GoPhone Service?

[Androidnewbie]

I was reading on their website that every time you make a call with the GoPhone plan; money is automatically deducted from your balance after making a call. If that's the case, how can you have unlimited calls with the $60 plan if the money is deducted from your balance each time you make a call? The Account balance limit is $500.00

 

[lennydude]

I was reading on their website that every time you make a call with the GoPhone plan; money is automatically deducted from your balance after making a call. If that's the case, how can you have unlimited calls with the $60 plan if the money is deducted from your balance each time you make a call? The Account balance limit is $500.00

Not true. With that plan (like I have) you can make a million calls and a million texts if you want. No money is removed from your account with each call on that plan. The only thing that is limited is the data. I have 2gb of LTE data and that works very well for me.
BTW..............you can buy refills quite a few places online for a discount. I choose to purchase 10% off $100 dollar pins so my monthly cost is $54.

 

[tlopez1973]

Not true. With that plan (like I have) you can make a million calls and a million texts if you want. No money is removed from your account with each call on that plan. The only thing that is limited is the data. I have 2gb of LTE data and that works very well for me.
BTW..............you can buy refills quite a few places online for a discount. I choose to purchase 10% off $100 dollar pins so my monthly cost is $54.

They do charge 911 fee's and they deduct it from your account if you have money available but only certain states pay this I'm in Washington state

 

[Androidnewbie]

Not true. With that plan (like I have) you can make a million calls and a million texts if you want. No money is removed from your account with each call on that plan. The only thing that is limited is the data. I have 2gb of LTE data and that works very well for me.
BTW..............you can buy refills quite a few places online for a discount. I choose to purchase 10% off $100 dollar pins so my monthly cost is $54.

Thanks. I guess that only applies to the $40 & under plan.

 

[Androidnewbie]

They do charge 911 fee's and they deduct it from your account if you have money available but only certain states pay this I'm in Washington state

charging for 911 calls is a bad idea

 

[tlopez1973]

Thanks. I guess that only applies to the $40 & under plan.

No I'm on 60 dollar plan but they only charge you if you have money available so to avoid that payment you have to not have money and refill on the last day plus at&t told me that they deduct the money on every third for this state

 

[mogelijk]

charging for 911 calls is a bad idea

It isn't a charge for making 911 calls. Instead, it is a tax to fund 911 service that you pay every month. Only a few states require prepaid customers to pay this tax.

 

[Androidnewbie]

No I'm on 60 dollar plan but they only charge you if you have money available so to avoid that payment you have to not have money and refill on the last day plus at&t told me that they deduct the money on every third for this state

In order not to have money, they would have to constantly deduct money because the expiration date is 90 days for the $60 plan? I'm confused because how do you avoid reaching the $500 balance limit if the remaining balance is rolled over thus causing the balance to accumulate? What happens if you reach the balance limit?

 

[mogelijk]

In order not to have money, they would have to constantly deduct money because the expiration date is 90 days for the $60 plan? I'm confused because how do you avoid reaching the $500 balance limit if the remaining balance is rolled over thus causing the balance to accumulate? What happens if you reach the balance limit?

The $60 plan is a pay by the month plan. This means that once a month they take $60 out of your account and you then have service for the month. In this case, he is saying he puts the $60 in every month just a day or so before AT&T takes the payment for his monthly account, so for 29 days or so each month his account shows a $0 balance.

It seems you are confusing monthly plans with pay as you go plans. With monthly plans they pull the full cost of the plan out of your account when the previous month expires, in return you get an allotment of minutes, texts and data -- and you can use those until you run out of minutes/text/data or until your month ends. If you run out of minutes/texts/data, typically you can pay for extra minutes/texts/data or you can restart your month (in which case you have until that day on the next month before they pull another payment).

With pay as you go, you put money into your account but they only take your money as you make calls/texts/or use data. For example, I have a Lycamobile plan as a backup (I have a T-Mobile $30/monthly plan that is my main mobile phone), and Lycamobile charges me 2 cents/minute for talk, 4 cents per text, and 6 cents per MB of data. In this case, I have just over $2 in my account and if I make a 5 minute call they will deduct $.10 from my balance. And, as you mentioned, if I don't use my phone for a few months, or don't add money, then my $2 will expire.

So, the difference is, with pay as you go you actually pay for what you use. With monthly plans they take a set amount of money each month and they give you a bucket of talk/text/data that you can use. With monthly, even if you don't use your phone they still take that full amount of your monthly payment -- as if you used the full amount of talk/texts/data that the plan gives you.

