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Cell phones: What would make you want to switch cellular carriers?
- 8/15/07 1:57 PM
Lower Rates.
by edujack - 8/15/07 5:39 PM In reply to: What would make you want to switch cellular carriers? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
There is one huge issue. Cell phone plans cost too much!! Way too much. The service is adequate, the phones are fine. Basic services are way over priced. Get rid of the lock-in periods and allow competition among carriers or from other technologies to drive the price down. Way down.
Pay May Early Termination Fee!!
by kem3110 - 8/15/07 5:43 PM In reply to: What would make you want to switch cellular carriers? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Let's face it, the early termination fee that wireless carriers impose should you decide to jump-ship prior to your contract expiration date, is enough to make a person overlook even the most annoying inconveniences.
Take Verizon for example. I've had a Verizon cell phone for over 7 years. Mostly because the reception is excellent in my area and it's free to talk with my girlfriend. But every Gen Y Verizon customer knows that a lot of their phones do not hold-up - in terms the "coolness" factor - if compared to competitors such as Cingular. And if Verizon does offer a cool phone, it's typically so late to the market, that the novelty dissipates before you bring it to the cash register. Case in point: the Motorola Razr. It was sad to see a watered-down version of this hot, sleek phone hit Verizon's shelves almost 6 months after it's release, and with inferior battery life compared to it's Cingular counterpart.
Anyway, if for example, Cingular would offer to pay my early termination fee of $175, I would walk into their store tomorrow and purchase the phone that I REALLY want (Blackberry Curve, btw). Honestly, I suppose it's this exorbitant fee that keeps me grounded (and loyal); for the fear of paying $175 and receiving sub-par reception from another company will have me kicking myself all the way back to Verizon's cash register.
Here we go again!
by jmarkross - 8/15/07 5:47 PM In reply to: What would make you want to switch cellular carriers? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
AT&T is trying to get all your money again. At least with iPhones. Wireless is FAR cheaper than wired, and the rates are onerous--and you'd have to be get a sliderule to figure out what time/day to call. Rates are dropping--but then with their gun-to-your-head contracts, if prices drop they won't for YOU. Once again...I'll wait for the system to be more reliable...I use VONAGE now--but that story, a lengthy one, is for another forum.
Other
by ronaldmorrisseau - 8/15/07 5:54 PM In reply to: What would make you want to switch cellular carriers? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Only Cingular/ATT has rollover minutes, so it would take a lot to get me to change.
I don't own a cell phone!
by shohom67 - 8/15/07 5:55 PM In reply to: What would make you want to switch cellular carriers? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
I'm disabled. I can't afford it.
Why I Dumped Verizon
by zephyr9900 - 8/15/07 6:01 PM In reply to: What would make you want to switch cellular carriers? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
The reason I switched from Verizon is old technology (CDMA), you can only use their phones in the US!! AT&T uses (GSM) & O ya and the rest of the world does too! I was just in Nassau and received calls like I was home. With Verizon I would have had numerous voice mails a week old to catch up on. Also the frosting on the cake with Verizon was when my Mother Passed away 6 months into a second line contract. I asked to be let out of the rest of the contract because I no longer needed or had a use for the line. Their reply was "NO" Death Was Not a Good Enough Excuse! They said I had to pay $250.00 for an early termination fee. So I paid for 1 1/2 years for a phone that went unused! Plus Verizon's Customer Service SUCKS! Also AT&T has better pricing, comparable servise and seamless switch over.
Out of States
by taliesinjones - 8/16/07 5:11 PM In reply to: Why I Dumped Verizon by zephyr9900I had no problem with Verizon for calls, text, or pictures from Mexico to Indiana.
I may not love Sprint, but what might make me leave?
by jonsigler - 8/15/07 6:02 PM In reply to: What would make you want to switch cellular carriers? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Let me start with my recent attempt to upgrade/get new phones was a total nightmare with Sprint and I gave a lot of thought in to taking my business elsewhere. In the end, they offer the best coverage where I live I feel, and the price can't be beat. I'm not a customer of theirs by choice any longer, but I am based on it being my best option at this time. I'd love to take my money elsewhere. The customer service is so bad it is like they want you to leave.
Why would I switch?
The biggest reason I have a phone is to be connected, so I would change my carrier if my current carrier got worse or a different carrier got much better coverage.
The next consideration to me would be price. My bill is $175+ monthly (I have a lot of minutes and have an unlimited data plan). But I recently looked all the other carriers for a similar plan and options. With my corporate discount (and with similar discounts at all the other carriers) no one came within $20 a month of my current Sprint deal. Their data is just so cheap.
