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Starting from scratch. Which carrier/phone ?
- Thread starter dougrb
- Start date
N00B Moment
Member
You guys are behind on this one! VZW is infact offering free mobile to mobile just like Sprint.
Myself, I live close enough to Memphis I could stand in my yard and throw a rock into the city. Now with that being said, I could not believe the crappy service I get from them. At my house I have to go outside and sometimes down the street to make a CALL. At my GF's house (Also in a high traffic city type area) I have to go outside her appartment to make any call.
For me the Sprint service sucks so bad I am currently considering paying the ETF so I can switch to Verizon. I was just there a few days ago and learned about their new M to M plans. seems like a hell of a deal to me!
Myself, I live close enough to Memphis I could stand in my yard and throw a rock into the city. Now with that being said, I could not believe the crappy service I get from them. At my house I have to go outside and sometimes down the street to make a CALL. At my GF's house (Also in a high traffic city type area) I have to go outside her appartment to make any call.
For me the Sprint service sucks so bad I am currently considering paying the ETF so I can switch to Verizon. I was just there a few days ago and learned about their new M to M plans. seems like a hell of a deal to me!
No one is behind on anything. VZN is only offering free mobile to mobile in VERY select areas. It's a test to see how it works out. They certainly don't offer the service in NYC, and doubt they will. Would be awesome, but doubt it nonetheless.
Doug
sorry... about the bad sprint service in your area. There are bad coverage areas.. NO servcie provider has every area covered well.
you should check out other providers..
but.. sprint roams on verizon. so the phone should pop over to verizon if you have bad signal on sprint.
you can also try to get sprint to GIVE you an airrave...and free service.
well..if you go.. good luck.
I thought I was done with the questions, but I'm not!
This question is specifically for those who are with Verizon, and even more specifically, to anyone with Verizon who is on a family plan. The 1400 minute plan makes a bit more sense than the 700 minute plan, which is $120. Add data services for 2 lines and that's $180. Here's the question:
What are you paying on average in tax and surcharges ? Would you say around $20 or is that an underestimation ? I've heard that VZN really kills people with the surcharges.
Doug
This question is specifically for those who are with Verizon, and even more specifically, to anyone with Verizon who is on a family plan. The 1400 minute plan makes a bit more sense than the 700 minute plan, which is $120. Add data services for 2 lines and that's $180. Here's the question:
What are you paying on average in tax and surcharges ? Would you say around $20 or is that an underestimation ? I've heard that VZN really kills people with the surcharges.
Doug
OfTheDamned
The Friendly Undead
I currently have the 1400 talk and text family plan with 3 phones. 2 are smart phones with data plans and the third is a regular phone (home phone). This also includes the unlimited text for all the phones. I just double checked my bill and here is what it would actually break down to:
Line #1:
Monthly Access - $139.99
Nationwide Talk & Text FS 1400 - $110.00
Email & Web for SMARTPHONE - $29.99
Verizon Wireless Surcharges and Other Charges & Credits - $2.94
Fed Universal Service Charge - $1.98
Regulatory Charge - $0.13
Administrative Charge - $0.83
Taxes, Governmental Surcharges & Fees - $5.14
Cnty E911 Fee - $1.50
State Sales Tax - $2.08
Cnty Sales Tax - $1.56
Line #2:
Monthly Access - $39.98
Nationwide Talk & Text FS 1400 - $9.99
Email & Web for SMARTPHONE - $29.99
Verizon Wireless Surcharges and Other Charges & Credits - $1.23
Fed Universal Service Charge - $0.27
Regulatory Charge - $0.13
Administrative Charge - $0.83
Taxes, Governmental Surcharges & Fees - $2.29
Cnty E911 Fee - $1.50
State Sales Tax - $0.45
Cnty Sales Tax - $0.34
Total - $191.57
Each extra line will cost about $13.50 if they are non-smartphones.
Just some extra information:
-Verizon does not charge for roaming in the US. (I've been all over the country and never received a charge for using my phone, even when it says it is roaming)
-The Friends and Family numbers are 10 total and the numbers chosen apply to both lines. Unlimited calling to any of those numbers 24/7 mobile or landlines.
-Friends and Family combined with Google Voice can give you unlimited calling for free. If you list Google Voice as one of your numbers then all incoming and outgoing calls will be free through the service. Works quite well.
-Google Voice or YouMail can replace the Verizon Visual Voice mail at no charge.
-All Verizon to Verizon calls are free.
-Night and weekend calling starts at 9.
-Verizon offers a new every 2 program that gives the primary number on the account an extra $100 of the purchase of a new phone with a 2 year contract renewal.
-Primary lines are eligible for an upgrade every year.
-Secondary lines are only eligible for an upgrade every two years.
-Their service is one month in advance billing. It takes some getting used to at first, but not a big deal after a few months. It also means that you aren't going to get your phone turned off if you fall behind on your bill at some point.
