Can we talk phone service providers? I mean, how can anybody not prefer T-Mobile?

[Goodheart]

Delete this thread if it's against DU rules. I honestly don't know.

In the meantime, I've been a Verizon customer for what... 25 years? And this morning I found myself asking "WHY?".

So, I first stopped at the Verizon store.... their agent met me at the front door... it was COLD and rainy and she wouldn't let me in. "May I help you?", she asked. I responded, "You can start by letting me inside. It's freezing out here."

So, once inside I explained to her.... "look, I got this flyer from T-Mobile and it looks like I would save 20 bucks a month by switching to them."

She: "Well, you're already on our lowest price plan."

Me: "See you later."

The T-Mobile store just happens to be about 100 yards away. I marched over there, the agents were super friendly and helpful, and I made the switch.

I mean, $20 bucks a month to a person on a fixed income is a big deal. Two trips to Burger King! Woohoo.

[Kali]

1. coverage

verizon has about the best. and they USED to have pretty good customer service. now it is hit or miss.

[we can do it]

43. Been on TMobile over 3 years. Just as good as Verizon half the cost.

[Phoenix61]

2. Really depends on where you live.

Verizon has the best coverage in rural areas. I’ve had folks borrow my phone because I was the only one with a signal.

[Goodheart]

5. I certainly have never had service problems with Verizon.

Which I why, I guess, I'd never previously switched away. But I'm a city dweller, anyway.

[mwooldri]

12. Before the T Mobile takeover of Sprint...

... Sprint had an agreement to roam on Verizon's CDMA (3G) voice network. That's one reason why I have Sprint. But with T Mobile taking over and the CDMA network slated for switch off I'm hoping T Mobile can improve in the rural areas. I'm sure it's changed since I been there last but Ocracoke NC didn't have AT&T (now T-Mobile via Suncom) nor "Bell South" (now AT&T via Cingular) cellular service - only Alltel (now Verizon), which Sprint roamed on.

[Roisin Ni Fiachra]

34. +1

[spooky3]

3. I may be jinxing myself but I have the Comcast cell phone service bundled

with TV and VoIP service, so it is dirt cheap, for now (about $14 per month unless I go over my usage limit). To my surprise, I haven't run into problems. Of course in the past year, I haven't been outside of my house much, so I am using WiFi rather than the cell phone service most of the time.

[ProfessorGAC]

45. That's What I Have

And, Verizon is the wireless carrier for Comcast.
I pay $10 for 1 gig.
I don't use but a quarter of that as most of my streaming is home WiFi.
But, unused bits carry over for 6 months. So, I'll probably never hit my limit.

[RazzleCat]

4. I have T Mobile, step son had Verizon

We met up in Nevada, yes he had better coverage, but not by much. We were driving around to ghost towns, his ran about 10 miles more than ours. Why do I use T Mobile, for the international rates, prior to Covid I had the luxury of international travel, no need for a sim no extra charge. If your really trying to save some $ go for a true low cost like Mint.

[TheBlackAdder]

31. Verizon also disables a lot of phone functions so you have to buy/use their services.

.

All of our TMobile phones are open with all phone capabilities enabled, including the ability to hook up and send files from your PC directly to them.

.

[BlueIdaho]

6. Coverage where I live.

T Mobile offers great plans but where I live you would be hard pressed to keep a signal long enough for the plans promises to come true.

[Goodheart]

9. Gotcha.

[Roland99]

35. That's the case in many locations

[Vivienne235729]

7. Coincidentally , I did the very same thing today. I switched from Verizon to Tmobile

I was actually going to go w straight talk as they use the Verizon towers, but I wanted to check out T-Mobile first. They gave me such a great deal, I didnt make it to straight talk. For only $15 more a month, I got an upgraded plan for TWO lines (one for me and one for my mother) w really good coverage to extend to North America and sporadic global use. I also get Netflix and inflight WiFi for free.

[SeattleVet]

8. Been on T-Mobile for a lot of years.

A couple of years ago we switched to their 55+ flat-rate plan. It's $60/month for 2 lines with unlimited everything, using auto-pay and with at least one person age 55 or more. (The rate *may* have gone up a little since we got it, but we're locked in at this rate.)

They have a similar program for military and some other 'special' classes.

Double check with them and make sure you got the best plan for your situation. Never had any issues with them.

[Goodheart]

13. It's the same rate today for us old people. $40 for one line, $55 for two.

[Jersey Devil]

39. Same reason we went with T-Mobile

Their deal for seniors is much better than any of the other carriers.

[Totally Tunsie]

10. Then there's Consumer Cellular with great customer service

and even better pricing, with coverage on the AT&T network. Serves me well at $23/mo.!

[Maru Kitteh]

42. THIS. Even my 31 yo daughter switched to Consumer Cellular

It's not just for the old folks! I LOVE my itsy-bitsy, teenie-tiny cell phone bill every month.

[we can do it]

44. Unlimited everything?

[SlogginThroughIt]

11. ugh I left that company for poor service back in the day

Not sure if it ever got better but man they were a shitty company back then.

