Digital Paint Discussion Board
Digital Paint Community => Other Stuff => Topic started by: jitspoe on January 04, 2008, 03:10:19 PM
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Here's what I have:
Free & Clear Plan 200- $29.99
Plan Features:
* $29.99 Free & Clear Plan
* Additional Anytime Minutes $.40 Per Min.
* All Minutes Include Long Distance
* 200 Anytime Minutes
* 2800 Night and Weekend Minutes
* Nights: M-Th 9PM-7AM Wknd: F 9PM-M 7AM
* Caller ID, Call Waiting
* Three-way Calling
* Voicemail
Normally, that's fine, since I rarely use my phone, and most of the time I do, it's during the night or weekend. Of course, given recent circumstances, I've used it a bit more, and this is what my phone bill said:
Hello!
It's your anniversary! You have been our valued customer for 6 year(s). Thank you.
Total Due by January 15 $216.07
Thanks, sprint. Merry Christmas to you, too.
Sad thing is, even with that kick in the nuts, it's still cheaper than getting a plan that will accommodate the minutes I used (617 last month). A plan that covers that is twice as much as my current plan.
What I really need is like a simple per-minute plan. Say, $0.10 per minute, so my last bill would have been like $62, and normally they'd be like $10. It's stupid to have to pay for what you might need to use, but probably won't most of the time.
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Go to Verizon.
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Just call someone and hang before they answer, then wait for them to call you back :)
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Just call someone and hang before they answer, then wait for them to call you back :)
Doesn't matter - I get charged for minutes used regardless of what for, even 1-800 (toll-free) numbers.
Go to Verizon.
Just checked, and their plan pricing is exactly the same as sprint's.
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I pay $0.10 per minute, but its a crappy pay-as-you-go plan. The service sucks, and so does the phone. I have AT&T.
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get verizon.. or alltel and just put the ppl u talk to the most in your "fav's"
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get verizon.. or alltel and just put the ppl u talk to the most in your "fav's"
Um Verizon for sure then because Alltel drops calls constantly.
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i have t-mobile and the plans are pretty much awesome. cheap and good service. free nights a weekends, 600 minutes, 400 text and pictures messages, free long distance, i was paying $53 every month. i just recently upgraded to a family plan with my girlfriend. and still cheaper together than what she was paying alone at sprint.
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You must be in a well service area then because I know people have T-Mobile and they have no service more than they have service.
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I've always had the heard of the best service with AT&T... $29.99? thats what I pay for internet and text's a month :O whoops, lol...
I just know that everyone I've known has had a crazy charge on their Sprint bill, I think Sprint likes making up numbers in their head :P...
Anyways, yeah, AT&T has free nights and weekends and also free mobile to mobile (AT&T cells).... depending on the plans there are.
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A. If you call up many providers and explain that you have a hardship circumstance they may give you bonus minutes that month. I know Verizon does this based on reports by posters at Howard Forums, including Verizon employees. I think the policy is once or twice per year.
B. Just get a pre-paid phone for those times you know you will go over. Their rate is cheaper than .40 per minute. Net10 has all calls 10 cents if I recall. I think they are a spin-off of tracfone. Tracfone can vary on their prices. If you get cards on ebays with bonus codes you might do alright.
If you plan on going pre-pay all the way, rather than just as a back-up, then consider page plus. They run on the Verizon network and have pretty cheap rates. I think they recently improved their roaming options.
Alltell, ATT, etc. all have prepay options to check out.
C. Check into a referral for a Sprint Sero plan. They tend to run cheaper and have decent minute allotments. For more info go to howard forums Sprint section.
D. The problem with Sprint is they have terrible customer service, so option one likely won't work. I did get a chuckle out of the anniversary statement though.
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Um Verizon for sure then because Alltel drops calls constantly.
For price Verizon is not the best. They are not the industry leader in Revenue Per Customer without reason. But I agree that their network is solid. I have used them for some time now and am VERY rarely without service even when traveling. Their data is not quite as good as Sprint's since even the "unlimited" plan caps out at 5 gig. And they restrict what you can use it for (no streaming, etc.) Both use EVDO, and are rolling out REV. A, but I give the edge to Sprint in the data category. But in the service and customer service departments they are just lame.
As with any of them though they all have their strong regions and weak regions.
Alltel...only had limited experience with them.
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I have Alltel... the coverage and plans are great, but they're no T-Mobile in the service department.
Here is a breakdown of Alltel's Pay-By-Day from the site:
"The power is yours. Pick the features U want for only 75¢ day.