I've been with Verizon for 8 years now and I love their service. As far as their customer service, the difference is night and day compared to others I've dealt with. Verizon has always treated me like a first class passenger, At&t and T-Mobile like I was in coach and Sprint as though I was baggage.
Good luck, I hope you find the carrier and the phone you are looking for.
EDIT: I forgot about the phones! How silly of me.
The top four that I would look at currently for Verizon are the Droid X, Samsung Fascinate, Droid 2 and Droid Incredible.
Incredible - Has Sense UI and is currently on 2.2, but suffers from poor battery life from what I hear. It is really fast and a sleek phone. Camera is nice, but not as nice as others. Sense is a beautiful UI with a lot of extras. Easy to root and has a HUGE support forum here.
Fascinate - Amazing 4" screen, plenty of memory and very fast. GPS issues are a little blown out of proportion, IMHO. Reception is not as good as other phones have been, but call quality is pretty nice. Still on 2.1, but awaiting the update to 2.2 in the very near future. Battery life is excellent. Really great camera too. Touchwiz UI is a little too iPhonish for some users.
Droid X - Huge 4.3" screen that is very bright and clear. Great camera, super fast, well designed. Battery life has been great for some and bad for others. 3 mics make the call quality crystal clear. It is currently on 2.2 and running the Moto Blur UI which some like and some hate. It had some issues when updated not too long ago, honestly not sure how that turned out. I have also heard some complaints about build quality issues, but do not know how accurate they are.
Droid 2 - Similar to original Droid in many ways. Better keyboard than the original and running 2.2 already. It is made of plastic instead of the metal of the original which some say is good and some say is bad. I've also heard of build quality issues, but can't confirm. Also running Moto Blur. Camera is nice but not as nice as the SF or DX. No idea about battery life.
There are also some new phones coming from HTC and Motorola right around the corner.
I have to run, but must confess that I'm confused by how those figures add up exactly. Maybe it's in how you listed the monthly access charges, which I'm looking at as being separate from one another, but really the TOTAL monthly access charge for both phones should be $140, right ? I'm saying/asking that because otherwise, the total doesn't add up. I also added up everything separately and the total came out to $203.17
I might be dim, but if this is how Verizon trains people to lose sight of how much you are/should be paying, I'm already scared. I'm just not seeing how you came to $191.57
Ah well, I never was very good with math.... 
I'll be back for more torture later! Off to B&H Photo
Doug
I might be dim, but if this is how Verizon trains people to lose sight of how much you are/should be paying, I'm already scared. I'm just not seeing how you came to $191.57
Ah well, I never was very good with math.... I'll be back for more torture later! Off to B&H Photo
Doug
OfTheDamned
The Friendly Undead
I have to run, but must confess that I'm confused by how those figures add up exactly. Maybe it's in how you listed the monthly access charges, which I'm looking at as being separate from one another, but really the TOTAL monthly access charge for both phones should be $140, right ? I'm saying/asking that because otherwise, the total doesn't add up. I also added up everything separately and the total came out to $203.17
I might be dim, but if this is how Verizon trains people to lose sight of how much you are/should be paying, I'm already scared. I'm just not seeing how you came to $191.57
I'll be back for more torture later! Off to B&H Photo
Doug
Look at the bold prices. The non-bold stuff is just where I broke things out so you could see what all the charges are. Also keep in mind that I pay extra for unlimited text so if you don't need that then things are cheaper.
Just an update. Went to a phone dealer today and came home with two new phones on an new network (to me) and went with a two line family plan. Thus far, I'm feeling pretty elated about everything, and might as well spill my guts about my plan, network and phones in this thread, since this is where it all started for me. But before all that, let me first thank everyone who chimed in with their opinions, experiences and stories. They all helped a lot, and I appreciate that!
So, what network did I go with ?
SPRINT!
And what phones did we get?
EVO 4G AND BLACKBERRY BOLD
Now here's the best part of all, ready ? Good timing prevails, as Sprint has a deal going on this weekend (didn't hear about any promotions) where we (I guess as new subs on a family plan perhaps) received $50 off each of our phones, aside from the $100 mail-in rebate. Technically speaking, I believe that Best Buy or maybe Radio Shack offer the same price without even having to deal with a mail in rebate (not sure about that one) but they also took off $30 from our bill each month!
So:
Total cost of both phones after mail-in rebate: $300
1500 minute family plan with unlimited data : $130
Charge for 4G device: $10
Taxes and surcharges roughly:$20
Total $160
Minus $30 each month
Grand total: $130 a month!
Oh but wait, there's actually more.... however, the more part needs prefacing soo....
Last year we were with ATT (and were with them for almost a couple of years) but decided to move to Hungary, which is where my wife is from. We were two months from being out of contract, but it was also the time when our apartment lease was up and we weren't renewing. Called ATT to ask if there was any way to not have to pay the ETF since we were re-locating over seas.
