Anyone using T-mobile???

[hniHnitsuJ 8]

Hi All,

I am been contract with T-mobile for the last 3 years. It's time for me to renew my contract.

What is the best deal for me to renew another 2 years contract with T-mobile?

I paid each month with family plans (5 lines) 1000 minutes with only 2 unlimited txt msg for $150 including taxes.

I called Tmobile customer support, and this guy only offer me 5 lines, 1000 minutes, with all 5 txt msg (mom and my wife don't txt) for $94-$99 including taxes. NO FREE PHONE!!! IS THIS THE BEST DEAL T-MOBILE CAN OFFER???

I did GOOGLE, BUT NO LUCK.

Thank you in advances for your input.

[Adriene H 89]

What about switching to a pay-as-you-go service?

Top-up when needed ...

I don't know how popular they are in America, but

they're all the rage over here in the UK

[quann 26]

bleh that's a big rip off if ur not getting data! i used to be on the $50 family plan, we added a 3rd line unlimited texts data plan one line and that was less than $80 after tax (only 500min and i found a couple corporate discount).

late last year i called them up to renew to get the samsung galaxy s2...right now we have 4 lines, unlimited text, 1 line 5gb data and 3 lines 200mb data but still only 500 min and paying $122 every month after tax....and i still feel i didn't quite get enough. we did get 4 phones, 2 free and the 2 s2 we paid a bit...2 galaxy s2, an s1, and a g4x. i sold 2 of them to offset some of the costs.

don't call tmo csr. call the retention center, they will get you better deals (dial 611, then say cancellation). you need to have a clear plan of what you want. since the s3 is coming out i heard they're giving away free s2 now. you can probably get 4 nice phones for free, only drawback would be data plan attached to each.

[quann 26]

What about switching to a pay-as-you-go service?

Top-up when needed ...

I don't know how popular they are in America, but

they're all the rage over here in the UK

this is ok for individual...but for 5 lines it's cumbersome. if OP don't want smartphones and data plans he should be able to get what he wants for under $100 easily, plus they can also credit your account like $10-$20/month for renewing. just scare 'em with my wife really likes that new iphone to start the conversation.

Edited May 27, 2012 by quann

[ScottThuy 140]

I use the prepaid and its a pain, but it allows us to keep the # and not have to pay for use when we are not here... 50$ /mo per line unlimited talk text web... less time etc is not much cheaper on the prepaid deal... there has to be some incentive to make a 2yr commitment.

[Dan_P 5]

For 5 lines talk and text, $75 plus taxes and fees is the cheapest value plan, which does not include a subsidized phone.

You can get subsidized phones for $110 per month talk and text. You can sell the subsidized phone if you buy on a large sale, you should be able to make money this way.

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

If you're just going to use talk and text then why do you want a new phone?

I pay WAY more than $100 for five lines with Verizon, but three of those phones have data plans, and I pick up a new subsidized phone every time I renew any of those five contracts. We just renewed my wife's contract a few weeks ago, and she got a new HTC Droid Incredible 2. Unlike most of the phones Verizon offers, the DI2 is both GSM and CDMA, so it's got a SIM slot. Of course, it's locked to Verizon, but they'll unlock it so you can use SIM's from other service providers for a $5 fee. My wife plans on using it in Vietnam, as well.

[Dan_P 5]

If you're just going to use talk and text then why do you want a new phone?

I pay WAY more than $100 for five lines with Verizon, but three of those phones have data plans, and I pick up a new subsidized phone every time I renew any of those five contracts. We just renewed my wife's contract a few weeks ago, and she got a new HTC Droid Incredible 2. Unlike most of the phones Verizon offers, the DI2 is both GSM and CDMA, so it's got a SIM slot. Of course, it's locked to Verizon, but they'll unlock it so you can use SIM's from other service providers for a $5 fee. My wife plans on using it in Vietnam, as well.

Most of verizon's new smartphones have sim cards since most new ones coming out use long term evolution for data which is gsm technology. Is the quad band gsm the main reason you got the dinc2? It is an older phone with no 4G, 4" screen, 1ghz single core, and the pixel density isn't that great compared to later offerings. Me personally, I got a Rezound for $ 50 on upgrade about 6 months ago, and it has a 4.3" HD screen, 1.5ghz dual core, LTE, quad band gsm, and a pixel density even higher than the iPhone 4s retina display. On top of that, the rezound comes FACTORY sim unlocked, and can be used almost anywhere using quad band gsm. The dinc2 comes factory sim locked, but you can call verizon to get it unlocked at NO COST. Just call them, I have done it for several phones including a 4s sim unlocked. There are certain restrictions but most people should qualify.

Should you not like the rezound, there are several other more recent phones that either have quad band gsm support or will have it shortly including the droid Razr, DROID Razr Maxx, LG Spectrum, and Droid 4.

Browsing during peak time on 3g vs 4G is a huge difference especially in densely populated areas, and it's the same price.

If your wife plans to take the phone to Vietnam, make absolutely sure she switches to local sim if, on Verizon either cdma or factory supplied vodaphone sim, then you will be charged $2 per minute. Also, you can use regular verizon cdma phones in Vietnam in some areas but areas but access is somewhat limited, not as good as gsm.

