Cell phone company feedback

[Rick V]

Okay I am with AT&T and am out of contract, so I am looking to see about changing companies, yanno "what can you do for me" type of thing.
The following companies at my house
AT&T (with a micro cell)
Version
US Cellular
and Sprint.
Lets hear your input from any of these carriers, good, bad, or indifferent.
I have two lines, unlimited talk, text, picture, two gig of data and international texting for $99 a month just to give a reference to my starting point

[T77911S]

we have been with T mobile for at least 15 years, or who ever they were before they were Tmobile. anyway, we have had with them. poor coverage, bad billing. this last bill we could figure out what we were being charged for. been fighting with them over a phone. they say they are taking it off the bill but then they put it back.
my duaghter has very little service where she is and she really needs it. she is off to college and sometimes out in the boonies with no service. if something happens, she cant get in touch with anyone for help.

we are going to verison in sept.

[GH85Carrera]

I have been with AT&T for all the time I have had a cell phone. Before the cell phone back to the 70s with a land line. Land line went away long ago.

I can't say I love AT&T but they do what is expected. They provide me with a cell line that works almost all the time. I have three cell phones on my plan. The roll over minutes bank up to the point we will never have a shortage of talk time.

I did have one billing issue years ago that took two years and some analog letters for them to get straight. I finally managed to talk to a supervisor that had brains and could understand the problem and not just read what is on the computer in front of them. She fixed the billing problem in seconds.

I sure don't get a warm fuzzy feeling from AT&T but they do what is expected.

[Paul_Heery]

You might want to try this, T-Mobile Test Drive | Try our 4G LTE Network for Free

They send you an iPhone 5s to try for free for 7 days. Then, you just return it to one of their retail stores.

[Jim Richards]

Rick, we're "not unhappy" with Verizon, but we're not particularly excited about them either. They were better, coverage-wise, than AT&T in the past, although I haven't checked on this lately.

[Seahawk]

Originally Posted by Jim Richards

Rick, we're "not unhappy" with Verizon, but we're not particularly excited about them either. They were better, coverage-wise, than AT&T in the past, although I haven't checked on this lately.

I feel the same way. I can tell you the coverage in your part of Virginia with Verizon is excellent. I've driven from here to Lexington, VA at least 10 times, different, rural routes most of the time. No issues.

This link may be of interest

Tucson, AZ Carrier Reviews & Coverage Maps | CellReception

[john70t]

AT&T/Verizon have best coverage and access of the towers, AFAIK.

Had T-Mobile years ago.
No problems. It was acceptable. No-contract limited plan.

Had Sprint years ago.
Never again. Huge over-charge billing problems. Plus internal printed statement records that didn't match each other. WTF.

I currently use Jitterbug/GreatCall now.
They make easy phones for the elderly.
No problems. On a no-contract limited plan.

[bell]

T mobile had been the best to us imo.... Been worth them for 3+years. .... Have had all the other carriers. ..

[Nickshu]

I just made the switch from Sprint to Verizon. I was a loyal Sprint customer for many years, but grew frustrated b/c they sold me 3 generations of 4G phones with no 4G service available. They are trying to upgrade their network, but just don't have the financial resources to get it done in a timely manner. When I had good service it was good, but lots of dead spots. Best thing about Sprint was the cheap unlimited plans available. In the part of the country I live in, Verizon is king. They are the most expensive carrier, but I guess you get what you pay for so I finally gave in and switched.

[cashflyer]

I had Verizon for years with no problem, but when I started traveling overseas a lot I had to switch to ATT to get GSM service. No problems with ATT. I have been told that Verizon is now GSM - but are they really? I dunno.

As for my not having problems with either, I make very few demands. Give me my email and phone calls. Once in a while when I am really bored waiting on a flight, give me some interwebz to kill time with.

[Jim Richards]

I don't recall hearing about Verizon implementing GSM, but their 4G service is LTE, like the other 4G providers. There might still be minor differences between each carrier; I can't say for sure.

[Cajundaddy]

I had Verizon for 10 yrs and while coverage was pretty good, the billing, fees and charges were borderline criminal. My wife is still on Verizon but switched to prepaid unlimited/off contract for $60/mo.

I am on Virgin Mobile (Sprint network) prepaid with 300 talk/unlimited text & net for $30/mo. 300 talk is almost exactly right for me and I just keep $20 cash in an overage account to avoid high overage charges or service interruption. Sprint coverage is good enough in my area as I am not a phone power user and I appreciate the savings. If I made 100 calls a day like my wife I would probably still need Verizon network coverage.

[biosurfer1]

I'm switching the Straight Talk as we speak. I will be using their AT&T network as they have both T-Mobile and AT&T in my area. T-Mobile coverage is good but lacks in rural areas. I can always switch later if needed.

[Rick V]

Thanks for the input. I spent a few hours on the phone with the carriers that work where I live and no one can touch my service for the price I have. I guess I am gonna try and bluff AT&T for a new phone and just keep running without a contract. If something pops up it won't be a hassle to jump ship. Looks like they may not be the best choice in Tuscon so I will be dumping them at the move anyway

[cashflyer]

Tucson?
Rick... you been holding out on us?

I'm telling Denise.

[porsche4life]

Rick, FWIW I've had pretty good coverage with ATT in Tucson, guess it just depends on the area. Some places in AZ just flat don't have coverage no matter the network.

[Porsche-O-Phile]

Get ST. I've been on them for about 2-3 years now and no regrets. All the big carriers suck. Heck, ST sucks too but they suck less since there's no contractual nonsense hanging over your head and you get gouged significantly less each month than you would with one of the big "loaded with hidden fees" carriers. Coverage is fine - never an issue. My only gripe is they've started to recently get snooty about throttling data but most carriers are because the underlying infrastructure (owned by the big boys and leased out) is getting maxed out and nobody wants to pay to increase capacity.

In years past I've dealt with Sprint, AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon. Nothing good to say about any of them. In the immortal words of Drill Sergeant Gunney, "here you are all equally worthless". IMHO probably Verizon and Sprint moreso than the others but I don't lament leaving any of them.

[Dan J]

They all suck Have verizon due to travel. As stated above their billing and business
practices are criminal

[dennis in se pa]

There is no choice to be made. Straight Talk is half the price, has no contracts and uses ATT and Verizon networks. I have been with them for years. And yes they have iPhones.

[john70t]

I'd advise anyone against using MetroPCS.

I had them less than a month.

During that time:
1). Signed up for a simple no-gimmick basic plan. Told the sketchy salesman what I wanted, twice.
2). Had to purchase a new phone because 'others don't work on our system'.
3). Left the store and saw the contract included texting/other for an additional $15/month.
4). Immediately went back into the store to correct this. "We can't find your file because our computers are down right now. We will correct it before you get any statement. Don't worry."
5). Phone did not work in four locations in the city. It would disconnect after 5-20 seconds and the sound was chopped all to hell. (This is solid 4G Ann Arbor...home to Barracuda and Google and EPA and Automobile magazine and....) I was probably able to make total 20-30 minutes of brief conversations.
6). Went through hoops of SIMs and 're-setting the phone' numerous times. They would not give me a new phone. My business was getting seriously affected at this point.
7). I Took everything back into the store, and told them to give me all my money back. Nope. They claimed I had somehow made over 600 minutes of talk, thus the warrentee was invalid.
8). While in the store, I took a photograph of a map on the wall which advertised 4G coverage in most of SE Michigan. The lady behind the counter said "You cant do dat" and yelled "SECURITY, SECURITY". A guy rushed out of a back room and continued approaching me while I left.
9). The first and final statement included the extra $15/mo.