Long story short: They said sure, just send us such and such documents proving that you've relocated (via snail mail) and we will wave the ETF, no problem. Well, turns out that they never waived a thing, and on top of this, upon returning to the U.S. a year later (hi), the ETF was sent to collection!
So now my wife's nearly perfect credit score had to take a hit, and our ETF had gained a couple hundred dollars worth of interest!
I called, exercised my jibber jabber in a most diplomatic fashion and nada. Cruddy thing was that I returned two months ahead of my wife, so I had to deal with ATT CS and try to explain the situation. I got zero help. Wound up having to pay $468.30something to the collector and now am still waiting for a letter to say it's paid and to demand that our credit gets restored.
Forward several weeks later (a week ago) and my wife decides to take this matter to an ATT store. Lots of back and forth.. lots of misinformation on their part, lots of phone calls and faxes to other ATT locations, some of which don't even exist anymore (way to keep your database up to date ATT) etc.. Forward to yesterday.
Spoke with not just one, but THREE incredibly understanding, cooperative and dare I say... HUMAN individuals over at one of the ATT divisions, and got satisfaction. All I asked them to do was the right thing, and they did. We are getting an refund for the amount of the ETFs on both lines. Which I belive is $110 per phone, and think that we even get the tax on that too, so it might come to $250 back.
It restored a BIT of faith for me in ATT's favor, and wasn't expecting them to also pay for the interest it accrued, but I asked if we decided to go back with them, whether or not they'd be able to perhaps credit us that amount in another way. I personally asked for unlimited data on two smartphones, but that was a no-go and wasn't willing to fight for it.
So we are getting a check in 7-10 business days and cutting our losses with ATT.
Hello Sprint, rooting and unlimited data !
Oh, and my Evo is freeking AWESOME
F
So, what network did I go with ?
SPRINT!
And what phones did we get?
EVO 4G AND BLACKBERRY BOLD
Now here's the best part of all, ready ? Good timing prevails, as Sprint has a deal going on this weekend (didn't hear about any promotions) where we (I guess as new subs on a family plan perhaps) received $50 off each of our phones, aside from the $100 mail-in rebate. Technically speaking, I believe that Best Buy or maybe Radio Shack offer the same price without even having to deal with a mail in rebate (not sure about that one) but they also took off $30 from our bill each month!
So:
Total cost of both phones after mail-in rebate: $300
1500 minute family plan with unlimited data : $130
Charge for 4G device: $10
Taxes and surcharges roughly:$20
Total $160
Minus $30 each month
Grand total: $130 a month!
Oh but wait, there's actually more.... however, the more part needs prefacing soo....
Last year we were with ATT (and were with them for almost a couple of years) but decided to move to Hungary, which is where my wife is from. We were two months from being out of contract, but it was also the time when our apartment lease was up and we weren't renewing. Called ATT to ask if there was any way to not have to pay the ETF since we were re-locating over seas.
Long story short: They said sure, just send us such and such documents proving that you've relocated (via snail mail) and we will wave the ETF, no problem. Well, turns out that they never waived a thing, and on top of this, upon returning to the U.S. a year later (hi), the ETF was sent to collection!
So now my wife's nearly perfect credit score had to take a hit, and our ETF had gained a couple hundred dollars worth of interest! I called, exercised my jibber jabber in a most diplomatic fashion and nada. Cruddy thing was that I returned two months ahead of my wife, so I had to deal with ATT CS and try to explain the situation. I got zero help. Wound up having to pay $468.30something to the collector and now am still waiting for a letter to say it's paid and to demand that our credit gets restored.
Forward several weeks later (a week ago) and my wife decides to take this matter to an ATT store. Lots of back and forth.. lots of misinformation on their part, lots of phone calls and faxes to other ATT locations, some of which don't even exist anymore (way to keep your database up to date ATT) etc.. Forward to yesterday.
Spoke with not just one, but THREE incredibly understanding, cooperative and dare I say... HUMAN individuals over at one of the ATT divisions, and got satisfaction. All I asked them to do was the right thing, and they did. We are getting an refund for the amount of the ETFs on both lines. Which I belive is $110 per phone, and think that we even get the tax on that too, so it might come to $250 back.
It restored a BIT of faith for me in ATT's favor, and wasn't expecting them to also pay for the interest it accrued, but I asked if we decided to go back with them, whether or not they'd be able to perhaps credit us that amount in another way. I personally asked for unlimited data on two smartphones, but that was a no-go and wasn't willing to fight for it.
So we are getting a check in 7-10 business days and cutting our losses with ATT.
Hello Sprint, rooting and unlimited data !
Oh, and my Evo is freeking AWESOME
F
OfTheDamned
The Friendly Undead
Congrats Doug and welcome to Android.