Anyhow, my first complaints is that to switch to a new plan it would cost me more money, because the plans have gotten WORSE in the past couple of years with all the buyouts and less competition.

My second complaint is that I refuse to sign a 2 year contract as I believe them to be way too long, and there are NO deals for existing customers for new cell phones. My wife needs a new one and unless I want to pay full price or get a used one of ebay there are no other options.
Stephen @ 7:19 am June 2nd, 2007

—-I’m in the same boat…
I’m done with my cingular contract…rates have gone up…but i want a new phone…if i get an Iphone… i have to pay a shitload for web browsing and aim and texts and whatnot because ATT is ridiculous… but i want a pda/nice phone…at the same time i can go t-mobile(not as great of service?) and get the sidekick i.d….but i’ll be resigning a 2 year contract and might not even like the service/phone. thennnnn my mother wants me to go verizon…and they’re same as ATT… i like one phone…and rates for free web browsing and internet text etc on your phone is outrageous. im a college kid…that just wants to go on the internet and aim in class… i dont want to have to pay $150′s a month to talk for 600 minutes and do so.. it’s just ridiculous.

I am replying to an old post because I used (or attempted to use) the advice contained therein. My wife and I switched from pay-as-you-go plans to Midwest Wireless about a year ago and have been happy with them on all points. In July, Alltel bought Midwest Wireless so all the Midwest Wireless towers switched over to Alltel at that time. Also, at the same time, dropped calls suddenly happened where they hadn’t before so after two months I had decided to go with Verizon.

I researched phones and plans and knew exactly what I wanted when I went to Verizon’s retail store not too far from here. However, attempts to negotiate proved futile as we were being given hefty discounts on activation and accessories without asking. We didn’t shop at a reseller, so company-branded stores might handle their salesperson commissions and customer discounts differently. YMMV.

Also, since Alltel’s coverage changed for the worse, would I be able to negotiate out of the early termination fee for our Alltel phones?

Thanks for the great advice on The Simple Dollar,
Isaac Grover

We’ve had the same problem with Sprint. We moved and had 2 months left on our contract, but they would not let us out of our contract either. The only company that carried coverage there was Verizon.

My beef is that the cell phones are made so cheaply. You get a discount after the end of your 2 year contract, but the phone rarely make it to the 2 year mark. All I want is an inexpensive phone to talk on. I don’t care about the camera, texting, or getting online. I just want a phone the talk on that has good battery power and will last more than 18 months!

That’s not my understanding. A locked phone does not equal a contract, and a unlocked phone does not equal freedom from a contract.

A provider “lock” on a phone just refers to whether or not you can use the someone else’s SIM card (e.g. one from a Cingular phone, if your phone was bought from T-Mobile) in your phone. If they choose not to lock your phone to their network’s SIM cards, you’re still obligated to carry out the two year agreement you just signed. (The SIM card is just a little chip that gives your phone its phone number and account association. It easily pops out when you want to remove it and it’s usually located behind the battery.)

A lock is a technical deterrent to using your phone on another network, not a legal statement.

For what it’s worth, this stuff only applies to phones on T-Mobile and Cingular (and some old Nextel phones) – they use a different technology to the other carriers.

Anyhow, my first complaints is that to switch to a new plan it would cost me more money, because the plans have gotten WORSE in the past couple of years with all the buyouts and less competition.

My second complaint is that I refuse to sign a 2 year contract as I believe them to be way too long, and there are NO deals for existing customers for new cell phones. My wife needs a new one and unless I want to pay full price or get a used one of ebay there are no other options.

thanks!

Prepaid is often the better deal up to 300 minutes/month (see howardforums.com)

T-Mobile has one of the cheaper pay as you go rates around. Works to around $0.10/minute. If you pay $100, you get 1000 minutes that don’t expire for a year. Many other prepaid plans expire after 3 months. This is great for people who don’t use a mobile phone much except to… make phone calls. With my minute usage, I’m paying about $33/month as opposed to the $54/month with taxes and fees. All those unused minutes were costing me $250/year and lining the pocket of the mobile company!

When I got my phone, I just went through and called four different Cingular stores in a row. I knew what phone I wanted and just said to the first one “how much for the phone.” The next time I said “the other store said they would give it to me for $X.” They said they’d give it to me for $20 (less than half the other one). I called the next store with $20 as a base price, and they said free. I called the next store with free, and they waived the activation fee and threw in a bluetooth headset. SOLD!