Re: Best cell phone plan? Verizon?

We are hooked on Cingular... I love the roll over minutes and as long as you have a SIM card in your current phone you can take it out and put it in any other phone.

Re: Best cell phone plan? Verizon?

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Posted by N.Y.bride

Thanks. Will I still be able to use my Sanyo phone? (Might be a dumb question, but I dont know )

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not that i believe. if the server was sprint that phone can only be used through sprint. sell them on ebay! thats what me and fh did with our old phone when we switched from sprint.

Re: Best cell phone plan? Verizon?

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Posted by N.Y.bride

I need 2 lines on the same plan. Should I go to Verizon?

I just had it OUT with Sprint. My bill is over $300 a month which is fine, but they have some policy that says after it gets over a certain amount they shut it off! I pay in full every month and its HORRIBLE when they shut it off. Last time it was the day my best friend was having her baby and I was waiting for the call. Its $300 to cancel my contract which I might as well do.

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Let me chime in here... with a little explanation on why this happened.


Unfortunately that is Sprint's policy to give everyone a monthly usage limit. In fact every Sprint customer can call them to find out what their monthly 'usuage' charge they are allowed is.

And don't be surprised if the other carriers do the same thing. Its all about credit and your tenure with Sprint in this case.

Sprint feels that based on your credit... they are only going to 'loan' you $300 buks. Because thats essentially what they are doing... loaning their service to you and then you pay at the end of the month. They aren't going to let you use the phone endlessly.

The longer you stay with Sprint... this value will eventually go up as they 'trust you' as a customer.

Have you had them for a while... or did u just switch to them?

Sprint phones will only work on Sprint networks. But you can make money selling them on ebay.

But I think its a TOTAL waste to pay any early cancellation fee because of this.

And why may I ask do you have a $300 bill? Thats insane cause they have plans for around $120-140 a month I believe that have 2000 anytime minutes and free off-peak.


If you want the most bang for your buck when it comes to price vs. minutes... T-Mobile is the best. But you have to check to see if they have good coverage where you live.

Re: Best cell phone plan? Verizon?

I have been with Sprint for about 4 years now. I ay my bill in fullon time every month. If I choose to spend $500 a month I should be able to do so. It's just so frustrating.

We have 2 phones on my plan, sprint to sprint, and after 7 is free, I think we have 500 minutes and they say we go over by way too much every month. We decided to hook up a phone at home so we wont have to use our cell.

I just hate the inconvenience of having it shut off. Its not like I just signed up with them. They have thousands of my dollars already.

I might just wait another month to see if our phone bill goes down enough with the new home phone.

Thanks for the advice and help. I think youre the only one I know who uses T Mobile. It really works good?

Re: Best cell phone plan? Verizon?

Sprint service IMO is one of the best out there.... better than T-Mobile.

When I had Sprint I loved them. But I switched to T-Mobile to get better blackberry service for my job. T-Mobile is OK... but not as good as Sprint (at least where I live and frequent).


You are lucky to have it capped at $300. Standard capping is usually around $125-150 from what I hear.

Maybe this is a dumb question.... but why don't you change your plan to something that better suits your calling needs? If you are willing to spend $300 buks a month... just get one of their $100 a month plans which will give you a ton of anytime minutes a month.

Why piss away all that cash if you don't have to?


EDIT: or switch to Fair and Flexible so your overages aren't nearly as bad.

Re: Best cell phone plan? Verizon?

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Posted by jandt2006

the catch with most cell phone companies is that you can't use one phone with another company.

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Actually thats not necessarily true.

If you have a GSM phone (T-Mobile / Cingular)... a lot of them allow you to use the phone on different GSM networks if you have it 'unlocked'. Unlocking a phone is like cracking the software on a phone.

You can find all sorts of dealers on craigslist that will unlock your GSM phone so u can take it with you between networks. You just take the SIM card you get from your new network and plug it in your phone and it works.


But this will not work on any of the popular CDMA networks like Verizon/Sprint/Virgin/etc (phones that do not use a SIM card).

Re: Best cell phone plan? Verizon?

I was thinking of it. The only thing is then I have to start another contract, right? i think everytime I change my plan I start my 2 years from then? I thought thats how I understood it. I guess it really doesnt matter because Id pay the same amount to get out of it.. Maybe Ill try that. Increasing minutes. I just wish my DH and I could get into using the home phone more :)

Re: Best cell phone plan? Verizon?

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Posted by N.Y.bride

I was thinking of it. The only thing is then I have to start another contract, right? i think everytime I change my plan I start my 2 years from then? I thought thats how I understood it. I guess it really doesnt matter because Id pay the same amount to get out of it.. Maybe Ill try that. Increasing minutes. I just wish my DH and I could get into using the home phone more :)

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Signing 2 year deals is foolish. Never sign a 2 year cellphone deal.

But since you already did... then yeah you have to renew. But didn't you say you just renewed the contract? If you did... it won't be that big of a deal if they reset your two year contract.


Try this.... call Sprint... threaten to cancel... they should transfer you to retention and the retention reps can offer you phone plans that aren't advertised to regular customers. I don't know if they have any family retention deals though... but it doesn't hurt to try.

Sprint without a DOUBT... has the best customer service out there when it comes to retention. They will do almost ANYTHING to keep a customer. If you threaten to cancel... they will offer you the world in free phones, $150 phone credits, kickass phone plans, etc.

The key though is it call them and ***** when you are already done with your contract cause you have leverage.

You don't have any leverege if you are in contract. But if you are giving them $300 a month... they should be willing to 'take care of you' and keep that fat bill every month even if you are already in contract.

You have to learn to take advantage of this. When I had Sprint... i got a $150 credit every year (I was on year contracts)... along with free add-ons like first incoming minute free, free vision, free off-peak. They gave me the world.

Oh... and if you have a family plan... your termination fee (normally $175) is doubled since you have two lines. Something to think about.

Re: Best cell phone plan? Verizon?

Call Sprint... bytch to them about the cancelled service... then say word for word 'Well you know, based on the $300 a month I am giving you in overages, I am going to start to look at some other providers and see what phone plans they can offer me... If they can give me something good I am going to cancel Sprint. I already know they will give me a free phone if I switch and I can port my number'.

When they hear this... they will probably immediately transfer you to retention. But if you have a bitchy CSR... they may not do anything. If they don't do anything..... hang up... then call back and try again.

Let me know what they offer you.

Re: Best cell phone plan? Verizon?

Can you call for me I try so hard to be firm, butI'm not good at it

Our cancellation fee is $150 per line. So $300 they said.

I think Im going to increase my minutes AND start using my home phone which is like $40 unlimited.

I guess Im going back to work 9/1 too and wont be able to use my phone as much.

Thanks for the advice. Ill let you know if things dont work out :)

Re: Best cell phone plan? Verizon?

ok my sister used verizon and there was constantly a problem with the bill - billed for calls not made etc. . . just be sure to read your bill every month if you are going for verizon - they are pretty well known for misbilling ( i use to work for them - it happens all the time)

Re: Best cell phone plan? Verizon?

that has happened to me also with verizon billing