Yes, these days, for $40-$50 you should expect:
1) A major carrier: Sprint, Verizon, T-mobile, or AT&T
2) 4G data, which is faster than many people's internet at home.
3) Data limits of 1-3GB
4) Unlimited calls and text
The only advantage that I see by staying with major carriers is that they'll subsidize the cost of an expensive phone up front. They'll have you pay it back over a year and you're at a net loss as a consumer.
I have trouble with businesses that treat new customers better than existing/old customers. This is true of the major cell carriers, internet providers, cable providers, dish providers. They focus on new customer acquisition and ignore retention.
Search found 2 matches
- Thu Jun 19, 2014 5:16 pm
- Forum: Off-Topic
- Topic: Trac Phone
- Replies: 18
- Views: 3064
- Thu Jun 19, 2014 2:04 pm
- Forum: Off-Topic
- Topic: Trac Phone
- Replies: 18
- Views: 3064
Re: Trac Phone
I use ST too. I've also used Virgin. Both are simply pre-paids on major carriers - Virgin: Sprint. ST: T-mobile and AT&T (depends on which SIM).
It's an awesome lesson in how major carriers have screwed up. I was a sprint customer for literally 10 years. Eventually they got me locked into having to change my plan to upgrade to a reasonably modern phone. Two phones - voice / data would have run me about $140 a month. Significantly less if I was a "new" customer. Literally, I told retention that I'd be "reasonable" but expect 2 modern phones (I'm willing to pay for completely) and a phone bill of <= $100/month or I quit. They let me quit.
So I get sprint service through pre-paid for ~$80 month. Some middle man keeps Sprints profits and they lose a direct customer.
I found Straight Talk (AT&T) to be better coverage and service where I am, so I switched to that. I used both T-mobile and AT&T sims.
Down side: If you EVER have to talk to support, expect the worst service you've ever experienced in your life. Support is out of India, wait times are extremely excessive, and generally if they can't solve your problem, you have to start over and try someone else. Actually getting relief on ST's screw ups, I had to get corporate attention through form complaints to the FCC/BBB. If you don't need service, they're the best deal running... I don't know why everyone doesn't do pre-paid.
It's an awesome lesson in how major carriers have screwed up. I was a sprint customer for literally 10 years. Eventually they got me locked into having to change my plan to upgrade to a reasonably modern phone. Two phones - voice / data would have run me about $140 a month. Significantly less if I was a "new" customer. Literally, I told retention that I'd be "reasonable" but expect 2 modern phones (I'm willing to pay for completely) and a phone bill of <= $100/month or I quit. They let me quit.
So I get sprint service through pre-paid for ~$80 month. Some middle man keeps Sprints profits and they lose a direct customer.
I found Straight Talk (AT&T) to be better coverage and service where I am, so I switched to that. I used both T-mobile and AT&T sims.
Down side: If you EVER have to talk to support, expect the worst service you've ever experienced in your life. Support is out of India, wait times are extremely excessive, and generally if they can't solve your problem, you have to start over and try someone else. Actually getting relief on ST's screw ups, I had to get corporate attention through form complaints to the FCC/BBB. If you don't need service, they're the best deal running... I don't know why everyone doesn't do pre-paid.