Also, please realize I am talking prepaid plans here. Postpaid plans work similarly to the prepaid monthly plans except that you pay after your month has ended. That means that if you use more than what your plan allows that you can get a very large bill at the end of the month for the extra talk/text/data you used. With prepaid, you pay first and, if there isn't enough money in the account, rather than billing you they cut off your service until you add money to your account.

 

[Androidnewbie]

The $60 plan is a pay by the month plan. This means that once a month they take $60 out of your account and you then have service for the month. In this case, he is saying he puts the $60 in every month just a day or so before AT&T takes the payment for his monthly account, so for 29 days or so each month his account shows a $0 balance.

It seems you are confusing monthly plans with pay as you go plans. With monthly plans they pull the full cost of the plan out of your account when the previous month expires, in return you get an allotment of minutes, texts and data -- and you can use those until you run out of minutes/text/data or until your month ends. If you run out of minutes/texts/data, typically you can pay for extra minutes/texts/data or you can restart your month (in which case you have until that day on the next month before they pull another payment).

With pay as you go, you put money into your account but they only take your money as you make calls/texts/or use data. For example, I have a Lycamobile plan as a backup (I have a T-Mobile $30/monthly plan that is my main mobile phone), and Lycamobile charges me 2 cents/minute for talk, 4 cents per text, and 6 cents per MB of data. In this case, I have just over $2 in my account and if I make a 5 minute call they will deduct $.10 from my balance. And, as you mentioned, if I don't use my phone for a few months, or don't add money, then my $2 will expire.

So, the difference is, with pay as you go you actually pay for what you use. With monthly plans they take a set amount of money each month and they give you a bucket of talk/text/data that you can use. With monthly, even if you don't use your phone they still take that full amount of your monthly payment -- as if you used the full amount of talk/texts/data that the plan gives you.

Also, please realize I am talking prepaid plans here. Postpaid plans work similarly to the prepaid monthly plans except that you pay after your month has ended. That means that if you use more than what your plan allows that you can get a very large bill at the end of the month for the extra talk/text/data you used. With prepaid, you pay first and, if there isn't enough money in the account, rather than billing you they cut off your service until you add money to your account.

Thank you so much. I am considering on purchasing the samsung galaxy express. AIO has the phone also however at the current time, they don't have a store location in my area. Your explanation helps a lot in making my decision.

 

[jhawkkw]

With prepaid, you pay first and, if there isn't enough money in the account, rather than billing you they cut off your service until you add money to your account.

This isn't always the case. The T-Mobile $30 dollar plan charges you 10 cents per minute on your next fill up if you go over, and AT&T claims it charges you $10 dollar per GB over your limit on the $60 dollar plan.

 

[mogelijk]

This isn't always the case. The T-Mobile $30 dollar plan charges you 10 cents per minute on your next fill up if you go over, and AT&T claims it charges you $10 dollar per GB over your limit on the $60 dollar plan.

My experience with the T-Mobile $30 plan is that, after I had used my 100 minutes, they deducted the 10 cents per minute immediately from my account, not at the start of the next month. I don't think I ever tried to make a call with no money in the account, so I can't say for sure what T-Mobile does. My experience, however, is that your talk service is cut off by most prepaid carriers in that event (thought text and data should still work).

 

[jhawkkw]

My experience with the T-Mobile $30 plan is that, after I had used my 100 minutes, they deducted the 10 cents per minute immediately from my account, not at the start of the next month. I don't think I ever tried to make a call with no money in the account, so I can't say for sure what T-Mobile does. My experience, however, is that your talk service is cut off by most prepaid carriers in that event (thought text and data should still work).

Yeah, I always leave extra money in my account as well in case I do use all my minutes. However someone else on here claims that they went over, then when they reloaded with a 30 dollar card that they only got 28.50 out of it. Normally you do get cut off, but I thinks these are more exceptions than the standard to how prepaid is handled.

 

[Gekko]

1. what does your $60/Month GoPhone Plan total out to on your bill after all taxes, fees, etc. and what state are you in?
2. are you happy with GoPhone?

i'm curious if taxes/fees are lower on prepaid vs. post paid. i'm getting differing answers.

thanks.

 

[jhawkkw]

1. what does your $60/Month GoPhone Plan total out to on your bill after all taxes, fees, etc. and what state are you in?
2. are you happy with GoPhone?

i'm curious if taxes/fees are lower on prepaid vs. post paid. i'm getting differing answers.

thanks.

