RRC Archives

I was stuck with cingular for a year and could not wait to get out of my contract. they had the worst customer service ever and basically screwed me over several times. so this time i'm smart i weigh all the options and decide on AT&T...well yesterday freaking cingular BOUGHT AT&T Wireless!!!!!!

http://money.cnn.com/2004/02/17/technol ... /index.htm

and i had to sign a two year contract, life really knows how to bite you in the ass sometimes!

Wait it gets better. I've had my cell phone and number for what will be three years in August. I haven't willingly changed carries and with cingular buying out at&t wireless I will be on my third. SunCom -> at&t -> cingular. But for $20/mo. (if they keep my plan) I'll stay, if not I gotta search again.

at least the network will improve which is another big reason i went to AT&T but i certainly hope they upgrade the customer service...

For those of us who aren't cellular/digital and want a phone just for emergencies and occasional local call, etc. what/where is a good deal?

I'd go with a pre-paid one. Check out TracFone, Virgin (whore offspring of MTV) and Whatever will be at&t's prepaid division. Most of these are avaliable at wally-world or target. If you'd like more help/advice/opinion/soundingboard let me know, don't want to stick my nose in too far.

M

<edit> at&t's prepaid div is currently at&t 2go or 2goPhone </edit>

Yeah, give me the advice. I'm a cellular gumby to the tenth power.

I like T Mobile, unfortunately they don't have service in jackson hole, otherwise i would have gone with them. they are pretty cheap and have three day weekends...

I actually like Cingular -- they've been really good to me. A lot of minutes per buck, only a 1 year contract, you can change your contract any any time without penalty, and really good service.

IMHO, Sprint has the worst coverage - my girlfriend has it and constantly gets dropped -- she never has a call last longer than a few minutes without getting dropped.

All this coverage varies from region to region of course, maybe it's different if you're not in Indy.

Ok for the prepaid ones check up on their coverage area's (their network) and how they relate to where you will be traveling the most. Check their roming charges, how much they cost per min. Most of the ones that I listed should have free caller-id AND long distance shouldn't cost anymore than regular calls in their network.

The next big thing is the "Service plan." How much units/min cost. How often you have to renew or when your time expires and you loose the units/min AND your number. IE if you buy the phone nothing expires for a year. (TracFone was doing this as of Dec. '03) How much does the phone cost period. You aren't going to get a free phone with prepaid but you keep the phone b/c you paid for it (means if you switch to another carrier you more than likely don't have to buy a new phone). Do you get free time if you buy the phone, get extra time if you activate online, etc.

I think that just about does it. If you are coming to the RRGCC meeting at Lexington we can talk more then if you'd like.

M