I'd love a shorter contract, and I dream of one day where customer service is not what parolee's have to do for community service (or at least everyone I ever deal with seems to have larger chips on their shoulders that Charles Atlas, and totally clueless product knowledge.)
Special features like Pivot, seem nice, but I use my cell for business I don't want my home phone connected with it in any way, so special features don't make me want to switch, faster connections... the screen is 2"x2" and the keyboard is as easy to type on as chiseling in marble, what do you need faster speeds for.
Forget shorter contracts
by covogolf - 8/15/07 6:05 PM In reply to: What would make you want to switch cellular carriers? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
How bout no contracts at all? !!!
AT&T you may be big, but you have no customer service, and your voice mail system is for the birds, kinda like reminds me of an automatic call system, press 1 for blah, now, press 99 for blah, what do you have? Blah!! You'll be belly up again when the fun is gone from bellsouth and cingular, your not to big to get cut down to size, again !!!
Stuck with Sprint because corp centric company says so...
by staberdearth - 8/15/07 6:06 PM In reply to: What would make you want to switch cellular carriers? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
It is not necessarily what will make me switch, it is will I be allowed to switch. My corporation seems to think that cutting a cheap deal with lousy service for those of us outside of the corporate area is somehow a deal and a bargain. I am stuck with Sprint due to a corporate deal which happens to be far inferior for where I travel compared to either AT&T or Verizon. It seems that Sprint can't seem to mesh their handoffs from one cell tower to the next anywhere near as well as AT&T or Verizon... I am actually on digital roam in the middle of the PSU college campus! My battery burns down in no time when powered on in such a condition. Unacceptable!
Better Customer Service/Shorter Contract
by Kokopelliaz - 8/15/07 6:06 PM In reply to: What would make you want to switch cellular carriers? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
I am with Sprint/Nextel and can I tell you that the minimum time that I am on the phone with them is 1 hour each call,that can last up to 3 hours with actual talk time about 30 minutes the rest of the time is on HOLD. Then when I finally get to the right technical person they still don't know anything about the features of the phones and how to access them properly. The bottom-line answer I get is (1) That portion of the website must be down so you cant access that at this time. or (2) I don't know.
And instead of a two year contract 1 year would be better, even no contract would be the best.
Christina
It is possible to get a 1-year contract with Sprint
by kdude90 - 8/16/07 8:34 AM In reply to: Better Customer Service/Shorter Contract by KokopelliazThe only trade-off is that you have to pay more for the phone since they don't give as many instant rebates to 1-year subscribers.
RE: What would make you want to switch cellular carriers?
by jpprice47 - 8/15/07 6:07 PM In reply to: What would make you want to switch cellular carriers? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
- Other reason: Qwest has a bundling plan that for all your services, saving money. I have my DSL broadband, local service, long-distance, and DirecTV bundled with them. I went with Alltel for a two year contract before Qwest offered it in my area. Just waiting for the contract to expire. 
Why I Switched
by ecvogel - 8/15/07 6:16 PM In reply to: What would make you want to switch cellular carriers? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
VZW has the beast clearity and customer service. But, I need more than 450 minutes and could not afford 20 mn for double the minutes nor the overages which at least doubled the bill. T-mobile has no coverage where we stay up north so I had to go with ATT. THe price plans are the same, but most people I know are ATT so now I mostly use my M2M.
I prefer a good coustomer servoce
by snuffrock - 8/15/07 6:27 PM In reply to: What would make you want to switch cellular carriers? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
To me the most important reason i use AllTel is the convience of coustomer service in a LOCAL store. I have been with ALLTel for almost 12 years. I could go to the local store with questions and the service rep would help and explain how to key in certian things on my cell phone that i wanted but did'nt know how to access. if my cell had problems there was a frendly tech repairman in the rear of the store who would fix, adjust, and repair my phone and make it right again. if it was broken beyond repair he would tell me. Then I would go to the front of the store and talk with a friendly knowledgeable sales person who would help me pick a replacement cell phone without any pressure toward the expensive junk phones. but would listen to what my wants and needs were and then made suggestions toward what I wanted that was within my budget and I could afford.
AllTel has grown bigger and fancier and the new sales reps do not have the old down home feeling that they used to have that kept me coming back. the technition in the rear of the store is not there now. They make me feel that they do not need my business because they are now in the business to make money and not take dare of their coustomers wants and needs. The new concerne now is "PROFIT PROFIT PROFIT" and to hell with the individual coustomer.
The owners manuals are harder to understand and briefer with no resemblance to a understandable operatiors hand book which no longer explaines diddley about the new features which have been added to drive the price higher.
I still see the cell phone as a needed necesity and not a toy.
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