Unlimited Mobile-to-Mobile
Unlimited Night & Weekend Minutes
Unlimited Favorite Number Calling
Unlimited Text Messaging
Plus, all other calls are only 10¢ a minute."
So for a month's use: .75*30 + 617*.10 = $84.20
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verison caused my wife to go on a cell phone strike for almost 2 years. since sweet talking her we eventually went with at&t because of the rollover minutes. since we hardly use our phones except to make short calls or long calls to family members we love this. as of right now i have over 2000 minutes i have to burn before starting on my monthly minutes. :P
verison gave the shaft to a lot of military folks when i first started so they will forever be on my global ban list.
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If you talk to your current provider, they can assist with picking out a plan that will fit your needs.
You have to remember that not all plans are advertised.
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go with tmobile and get my faves. i pay like 80$ a month for like 1000 mintues and unlimited text but i am always on my phone. u can get like 300 mintues for 39.99. and tmobile never drops my calls.
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verison caused my wife to go on a cell phone strike for almost 2 years. since sweet talking her we eventually went with at&t because of the rollover minutes. since we hardly use our phones except to make short calls or long calls to family members we love this. as of right now i have over 2000 minutes i have to burn before starting on my monthly minutes. :P
verison gave the shaft to a lot of military folks when i first started so they will forever be on my global ban list.
Rollover would be nice. But I was in a CDMA area for years. So Verizon and Alltel were my options. Got one more year on Verizon. I actually have been happy with their service.
What was the issue with the military?
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I have Alltel... the coverage and plans are great, but they're no T-Mobile in the service department.
Here is a breakdown of Alltel's Pay-By-Day from the site:
"The power is yours. Pick the features U want for only 75¢ day.
Unlimited Mobile-to-Mobile
Unlimited Night & Weekend Minutes
Unlimited Favorite Number Calling
Unlimited Text Messaging
Plus, all other calls are only 10¢ a minute."
So for a month's use: .75*30 + 617*.10 = $84.20
If you make a lot of calls to the same numbers that is not a bad deal. However, if you spread them out then a straight 10 cents a minute on net10 seems to make more sense. However, I have no experience with the company, so would read up on some forums.
The alltel deal has you paying 22 bucks before you get a single anytime minute. His total plan now is about 30 bucks.
Actually, if this is an infrequent occurrence then flip may be on to something with ATT's rollover.
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The alltel deal has you paying 22 bucks before you get a single anytime minute.
No it's $22 if you use minutes everyday... If he doesn't use airtime, he doesn't pay.
His total plan now is about 30 bucks.
Also, his plan may be $30, but his bill sure wasn't. If he used the normal 200 like AT&T alotted, then we would pay at most $42, assuming he made calls everyday before 9pm, and that none of those people were on Alltel, or in his 10 friends he selects to call for free.
Alltel pay by day (note: I have a plan) is great for people who want unlimited texting (something I pay $19.99 for), and the "My Circle" which lets you select up to 10 friends whom you can call *free* and changing the circle is as easy as logging onto Alltel.com (takes affect within 24 hours)
Cons to Alltel include, no sim cards, phones limited to crap like Razor V3+s, Blackberry's, Samsungs and Strobes. Bluetooth is locked only to be used with headset (on all of my previous phones)
edit: Alltel has pay as you go as well, but it's .15/minute
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What if you have an unlocked phone?
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Wouldn't that mean you could register the ESN with any service carrier? I'm not sure though. just 49.99% =)
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the issue with the military happened to about 300 soldiers in the Georgia area. We all were using this little company for the cheap price and the mobile to mobile feature. When we came back from a tour in kuwait/iraq a new company had bought them out and wanted all of to sign over to them. They made all these calls to the people who were going to have to find a new cell phone service explaining how all we had to do was renew our contracts and that everything was going to stay the same. A lot of us did and when our first bills came in most people had $500 and up charges. This was due to the fact we use our cell phone constantly to get things done and the new company failed to tell us they did not give us mobile to mobile. Upon complaining they decided to half our bills which for some was still in excess of $250 (a lot of money for young soldiers). When a lot of us started complaining they decided to put us on a new plan that they were waiting to release which had mobile to mobile. (so they had it all along) After that a new bill came out charging us more outrageous fees in excess of another $200. This was due to the fact that most of the people we were calling might be with the same company but since they were not signed up on the new plan it didn't count towards mobile to mobile for us. I lost it and started screaming at the manager to just cancel my contract she replied "are you sure thats $350 to cancel?" I told her it was a small amount to pay considering I was just $%$ out of a few pay checks over the last two months because of them. She walked away and came back handing me a bill for $850. $350 per phone (my wife's and mine) and $150 to pay the last months bills incurred on a 39.99 plan. This company has since grown to enormous proportions since everyone just has to have a cell phone. That is how verison acquired the money to become one of the largest cpp.
