handled it.

I've had service since then, and am luke-warm about it. I really think Cellular technology is the least reliable technology we use day-to-day, yet we seem to tolerate its repeated failures. I complain all the time about it, and my friends cooly claim they never drop calls- only to hear them, hours later, going through the dreaded "Can you hear me now? Hello? Well call me back!".

All cellular service sucks, it seems. Some people just kid themselves and rationalize the horrid quality of their service. It's like computers, we just reboot and smile.


I had insurance on my phone, with a $20 deductible- and the antenna broke on my phone about 2 months after I bought it. Of course when i went to get it fixed, the deductible had been magically increased to $50 ("Didn't you get the insert in your March bill?" the sales fuck asked me)-- and even when I was happy to pay cash out of pocket for the entire repair- they said it couldn't be done. The only solution offered was to send my phone to motorola and wait 6-8 weeks to get it back ("But it's free!" the sales moron gleefully told me.)

I asked if I could just pay the $50 and file the insurance- but since the phone was not "destroyed"- the guy said the cingular corporate office woudln't pay the claim.

I went out to the parking lot, ran the phone over with my car, took it back in and made the $50 insurance claim and walked out with a brand new phone (and a carrying case for my trouble, which i claimed was lost in the "accident"). What a complete waste of everyone's money- amazing I couldn't get my phone fixed without destroying it completely.


And now of some note, I am having another small problem that popped up just this month. My plan I originally saw on the website (and printed out to take to the store) offered a set amount of "anytime" minutes, roaming minutes and evening and weekend minutes- a pool for all 3 phones. If I recall, it was 500 anytime / 250 roaming / 5000 Eve and Weekend-- with the first two minutes "rolling over" from month to month.

Well, my bills seem to charge me for roaming per minute, and give me 750 stock minutes each month. I can't seem to get any straight answers to why this is happening- one sales person even got rather heated with me, claiming Cingular had never offered any such service.

Unfortunately my GF at the time didn't save my printout after she went to the cingular store, so I have little proof. Gonna have to dig through the phone contacts and see exactly what my she signed us up for...

So, all in all, the experience with the phone has been similar to the experience getting the phone. It's amazing that one company can't come along and just do a bang-up job and steal all the business from these morons. We're repeatedly told how competition helps create better service, but as far as I can tell, most companies could give a shit about customers.

And cellular service seems to be an excellent example.

-Vince

 

[JasenP]

went out to the parking lot, ran the phone over with my car, took it back in and made the $50 insurance claim and walked out with a brand new phone (and a carrying case for my trouble, which i claimed was lost in the "accident").

Sounds EXACTLY like something I would do. I am very fortunate that my phone is provided by my employer, otherwise I would just have a pre-paid one for emergencies.

 

[Woo Jae]

I have had a cell phone with AT&T and I think they are pretty good for what they are. My phone is a Nokia 8250 and it is rock solid. No antennae to worry about, and it is pretty sturdy. I pay about $44 a month.

Sorry to hear that you have so many problems with the cell phone. Running it over with a car is just pure genius . Here in NYC, it's very hassle free to get a phone. The often intense competition does make for better service and deals...

 

[Mark Schermerhorn]

Hey, anyone that lives in Massachusetts...who has good coverage/signal strength out here? I took my sprint phone with me from MN, where the coverage was good. Out here I have trouble with dropped calls, although not bad enough to switch quite yet.

 

[Tim Abbott]

Mark,

I have had both Sprint and Nextel in this market. I found Nextel to be far superior to Sprint in coverage and service in the area. The customer service for Sprint was much better, as Nextel is mediocre at best. It has been an issue to sort out a couple of problems with Nextel. Fortunately once I was up and running, there have been very few problems so I have not had to deal with them.

It blows my mind what Sprint determines as 'acceptable coverage. I live approximately 1/4 mi from 495, and about 1 mi from 93, and my Sprint phone wouldn't work at my house!!! I'm not in the city, but these highways should be blanketed for several miles in all directions.

Nextel is more expensive, but definitely worth it in my case.

 

[Vlad D]

I really think Cellular technology is the least reliable technology we use day-to-day, yet we seem to tolerate its repeated failures. I complain all the time about it, and my friends cooly claim they never drop calls- only to hear them, hours later, going through the dreaded "Can you hear me now? Hello? Well call me back!".

I agree completely. I have had service from Cingular for the past 3 years and that happend to me all the time, especially around the Miami airport. But to be fair it also happened when I had service with AT&T, Sprint and Bellsouth (before they became Cingular). Now, as of the past 3 days ago I have gotten service with T-Mobile, so far so good, but we'll see.

 

[Eric_L]

Dang Vince; sorry to hear you're having so much troubles. I can almost fell your frustration emanating off of my monitor!

I feel very fortunate to have a friend from the JayCees who is a leader at the ATT Wireless region. I've yet to have any troubles. Maybe I am just easy to please, or maybe I'm just too ignorant to notice. The last time I had troubles I took in my phone (analog). He gave me a digital for free and arranged my bill to save me $10/month. Do the math, my new phone cost negative $120/year. (my wife loved that!) I pointed it out to him and he just laughed and told me to enjoy it.

My only suggestion would be to find out what local building contractors use, even their rep if you can. They tend to be power users and often gravitate toward the best.

Often it is easier just to ask someone to refer a good professional than to do the research yourself only to find out everything isn't as it appears. Try using a power user (like a contractor) who has already heard all the BS out there. It may not be the 'best' deal on paper, but then, good service is usually something hard to quantify until you don't have it....

BTW - the builders in my area use Nextel. That peer to peer is pretty cool. If it weren't for my pal I probably would too.

Good luck.

 

[Chris_Morris]

A plan that has no expiration, or a long expiration like a year or something. Then I could dump 100 bucks worth of minutes on it and then not worry about it for a year (unless I use the phone and use up the minutes, of course). Until someone offers such a plan, with decent coverage and rates, I'll continue to be one of the few who hasn't turned over to the "dark side".

Have you turned to the dark side yet? TracFone has a 'one-year' card for ~$100 at Walmart that comes with 150 minutes. Or at Sam's Club you can get a 'one-year' card with 300 minutes that will also double any other cards you add for that whole year for $137.

I went with Simple Freedom from Wally world (through the Alltel network) and love it. Sure I have to add money to it every 60 days, but I'm not losing anything, those minutes are always there when I need them.


Chris