Edited May 29, 2012 by Dan_P

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

Most of verizon's new smartphones have sim cards since most new ones coming out use long term evolution for data which is gsm technology. Is the quad band gsm the main reason you got the dinc2? It is an older phone with no 4G, 4" screen, 1ghz single core, and the pixel density isn't that great compared to later offerings. Me personally, I got a Rezound for $ 50 on upgrade about 6 months ago, and it has a 4.3" HD screen, 1.5ghz dual core, LTE, quad band gsm, and a pixel density even higher than the iPhone 4s retina display. On top of that, the rezound comes FACTORY sim unlocked, and can be used almost anywhere using quad band gsm. The dinc2 comes factory sim locked, but you can call verizon to get it unlocked at NO COST. Just call them, I have done it for several phones including a 4s sim unlocked. There are certain restrictions but most people should qualify.

Should you not like the rezound, there are several other more recent phones that either have quad band gsm support or will have it shortly including the droid Razr, DROID Razr Maxx, LG Spectrum, and Droid 4.

Browsing during peak time on 3g vs 4G is a huge difference especially in densely populated areas, and it's the same price.

If your wife plans to take the phone to Vietnam, make absolutely sure she switches to local sim if, on Verizon either cdma or factory supplied vodaphone sim, then you will be charged $2 per minute. Also, you can use regular verizon cdma phones in Vietnam in some areas but areas but access is somewhat limited, not as good as gsm.

My wife picked the DI2. The primary reason she picked it over any of the newer smart phones was because the amount we had to kick in after Verizon's subsidy was within a window she thought was reasonable. If she could have, she would have picked a smart phone that was free after the subsidy, but the only ones the dealer had in stock that would have qualified had sideways slideout keyboards, which she didn't like. She doesn't use text nearly as much as she did in Vietnam, and she's convinced those keyboards break before the phone is obsolete.

I didn't know that most of the phones were now GSM and CDMA. Shows how long it's been since I've shopped for a phone. I don't personally own a smart phone. I have little use for one. It's useless at my house because we get near zero cell reception. I can't use it when I'm driving, and I can't use it when I get where I'm going because I went there for a reason, wherever it happens to be, and that reason doesn't require a smart phone. Emails and social networking can wait until I get home. There have been maybe two occasions in the past year when I asked my wife or daughter to look up something on the internet using their smart phones. I also think it's a little sad when I see two people sitting together at a restaurant and they've both got their faces buried in their phones. Maybe I'm just getting old...

BTW, it was the dealer who told us there was a $5 service charge to have the phone unlocked.

[Dan_P 5]

Most new smartphones on Verizon have some gsm capabilities, since most are LTE. But not all of them are capable of receiving voice calls over gsm. So you will have to check for the specific phone that you are planning to buy. Some have the hardware to support it, but not the software. You can pay for a similar unlock if you want from the 3rd party dealer, but verizon will not honor warranty should anything go ary in the unlock process, though it is highly unlikely. You can get the code for free from Verizon, here are instructions for a 4s, but items 1-3 should be applicable to your dinc2. Verizon will guide you through the rest of the unlock process.

.

https://vzwsupport.jive-mobile.com:443/#jive-discussion?content=%2Fapi%2Fcore%2Fv2%2Fdiscussions%2F696707

My wife picked the DI2. The primary reason she picked it over any of the newer smart phones was because the amount we had to kick in after Verizon's subsidy was within a window she thought was reasonable. If she could have, she would have picked a smart phone that was free after the subsidy, but the only ones the dealer had in stock that would have qualified had sideways slideout keyboards, which she didn't like. She doesn't use text nearly as much as she did in Vietnam, and she's convinced those keyboards break before the phone is obsolete.

I didn't know that most of the phones were now GSM and CDMA. Shows how long it's been since I've shopped for a phone. I don't personally own a smart phone. I have little use for one. It's useless at my house because we get near zero cell reception. I can't use it when I'm driving, and I can't use it when I get where I'm going because I went there for a reason, wherever it happens to be, and that reason doesn't require a smart phone. Emails and social networking can wait until I get home. There have been maybe two occasions in the past year when I asked my wife or daughter to look up something on the internet using their smart phones. I also think it's a little sad when I see two people sitting together at a restaurant and they've both got their faces buried in their phones. Maybe I'm just getting old...

BTW, it was the dealer who told us there was a $5 service charge to have the phone unlocked.

[Dan_P 5]

With regards to reception at your home, you can buy a network extender.

http://www.verizonwireless.com/verizon-network-extender.shtml

[David-Hien 11]

You should go directly to the T-mobile phone store to check with them. If there is no good choices, you should go to another store to recheck. My husband faced the same situation. He only asked one store, then think that there was no better plan within 3 years. Then, he went to another store, the story was reversed. Now, I have new mobile phone, family plan of 1000 minutes, free text, 3 cell phone numbers, and $80 / month

[Dan_P 5]

3rd party retailers will sometimes be more willing to give promos. Corporate stores usually stick by the book. There are also unadvertised plans that sometimes you can get depending on who you talk to.

[Dan_P 5]

You should also check all the carriers for pricing, for my uses, Verizon is cheaper than tmo, att, and sprint.