Taxes and fees (except sales tax) are usually built into prepaid plans. Though the E911 fee may not be and that is dependent on state.

 

[Gekko]

Taxes and fees (except sales tax) are usually built into prepaid plans. Though the E911 fee may not be and that is dependent on state.

so in NY does your bill come to $60 even?

 

[Gekko]

NEXUS 5 + GOPHONE PREPAID
Phone $350
Monthly Charge $60
Monthly Charge x 24 Months $1,440
Total Paid After 24 Months $1,790
----------------------------------------
FLASGHIP PHONE + AT&T/VERIZON POSTPAID
Phone $250
Monthly Charge $100
Monthly Charge x 24 Months $2,400
Total Paid After 24 Months $2,650
----------------------------------------
Difference after 24 Months $860 48% (This savings will pay for your next 2.5 Nexus Phones)

* this analysis assumes a plan of Unlimited Voice/Text plus ~2GB of LTE Data.

 

[mogelijk]

1. what does your $60/Month GoPhone Plan total out to on your bill after all taxes, fees, etc. and what state are you in?
2. are you happy with GoPhone?

i'm curious if taxes/fees are lower on prepaid vs. post paid. i'm getting differing answers.

thanks.

I'm in Texas and how much it cost depends on how I paid. If I paid in the kiosk in the store, it was $60. If I paid to an AT&T employee, it was $60+sales tax. Apparently there are some oddities in Texas law where if you pay through a kiosk you are buying a service (no sales tax) but if you buy from a person or buy a refill card you are buying a "product". If I bought online, for example, from callingmart, I could pay as low as $54.

From what I could tell, GoPhone service is pretty much equal to AT&T service, other than a lack of roaming.

 

[Gekko]

I'm in Texas and how much it cost depends on how I paid. If I paid in the kiosk in the store, it was $60. If I paid to an AT&T employee, it was $60+sales tax. Apparently there are some oddities in Texas law where if you pay through a kiosk you are buying a service (no sales tax) but if you buy from a person or buy a refill card you are buying a "product". If I bought online, for example, from callingmart, I could pay as low as $54.

From what I could tell, GoPhone service is pretty much equal to AT&T service, other than a lack of roaming.

i'm wondering about automatic pay via "auto refill" via credit card.

 

[mogelijk]

i'm wondering about automatic pay via "auto refill" via credit card.

I don't believe there is sales tax on it in Texas, but I'd ask someone at the AT&T store to be sure.

 

[jhawkkw]

so in NY does your bill come to $60 even?

I'm not on the AT&T plan, but I am using the T-Mobile 30 dollar prepaid plan. They don't charge me the E911 fee on that (not sure if that's because the plan includes it or if my state is one of those that doesn't force it on prepaid), and my bill comes to $32.40 because of 8% sales tax.

But the bright side is that I buy my refill cards from Best Buy, so I get reward points for paying my cell phone bill

 

[lennydude]

I have the $60 GoPhone account. I really like it in my area and it fits my needs 100%. I have been told that this account will not roam. This has no effect on me at least.
I buy pins through TMI Wireless (secrest wireless.com) that cost $90 for a $100 pin. That is a 10% discount. There are no taxes, 911 fees etc (I live in Maine....guess it depends on what state you live in) so I pay $54 per month for the plan.
Was on ST but was always very nervous about doing business with them so I moved to ATT GoPhone and am very happy

 

[mrnyjet]

I'm in Texas and how much it cost depends on how I paid. If I paid in the kiosk in the store, it was $60. If I paid to an AT&T employee, it was $60+sales tax. Apparently there are some oddities in Texas law where if you pay through a kiosk you are buying a service (no sales tax) but if you buy from a person or buy a refill card you are buying a "product". If I bought online, for example, from callingmart, I could pay as low as $54.

From what I could tell, GoPhone service is pretty much equal to AT&T service, other than a lack of roaming.

You can roam on gophone outside the USA as long as you have funds to cover the per minute voice or text charges. The cost for gophone in NY is the same as Texas.

 

[mogelijk]

You can roam on gophone outside the USA as long as you have funds to cover the per minute voice or text charges. The cost for gophone in NY is the same as Texas.

I think you missed my point, I wasn't talking about sales tax and not about the plan rates. What you pay in sales tax and if a 911 fee is added, and if you pay taxes at all, ultimately depends on your state. The person I was responding to specifically asked about taxes.

Additionally, I wasn't talking about international roaming, there is no US roaming on Gophone -- you can see the difference in the AT&T coverage maps.