Can anyone help me w/ Cell phone info?

Howdy Folks...'Tis me! Tis me...Horseshoe G.!

Last year we got a cell phone (specifically for traveling to the famous DG Ky Roundup!). We opted for the "prepay" plan. (We didn't, and still don't, think we'd use it regularly enough to justify a monthly plan.) The thing is, I was caught offguard, and surprised, that if you pay for two hrs of airtime and don't use them within two months you lose what you paid for. Okay...I can deal with that, now that I'm aware of it happening!

My question is...Does anyone use PrePay and have a good service (inexpensive, easy to "re-up", minimal sign-up fee, etc)?

We bought this phone from Verizon. I think we can use the same phone with another cell phone company so am hoping to hear what ya'll are using. (Trust me, I'm ignorant when it comes to these "tiny phones", as I call them.)

Any suggestions?

Shoe Howdy,

Each cellphone has a chip in it from the company it comes form and can not be used with another company. If it is verizon it must be used with verizon.

My friend just bought a track phone from walmart for 35.00 and I believe she said that included the sign up fee but I will check.

She can buy minutes over the cellphone, over the internet or over the phone.
If you want I will check with her on the sign up fee.

Blessings,
Sandy ^8^

Ohhh....a chip, eh? So that's how that works...keeps you doing business with who-ever you buy the phone from, eh?

Thanks. Guess I'll have to check out Verizon on the 'net and just look for the best deal then.

Thanks for the info, Sandy!

We're on Verizon for our cell...but I use it all the time for business...you can write it off....so can you Shoe. I have a 'pre-pay ' phone I keep minutes on for Mom that's from Cingular. I buy 20.00 worth of time every 90 days for her. The minutes expire on this phone after that time. She can just about use them up in 3 months most of the time.

Cingular was the best deal at the time in our area for this kind of phone. I could have added Mom on to our plan for 10.00 a month, but it was cheaper to go cingular because she rarely uses it.

She's needing a new phone and I'm not sure what I'm going to do this time around...she's not really using the phone much, so I hate to put her on our plan.....guess I'll go shopping.

Shoe, we have Cingular, not prepaid. There are relatively simple plans that cost almost nothing. I have a plan with rollover minutes, so that if I don't use all my minutes in one month, they rollover and will for 12 mths.

My Cingular works almost everywhere. I've had 4 different companies and I am most happy with Cingular, have never had a problem with them. I got a phone for Ralph for $9.99 extra a month and we share the minutes. and I can call other Cingular members at no charge and no reduction of minutes. All of my kids are on Cingular now and i am slowly getting my other family members on there.

I hope this helps. BTW, my sister in MA has a prepaid phone. I believe the ones most used are the Tracphones as Sandy stated. And you do have to get a different phone for each company.

Happy Day,
Kathy

Bought a trac phone for my DIL - she loves it. She can roll over minutes and just adds new over the phone - easy as pie.

Didn't know that about buying the phone from a company and it has to be used with that company. But, we bought a phone at Office Depot that was on closeout for my teenage son and took it to Verizon and had them add him to mine & DH's plan. No problems with using the Office Depot purchased phone.

Sorry, 'Shoe I don't know a thing about pay-as-you-go service.

Usually when you get a phone from a company and have service with that company, their name is on the phone. Don't think another company can legally have service through that phone. But I have seen phones without a phone company's name on it and you can use them for whatever company you'd like.

My kids have Virgin Mobile phones. (The schol district put in a new phone system that does not put you through to a real person. Not a good thing in an emergency, to my mind.) You need to add $20 every 90 days and do not lose minutes if you do so. I have had no complaints with their service. Customer service was great. You can set it up to top off your card by credit card for a designated amout every 90 days so that you do not forget. The price per minute also goes down if you talk for over 10 min in one day.

I got my Dad a tracphone to have in his car for emergencies. It was the worst customer service I have ever encountered. I complained to the FCC, it was so bad.

I think phone companies can make phones from a different company work. My DD recently got a new phone and gave me her old one, (which was nicer than mine). She had verizon, and I took it in to Cellular One where I have my service, and it took them about 5 minutes to make it work for me.

I've also bought phones off of ebay with no problem getting them programed to work.

Hmmmm, well then I guess that's good to know. Learn something new every day...thanks for that info Joan.

My goodness! Such a great amount of good info! Many thanks, Folks!

So it looks like I can "shop around" for the best rates. (Mel, with my Verizon prepay I lost my minutes after 60 days...I need to at least find out why they can't stretch it to 90 days like your Mom's is. Thanks!)

Sounds like Cingular is a good deal too! Bet they also have a website so will go peruse that and see what plan I can get.

Today, at the Farmers' Mkt, I wished I had my cell phone to call home on. I sold out quick on some items and wanted to call DW to bring more. You know what?...Without even calling around mid-morning DW brought DD AND some extra plants of the very thing I was selling out of! Coincidence, or a blessing!? Yay!

(Still wanna have the cell phone handy though! Thanks Folks!)

No problem!

Thanks Joan. I will remember that. I was repeating what cingular told me a few years ago. Maybe they all had to change the way they did business with so much competition.

I can remember when Trac phones were 99.00.

