Prepaid cell phone experience?

[farmkid]

My wife and I have had a AT&T family plan for a few years now, but we're thinking of switching to a prepaid plan because it would save us a significant amount of money. We don't use the phones a lot--we have the lowest plan (550 minutes), and we only use a little more than half of them in an average month. Basically, we're paying about 15-20¢/minute, so if we can switch to a prepaid plan we'll save a fair bit each month. Also, we don't have a texting or a data plan because I'm too cheap to pay for it, neither of us would use enough to justify the cost of adding it.

I've looked around, and the best I've found so far is Net10. We can get it for about 5-10¢/minute, depending on how many minutes we buy at a time. In addition, with Net10, texts and data just use regular air time, so you don't have to buy any certain amount and lose whatever you don't use. However, I don't know anyone who has a Net10 phone and from what I've found online, their customer service leaves a lot to be desired.

So, tell me your stories and experience with prepaid cell phones. What companies have you had good/bad experiences with? How does the service compare to a regular contract plan?

 

[Amaris]

I've been a Net10 customer for 3 years, and I've been very happy with them. I always get decent reception, when I use the internet there are no data charges (only minute charges), and the voice quality is very good. There are a number of good phones to choose from, too. As for customer service, when I transferred my phone number to a brand new phone, it only took about 10 minutes, with no problems whatsoever. Now, your mileage may vary, of course, but I have been happy with them, and have no desire to seek out any plan/contract services.

 

[JohnChod]

I'm not a fan of cell phones as I hate to be found if I'm not at home or in my office at work. So, my wife and I both have Tracfones. Great coverage and sound quality as well as good customer service on the few occasions I've needed them. We do not text or use these phones for anything other than "necessary" calls. While the per call charge is pretty high, you can get 90 days of service for as little as $20 plus tax. However, that only gives you 60 minutes. If you use it frequently enough, it's not an economical choice, but it's great for occasional users like myself.

 

[farmkid]

I've been a Net10 customer for 3 years, and I've been very happy with them. I always get decent reception, when I use the internet there are no data charges (only minute charges), and the voice quality is very good. There are a number of good phones to choose from, too. As for customer service, when I transferred my phone number to a brand new phone, it only took about 10 minutes, with no problems whatsoever. Now, your mileage may vary, of course, but I have been happy with them, and have no desire to seek out any plan/contract services.

I'm glad to hear it's worked for you. This pushes me a little toward giving it a try.

Question for you: There are a good number of Net10 phones on eBay for considerably less than they are from the website (there aren't any local retailers, so I have to get it online), both new and used. As someone with experience with the service, can you think of any reason I wouldn't want to get one from eBay?

 

[Amaris]

It should work, since you can just buy minutes for the phone and setup a new account. Have you tried the Net10 website? They've always got a deal going on there. Walmart also carries Net10 phones and cards as well.

 

[Maestro]

We have ours through Verizon, and have their $1.99/middle plan. It costs us $1.99 each day that we use the phone. We get a certain amount of free minutes (never been able to figure out how many) and then it's 5 cents a minute after that. We get Verizon to Verizon mobile calls free (after the $1.99 daily buy in).

We've had the phone for five weeks and spent $20 on its use, and that was mostly because of needing to be in contact with my family during my grandmother's illness and passing. I would guesstimate that now we're not going to use even $20 during a month.

I'm happy with it, although I should also point out that I have a satellite phone in my car through On-Star, so my use of the pay-as-you-go is a bit less than the average person's.

 

[farmkid]

It should work, since you can just buy minutes for the phone and setup a new account. Have you tried the Net10 website? They've always got a deal going on there. Walmart also carries Net10 phones and cards as well.

I have checked the website. The deals there aren't bad. I was planning on going that route but then checked eBay on a whim. I found that in some cases you can get the phone for about half what it is from the website. As for Walmart, according to the website, there are no retailers in my area, including Walmart.

Hold on...I just tried a bunch of different zip codes on the website and apparently there aren't any retailers anywhere. I guess their retailer locator doesn't work. I'll try my local Walmart.

We have ours through Verizon, and have their $1.99/middle plan. It costs us $1.99 each day that we use the phone. We get a certain amount of free minutes (never been able to figure out how many) and then it's 5 cents a minute after that. We get Verizon to Verizon mobile calls free (after the $1.99 daily buy in).

We've had the phone for five weeks and spent $20 on its use, and that was mostly because of needing to be in contact with my family during my grandmother's illness and passing. I would guesstimate that now we're not going to use even $20 during a month.

I'm happy with it, although I should also point out that I have a satellite phone in my car through On-Star, so my use of the pay-as-you-go is a bit less than the average person's.

I looked into Verizon, but it didn't seem like it would work well for us. My wife and I use our phones most days (probably about 20-25 days/month), but only a little each day (average less than 5 minutes). That kind of plan is great for those who don't use it often, but have long conversations.

 

[Mike Farley]

Have you checked the coverage map? I'm asking because if there aren't any retailrs that sell the phones on your area, they might not provide coverage there.

 

[Amaris]

Net10 uses Tracfone's network, which also uses the Sprint network. Believe me, you'd be hard pressed to find a non-covered area anywhere in the U.S.

 

[Holdfast]

I used to have a prepaid cell before I first moved onto a contract about a decade ago.

Some fucker stole it with £20+ of credit still on board.

 

[backstept]

I sell prepaids all the time at Walmart . . . in fact, we seem to sell more prepaid phones than contract phones
I'd recommend having a look at Tracfone with their double minute phones
I think the best overall value is StraightTalk with the $30 plan that includes 1000 minutes and 1000 texts, and there's also a $45 unlimited plan
compare that to Tracfone's $20 60 minute card (double minutes gets you 120)
the only downside with straighttalk is that it's monthly, not 90 days like Tracfone, and StraightTalk phones tend to be more expensive, but if you talk a lot then it ends up being cheaper per minute

/salesmode