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What if you have an unlocked phone?
You are on a CDMA network, but most will not activate from another for now. That theoretically is changing soon after Sprint was sued if I recall.
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Sprint is supposed to be an open network now.
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No it's $22 if you use minutes everyday... If he doesn't use airtime, he doesn't pay.
True, that would depend on his usage distribution.
Also, his plan may be $30, but his bill sure wasn't. If he used the normal 200 like AT&T alotted, then we would pay at most $42, assuming he made calls everyday before 9pm, and that none of those people were on Alltel, or in his 10 friends he selects to call for free.
But if he used net10 he would pay 20 bucks total if he used 200 anytime minutes.
Now agreed, he misses out on other features. But he has not yet stated whether those are important to him. And I seem to remember him using a truly archaic phone, unless he switched it.
Cons to Alltel include, no sim cards, phones limited to crap like Razor V3+s, Blackberry's, Samsungs and Strobes. Bluetooth is locked only to be used with headset (on all of my previous phones)
Yeah, I doubt that would bother jits too much, but he would have to weigh in on on it. CDMA does have a slower pipeline on new technology overall, so we agree there.
edit: Alltel has pay as you go as well, but it's .15/minute
I think you mean ATT?
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Sprint is supposed to be an open network now.
Yes, but I think the reference would be to Altell, Verizon, etc. since he is already on Sprint.
Verizon is not open quite yet. And I am not sure about Altell's plans.
And even then you have to meet their "technical standards."
If Jits' phone is the old one he used to have it may not even be 911 compliant. And if that is the case they won't let him re-activate it anywhere.
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She walked away and came back handing me a bill for $850.
Ouch!
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Fortunately customer service has improved since then. They were just rated at the top by consumer reports, and one of their strong points was customer service.
I actually had them cancel a charge that I mistakenly ran up by leaving on a data connection with a kyocera 6035. They just heard the story and credited the account.
They recently got rid of contract extensions with plan changes. And their ETF now is pro-rated (albeit about 5 bucks a month off the now $175 fee).
Some of this came through law suits, and some through competition.
Of course they still lockdown their bluetooth, charge incredible amounts for BREW ringtones, games, videos, etc. And their data is pretty expensive. But their service is also rated the best.
I can see how that kind of an experience would definitely put you off their service. By the way, were you working with a direct dealer or a re-seller? (Not even sure how they worked back then).
Just for your entertainment I should look up that video where the Verizon CS guy didn't know the difference between one cent and one tenth of a cent.
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Um let's not quadruple post m7
kthx
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What if you have an unlocked phone?
You still using this Jits?
http://www.phonescoop.com/phones/phone.php?p=49
It was used by all major CDMA carriers, so that would not be a problem. But doesn't look like it was GPS/911 enabled. So they would not activate it.
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Um let's not quadruple post m7
kthx
Maybe I missed that in the rules. Is it there? I like to address individual points in individual posts, especially when quoting, so that folks can find the reply to their statement. I do so frequently on a number of boards, and most boards do not have any problem with it. I realize some here have a problem with it. But some here have a problem with everything.
I can't seem to find the rules for this board, but the agreement on creation of a new account says nothing about double posting.
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My crackberry 8830 on Sprint runs about $140 a month, but that is essentually unlimited everything. My EV-DO data card through Sprint runs $59.00 per month unlimited as well.
On Verizon, I pay about the same for 4 phones, 3000 minutes a month, with web browsing.
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My crackberry 8830 on Sprint runs about $140 a month, but that is essentually unlimited everything. My EV-DO data card through Sprint runs $59.00 per month unlimited as well.
On Verizon, I pay about the same for 4 phones, 3000 minutes a month, with web browsing.
If I were getting the data card Sprint would be a good option. But anything else, or anything involving customer service--forget it.
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Actually, my sister gave me her old palm Treo 680 smartphone. I still haven't gotten it activated. Don't know that I need any fancy stuff, though, unless I start to travel a lot with a new job. I mostly just use a phone for talking, and not very often, either.
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Actually, my sister gave me her old palm Treo 680 smartphone. I still haven't gotten it activated. Don't know that I need any fancy stuff, though, unless I start to travel a lot with a new job. I mostly just use a phone for talking, and not very often, either.
680 is GSM. You would need to leave Sprint to use it. ATT, T-Mobile, etc. would work.
