My contract is up on the 30th and I'm going to switch carriers. I'd LOVE to switch them now, but I want my $125 deposit back. And don't want the termination fee.
Right now, I'm leaning towards Verizon Wireless because of the great coverage and reliability in my area.
Thoughts?
Other suggestions?
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
I've been with Verizon for a few years now, and have never had any real complaints. At one point after I switched plans they messed up and sent me a bill for about a thousand dollars, but they were very friendly when I called them about it, and took the charge off the bill immediately.
Posted by Nick (Member # 4311) on :
I have had a good experience with AT&T, but Cingular just bought them so I guess I'm Cingular now. I know a lot of people with Verizon that have few complaints.
Posted by kaioshin00 (Member # 3740) on :
Verizon never stops working for you.
Posted by Farmgirl (Member # 5567) on :
I like my T-mobile, but I have no idea what kind of coverage they give you in your area....
Farmgirl
Posted by Nick (Member # 4311) on :
I have heard terrible things about T Mobile. Sorry Farmgirl. Posted by Mike (Member # 55) on :
Nick -- do tell. I recently got my first cellphone. I have T-Mobile. So far no particular issues, though sometimes you can hear the distortion from the audio compression. I don't know if this is a common problem or not, but it doesn't particularly bother me.
Edit: oh, and since I don't have any credit history to speak of they made me pay a hefty deposit. But luckily that isn't much of a problem for me (except it kept me from getting the rebate from amazon, cause they're dumb like that).
[ May 12, 2004, 05:03 PM: Message edited by: Mike ]
Posted by katharina (Member # 827) on :
I have T-Mobile, and it's fine. Didn't have coverage on a campout, but coverage for everywhere in the city, basically. It's slightly cheaper than the alternatives.
Posted by pooka (Member # 5003) on :
We've had T-Mobile for over 7 years. While we do get in a fight with them from time to time, we keep renewing. But my husband is a pretty dogged negotiator. I understand Sprint has kind of poor coverage. If that is the nature of your complaints, I could recommend T-Mobile but if it's billing/customer service, I don't really know of any company that will put you first without an occasional fight.
Posted by NdRa (Member # 2295) on :
I've used cingular for 8 years and never had any problems. Isn't T-mobile using the cingular network?
Posted by peterh (Member # 5208) on :
Mack,
You will never make a better decision than dumping Sprint for Verizon. I made the switch 3 years ago and couldn't be happier. Sprint's service is so horrible that I shudder to think that I EVER had them.
Verizon on the other hand has the best coverage in the country, and their customer service is the best I've ever had from virtually any company (think Nordstrom) period. The longest I've ever waited on hold to talk to someone was around 3 minutes and I've never had someone tell me they couldn't take care of my problem. (no tranfers to other depts., etc.) With the new every 2 program I've gotten a new phone and just this month they sent me something that will allow me to get a new phone now for only $10 even though it's only been a year.
My only recommendation is that you deal directly with a Verizon store and not an authorized dealer. You get better customer service and fewer hassles down the road if you have a problem.
Posted by mackillian (Member # 586) on :
Cingular won't cover NH.
Posted by ak (Member # 90) on :
I've been happy with Verizon. The service guys at my office are all over the country and for a month they carried and used several different phones to see which company was best. The test cases all preferred Verizon, because their coverage was best, their reception was clearer, and they liked the phones more (that was several years ago). Also, Verizon has the largest network, and things like this seem to snowball toward the largest one.
I've had them about 2 years now and I am pleased with their service. The only place I've traveled that I wasn't covered was Tomahawk, WI, (a tiny town in the backwoods) and even there I got occasional coverage. In San Mateo, CA (burb of San Fran) after I'd been there about a month my phone still worked but it quit ringing on incoming calls and quit telling me when I had voice mail. I had to call myself to check voice mail a few times a day. Sometimes I'm confused about why it acts as it does in different places. But by then I was tired of the customer higher ups and the salesman calling and pestering me at the job site all day long and so I was relieved. I would call them back once a day and they quit treating me like I was on a leash that they could jerk any time during the day and get instant feedback. Posted by Nick (Member # 4311) on :
I just hear that T-Mobile doesn't work outside of cities. I think that's ridiculous when AT&T/Cingular and Verizon (the now two largest carriers) do give good reception in rural areas.
Posted by Zevlag (Member # 1405) on :
I hate sprint, great phone service, customer service sucks.
T-Mobile phone service isn't so great, neither is the customer service, though both are reasonable.
ATT's phone service has been awesome, though customer service I haven't had to worry about, so not an issue there. No clue what's going to happen now they are cingular, can't be good.
Verizon I haven't used. Though I haven't heard any bad.
Posted by mackillian (Member # 586) on :
Okay--and when your contract runs out, how/when exactly do you make the switch?
Posted by Da_Goat (Member # 5529) on :
My dad's had Alltel for about two years with few problems. I just got it a month and a half ago.
Anyway, one think to think about is what service most of your friends have, as most services nowadays are offering free Mobile to Mobile minutes for people with the same providers.
Posted by peterh (Member # 5208) on :
If you want to keep your current phone number (through the recently enacted portability law) you need to keep your Sprint line active until you have signed up with your new providor of choice.
Once you've chosen the new provider, they can give you all the details of how to make the switch. Cancelling with Sprint would best be done in person at a Sprint store (if that's possible) so as to avoid interminable hold times and flaky customer service.
Posted by fiazko (Member # 5812) on :
<--------- Is now convinced that she is the only person who actually likes Sprint, although she will concede that their customer service is crap.
Posted by mackillian (Member # 586) on :
Well, after they did the normal monthly draft of the bill from my checking account (this is automated, btw) and it went through, and my service was cut three days later.
They hadn't billed enough. But hadn't thought to TELL me, just cut off service.
Then I got the random call center in India.
End of sprint.
Posted by fiazko (Member # 5812) on :
Ah. See, I refuse to let them have that much control. I pay "one-time" electronically every month. It's all good as long as I don't have to talk to a real person.
Posted by Annie (Member # 295) on :
Good thing I like Verizon, because here there are two choices - you can get Verizon and have coverage in maybe 30% of the state, or get Cellular One and have coverage in 10% of the state.
They've always been good, though, and the one time we had a bill mess-up they were very nice about straightening it out.
Posted by Bokonon (Member # 480) on :
I had AT&T, now have Verizon.
Verizon has the best coverage I've seen in the metro Boston area, and I know Sprint/AT&T/T-Mobile people. I don't know how it is in Manchester though.
-Bok
Posted by mackillian (Member # 586) on :
Well, considering we have the Verizon Wireless Arena, it BETTER be good coverage.
![[Frown]](frown.gif)
![[Smile]](smile.gif)
I would call them back once a day and they quit treating me like I was on a leash that they could jerk any time during the day and get instant feedback. ![[Mad]](mad.gif)