Blessings,
Sandy ^8^

Sandy,

Things have changed just a bit now that some time has gone by on those phones.

Recently they lifted restrictions on cell companies "coveting" their blocks of phone numbers. I have a friend who had a landline phone number switched to his cell phone. They can do this and yet when I moved back over to this side of I-95, they made me change my landline number with Bellsouth. Because of my business I now need to pay $21.00 month to maintain that old number on a permanent calling forwarding basis.

Another strange thing in connection to this, when they printed the listing in the phone book for the old number, they listed a "bogus" address. Makes it look like I am not who I appear to be or it resembles a form of identity theft.

All of this makes you wonder what theat really can or cannot do.

Molly

when I was looking into prepay plans last month, debating one for my DD, I noticed that TMobile seemed to have a MUCH better prepay plan than Verizon. I believe you can buy 2000 minutes for $100 that will last (assuming you don't use them all) for a full year.

I'd also ask people in your area what company they use and if they are happy with the service. When I left my Verizon plan last summer it was because we'd moved and I couldn't even get a signal at the grocery store 2 miles down the road. Tmobile was the only service in the area; I asked about Verizon, AT&T, Cingular, Nextel, and TMobile; that offered a signal there.

I just KNEW all ya'll would have some great input on this. Thanks! (I hadn't even heard of TMobile. Will check them out.)

Thanks again, Folks! And s24g...a Hearty Welcome to DG!

There are ways to get Verizon, T-Mobile, etc. branded cell phones "unlocked" so they can be used with other carriers. It's the removeable SIM card inside the phone you get from your wireless carrier that tells the phone what your phone number and other info is. You need to be sure your phone is the right type of phone to work with your carrier, however.

There is more information on unlocking cell phones, including links to sites offering the codes and/or the service, at http://clarkhoward.com/shownotes/2004/03/01.html

thanks for the welcome Horseshoe........I'm just dipping my toes in now. There's such a wealth of information here, it's sometimes overwhelming....all the mistakes I didn't know I'd made over the past 2 years ;~)

'Shoe, when I changed cell phone companies this past Fall, I had to buy a new phone because my old one didn't have GPS capability, now required by most companies. Helps locate you if you dial 911 out on the road somewhere, but probably is more for them to track your calls.

My plan (Verizon has the most towers in my mountain area) is costly, but even more costly is an emergency on the road. I have to be 5 miles away from home to find a tower not behind a mountain, and often just will not go there to use any of the unlimited minutes I get on weekends. Probably I will use it more in spring/summer.

The deal with a Family Plan that adds another phone (which you have to buy) does make sense because minutes between, say you and Alex, are not counted with most companies.

Shoe, one more thing. Since Cingular has purchased AT&T, they have more coverage than anyone now I think. My family in MA has Verizon and their phones don't work in/near their house. When I went to visit, I brought my Cingular with me and we almost dropped our top teeth when my daughter called me one while sitting in their dining room. They have now gotten Cingular because they are the only ones that work in their mountainous town. :) Check your locality maps to see where they service. I do know that Cingular is working on getting better service out west. The only place I ever had trouble with my Cingular was around the Little Rock, Arkansas area and that was before they bought AT&T. I can talk to my family members anytime at no charge or no minutes, as long as they have Cingular with mobility. It seems like you have to have at least a 39.99 plan to add a family talk phone for 9.99, but I could be wrong about that. check out their site www.cingular.com I wouldn't give Nextel to my dog and I know someone that works for T-Mobile and I wouldn't recommend that either. My daughter had Sprint and it was the worst customer service I've ever seen. Good luck to you, it will make your head spin. :) Kathy

Thanks darius and Kathy...

Verizon popped up as our choice last year cus it was a spur of the moment decision (for the KY RU trip) and becus they had a local store we could easily get to. I think this phone must have GPS since it isn't even a yr old yet. (Hope so, anyway.)

Seems like all the freebie minutes come with a monthly pkg. Heck, I hardly ever talk on a land line much so not sure I could justify 40 bucks a month for a cell phone that I would only use on occasion. I bet when Alex gets older we will definitely have to spring for the Family plan though!

Kathy...That's about the 4th time someone has mentioned Cingular to me. Thanks. I"ll have to check out your link and see what kind of "pay as you go" plan they have compared to the others. And then, then...then....I'll have to figure out all the features on this phone! (Took me a while to learn how to turn it on. Took longer to learn how to "hang it up"...I didn't know where to!) Plus it has a robot inside or sumpin'...you can say the word "Shoffice" at it, and it dials me up! Weird, eh? ;>)

LOL, Shoe... YOU are ahead of me in programmig the durn thing...

We have Cingular and we like it(we just got it when Donna was so sick). We went thru Bell South and got it $10 a month cheaper and extra anytime mins. Your phone co might have a plan like that.

I did hear that if you have Bellsouth you could get it cheaper, but we have a monopoly on landline phone companies in our parts. :)

I do the Virgin phone deal, 25 cents a min off prepaid card, for first 10 mins. after 5AM in any given day. 10 cents after that on that day. They want you to spend $20. every 90 days, but don't take extras away from you. I used it driving to Texas and is handy for monitoring Frank when I'm gone.

I just posted new thread about cell phones http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/503442/
Sidney