This may be old info to you, but just letting you know.
http://www.palm.com/us/products/resources/comparison-smartphone.html
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Heh, found that out just before you replied - went to the sprint store and he was like, "We only do PCS phones. You'd have to switch services to use this, but you're eligble for an upgraded phone."
"I'd have to start a new contract for that, though, right?"
"Yeah"
"What about just a new plan. Would that require a new contract, too?"
"Good question, let me check. Yes."
So, basically, sprint is forcing me to leave. I don't want to sign a new contract if I'm going to need to switch networks to use this phone. Guess I'll look into T-Mobile or something. Hopefully they can transfer my number over.
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you should have no problem moving your number sicne you are out of contract.
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Well, tmobile seems to have a nice plan if you switch - $40/mo for 1000 minutes (though normally that only gets you 300 - wonder how long the 1000 minute thing lasts). Unfortunately, t-mobile seems to be more of a georgia thing. There's no direct service in the carolinas. All roaming (though hopefully that's free) and no physical stores. I guess I'd have to do that online? Or how does that work?
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Please check out a decent one rate pre-pay option like net10 first. If would give you total control without a contract.
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Don't you have to get a new phone number for those? That's not really an option since I've got my resume circulating all over with my current number and I've had recruiters calling nearly every day.
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different companys give you the option to switch over your current number. look into it.
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Don't you have to get a new phone number for those? That's not really an option since I've got my resume circulating all over with my current number and I've had recruiters calling nearly every day.
Yeah that might be a real problem there.
Hm...you can port your number to other carriers--sometimes. But maybe your best bet would be to call up the living hell that is Sprint customer service and see if they would have mercy on you by granting 1000 extra minutes this month. Then you could make this decision when you are not over a barrel.
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Jits, check out this Sprint SERO FAQ from Howard Forums.
http://wiki.howardforums.com/index.php/SPRINT_SERO
Doh, nevermind, stupid Sprint won't even port your number to themselves.
lol
But others might find it interesting. Unlimited pic messaging, unlimited texting, 30 bucks for 500 minutes.
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http://www.flixxy.com/switch-att-mci-sprint.htm
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http://www.flixxy.com/switch-att-mci-sprint.htm
That thing looks dangerous. :P
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Wow that video was great.
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hahahahahahahahahahaha
loved the vid.
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Well, t-mobile doesn't have good service here, so it's either Alltel or AT&T (or stick with Sprint).
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If you are signing a new contract anyway then just take the new phone they give you and sell the one your sister gave you on ebay to offset last month's bill. Or if you go with ATT just activate your sisters and sell the new one.
You could sell the phone on Craig's list as well and save shipping. But you might meet some thug who will steal your phone! So I suppose it depends on your risk tolerance.
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http://www.net10.com/portability.jsp?task=number_portability
Looks like net10 may let you port your number. They offer straight .10 per minute. Their coverage area doesn't appear that strong, but if you don't do much traveling it would probably work great.
http://www.net10.com/images/covmaps2/1100P_MAP.jpg
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wirefly....
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As I understand it tracfone can port your number too. And if you get the 200 minute cards, and the double minutes for life card you can get 10 c a minute for an initial investment of about 65 bucks with the phone and double minutes for life card.
If you find a one rate CDMA tracfone it will usually operate on alltell or verizon, and have good coverage.
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Actually, tracfone has only 2 reported dead zones last I checked. They run off every cellular companies towers for the best reception almost everywhere. The bad thing is you have to buy the largest card so your minutes are good for a full year. If you buy a small card they will expire in a couple of months.
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Actually, tracfone has only 2 reported dead zones last I checked. They run off every cellular companies towers for the best reception almost everywhere. The bad thing is you have to buy the largest card so your minutes are good for a full year. If you buy a small card they will expire in a couple of months.
True. But 3 months should be enough for 400 minutes for most folks. And since there are two underlying technologies out there, the coverage is not the same on a CDMA tracfone and a GSM. Go with the CDMA in my opinion.
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I might be able to shed some insight to the number of minutes used as I candle all 200+ cell phones for my company.
My typicall user is under 1500 minutes a month. This includes nights, weekends, and personal use.
I have a few users that peak over 3000 minutes a month, but their job demands that they be in the field and on teh phone almost all the time.
I myself, typically use less than 1000 minutes a month as I usually handle everything via email.
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*whew* Made it through this billing period with 3 minutes to spare. 197 of 200 minutes. I might just stick with this. Once things settle down, it shouldn't be too much of an issue.
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virgin mobile isnt too bad, i had decent coverage in Akron Ohio.. and its powered by sprint...