Cellphones

[Cdnwmn 0]

The "no cellphone" family here is now going to cellphones. I figured it was time with me now working. Three of us in three different directions.

Just curious as to who you have your service with and recommendations on the cellphone itself. We're thinking of going through Verizon and my 15 year old is hepped up about the Motorola Razr. He figures black for him, silver for his stepdad and pink for me...lol.

Thanks.

[TracyTN 237]

Everyone will have different experiences w/ different companies. I've been with Verizon ever since they came to our area and haven't had one problem. Even if I have to call customer service (which I haven't had to more than twice), they are very nice and do what they say they'll do.

I get a new phone this summer. I think I'm gonna get the pink Razr too.

[j&js 0]

My advice is Verizon, had them for at least 8 or 9 years and never had a huge problem. No service really reaches my house in the boonies well, but my friends with other cell companies seem to have worse trouble then I do most of the time

[ChristinaM 0]

I don't know what they're like on the cellular side of things, but I deal with Verizon regularly about business phone lines and they're a freaking NIGHTMARE! Their "customer service" is laughable and they're not quick to act when something doesn't go right. (In fact, you're lucky if they act at all, in my experience). However, they may be better with cellular customers.

I have a Sprint cell and a Cingular cell, and I generally get better signal on my Cingular one. Other than to change a VM password (I inherited the phone from my predecessor at work) I've not had to deal with their customer service department, but that one time they were incredibly helpful. Sprint have been pretty good to my husband; he's been with them for some time. I find that it takes much less to lose full coverage on my Sprint phone, although they do have good roaming agreements.

One also has to remember that I'm in Maine, and once you get above Augusta the minute you go more than 10 miles from the I-95 there's nothing but potato fields

[rejane 1]

Verizon is pretty good.

[sparkofcreation 0]

Verizon is a complete and utter nightmare, and I have never been as relieved as when I finally managed to cancel my contract. Which took two days, two phone calls, and going to two different stores, and speaking to six different people, the first five of which told me they couldn't help me. Which is about par for how every single customer service transaction with Verizon went in the course of my five years (plus) with them. It always took at least two phone calls to resolve a problem, sometimes as many as five.

I have never felt that $350 was so worth it in my life.

We have T-Mobile now and it's like a huge weight was lifted off my shoulders. It's cheaper and we haven't had any problems. I haven't really had to deal with their customer service though. But it's only a one-year contract, which was how Verizon kept their claws in us for so long--revolving two-year contracts and you can't change anything without extending your contract.

For the record, the Verizon folks told me all sorts of nasty things about T-Mobile to try to convince me not to leave. Whereas the T-Mobile people just emphasized the features they offer and didn't bad-mouth Verizon at all.

I find it's best to ask people where you live, though. Because Verizon really does have the best coverage, unfortunately. We sacrificed that to deal with people who don't make me cry every time I have to call them. But we live in a city, so ...

I had a co-worker who had a Cingular family plan, and every month they charged him hundreds of dollars for calls between him and his wife, and every month he called and complained and they reversed the charges and promised to fix it, and every month they did it again. Also, someone was telling me how much they loved Cingular "because when they bought out my contract [when Cingular bought AT&T Wireless], they only charged me $29.99 to do it!" Excuse me? They bought your contract and you had to pay for it? Anyway so that's why we decided against Cingular.

YMMV of course. My parents have had Verizon for a few years and really like it. Before that they had T-Mobile (before it was called T-Mobile) and didn't like it, but the network is much larger now than it was then.

Edited April 8, 2006 by sparkofcreation

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

I've had T-Mobile for about six years. No complaints.

[I'm Gone 60]

I have Verizon and only have had them for a couple months, but so far no problems. I switched over from AT&T based on comments from people at work. The majority had Verizon and no one had a complaint.

[almaty 19]

i use verizon...i had cingular but like verizon better..my son has sprint and has a lot of lost signals...

[iceyspots 0]

I like T-Mobile and Nextel... Honestly I think T-Mobile is better and cheaper, but I love my walkie talkie too much :X

[Steph1010 1]

Ive had T-Mobile for 5 years now and have had no problems. It is cheaper than the others too.....

[Saddle Bronc 124]

Everyone will have different experiences w/ different companies. I've been with Verizon ever since they came to our area and haven't had one problem. Even if I have to call customer service (which I haven't had to more than twice), they are very nice and do what they say they'll do.

I get a new phone this summer. I think I'm gonna get the pink Razr too.

I did have a problem with customer service on activating the second line (the first was ported over from Nextel/Sprint), as they kept saying that the mobile number was not registered to me.

Eventually, got through to web orders (as I'd ordered it through Wireless MarketPlus--using a "family shared" plan) and activated it.

Could you maybe tell me what the most obnoxious ringtone is on that--so I can set Pras' phone (the aforementioned second line) up with it as "my" ringtone?

[meddykomp 0]

Verizon has been great for me for about 5 years now as far as coverage. I did have a customer service issue at a local store, but called the customer service call center and got the problem resolved really quick.

[Ephesia 0]

Verizon user here and no complaints. My cellphone is a Nokia 2128i. Have been a Nokia fan since 1998 and I don't like flip phones with too many functions. My Nokia has no camera, no mp3 player, and no video #######. Love it.

[JayJay 4]

OK, here's my two cents! (I have a couple of 'sources')

Now here's the thing - industry "bigwigs" are telling us that T-Mobile will be buying almost everyone else out in the next six years or so - so you may find in the future that whichever company you've chosen does in fact become part of the gigantic T-Mobile corp.

It does make sense actually, since they are in fact a multinational corporation now, and can put up masts, aquire the use of masts etc very much more easily and cheaply than the other companies. There's not going to be very much room for the smaller guy in this business, very mcuh longer - T-Mobile has already taken a large chunk of the market, and will continue to monopolize growth. but here's the thing:

T-Mobile, from what I've heard, are a rather decent company. Because of their sheer size, there's more coverage every day. They also have the financial backing to give the smaller person, or people with little or no credit, a fair shot at getting decent service. Because they're such a "giant", they can also afford to give you a really decent deal on certain services and therefore totally undercut other cellphone providers.

If T-Mobile provide coverage to our little town, they are who we will be getting 'phones from. I had them in the UK - they bought our BT Cellnet about seven years ago or so - and they were decent! All in all, the packages you can get are akin to European packages, which ahve been a heck of a lot more affordable for a number of years now that US cellphone provider's packages. All in all, you'll get horror stories from any 'phone company, but to me, T-Mobile is the logical choice!

Totally up to you, though Have fun getting a cellphone for the first time!