[Goodheart]

14. You're talking Verizon?

Yeah, their agent in her warm cozy office stuck her head out the door, where she saw my teeth chattering from the cold... "May I help you with something?" I think were her very words.

[SlogginThroughIt]

17. No Tmobile

Just awful. Just complete morons at the time. Left them. Walked over to Verizon and never looked back.

[mwooldri]

15. Sprint junkie here.

Well, now T-Mobile but still Sprint in some ways. Had them since the flip phone days, we had Blackberries with them for a while too. Depending on the area you had fallback to Verizon's 3G network for voice but in some areas service was spotty for data. Our home is a cellular dead zone so thankfully wifi calling is an option.

Some areas where I struggled with pre merger are areas where I get a good data connection now.

[MelissaB]

16. Congrats on switching and saving $$. If you want to save more

in the future, I'd suggest looking into providers like Tello and Red Pocket. They are great providers for a BYOP (bring your own phone). I've been extremely happy w/ Tello and paying $10 month with unlimited talk, text, and 1 gb data/month (just slower if you go over).

[Politicub]

18. We switched to Mint (which uses T-Mobile's network)

My plan is $15/month, which needs to be pre-paid a year in advance otherwise the rate is $25/month or something. Our plan includes 3gb of high-speed data each month, and this hasn’t been an issue all since I use wifi in stores when I’m out and about.

We used to have a sprint unlimited plan before Mint. We were grandfathered in to a great plan, at $35/month each, but Mint does a better job at meeting our needs... and at a better price.

They have an introductory rate so you can try the service for a while.

[Goodheart]

20. Never heard of Mint until mentioned twice in this thread

I'm not a heavy phone user. Might have to check it out.

[Xolodno]

19. Coverage.

Relatives in rural areas all have Verizon, its more expensive, but has the coverage. Once at our vacation cabin, I was using my phone as a hot spot for work, which is at&t, never problem at night...but during the day...had to run to a lake side restaurant and ask to use their wifi, they allowed me (as they knew I was a customer...plus, not like anyone else was using it), they stated Verizon was the strongest signal out there.

I still use at&t as I buy my phones unlocked from ebay and use the pay as you go plan. But if I had to, I'd get a Verizon mifi Jetpack for the cabin...which I don't have to now, the local phone company offers DSL by the month plan. Not using it, pay three bucks to keep the account active, when I'm there, then I reactivate it and pay for one month.

[SheltieLover]

21. Verizon was the only carrier which had excellent coverage in mountains

And I've stayed with them.

Had T Mobile briefly in Chicago burbs years ago &, bueve it or not, there was a long dead zone just outside of Schaumburg. That was it for me.

I cannot be in a position like that now as, in the unlikely event of car trouble, being stranded anywhere in Memphis region is a deadly proposition.

[catbyte]

22. I've used Republic Wireless for almost 5 years. Costs me $20/month for unlimited talk/text

and an extra 1G data/month. If you don't need the extra data, it's $15/month. No contract; if you pay yearly you save a few bucks. The only drawback is they don't support too many phones, but if you have WiFi, it's a great alternative to the $50-100/mo other providers charge. I've got a Moto G7. They also support Samsung & LG phones, but not iPhones.

Edited to add:

Coverage is excellent. It uses the same networks as T-Mobile & Sprint.

[Ms. Toad]

26. Ditto.

But I'm on the $15 plan.

[Hekate]

23. Depends on where you are.I'm in a little valley & had to drive completely out of it for cell service

That was T-Mobile & they really did not want to let me off the hook, so it was a bit of a struggle getting rid of them. I’m now on Verizon & get good reception at home & elsewhere.

I completely agree with you that a company that gouges you and won’t recognize your good record as a customer does not deserve your business. Good for you for finding a better deal!

[BamaRefugee]

24. I've happily been on T-Mobile since my first cell phone. Great service and it always works

Even on trips to the UK.

[Ms. Toad]

25. If my equipment was not tied to T-Mobile I'd switch in a heartbeat.

I have a hotspot. It works fantastically for the 6 days a year I need it (two 3-day periods roughly 6 months apart).

Buying the data pass for those 6 days doesn't work at all.

The current process (and it has changed every 6 months since I got the hotspot in 2016 to work the elections, since I was not permitted to use the BOE wifi):

* Check to see if the online site is back up.
* Follow multiple redirects until I land on the page that tells me it is coming soon (It worked reasonably well until 18 months ago when they took it down)
* Call the number that I have finally captured in my pages of notes, since it is not apparent from their website which number I need to call for a data pass.
* Call a different number since they changed the PIN from a 4-digit number to a 6-digit number - and there is no way to update the PIN without speaking to a person in a different office - and I can't access my account without that PIN
* Call back to the first number and fight automated phone hell to buy a data pass
* Be informed that I don't have enough funds in my account to purchase the data pass
* Get transferred to another number to - essentially - use my credit card to buy myself a gift card that I can then spend on a data pass
* Get transferred back to the first number to use the gift card they applied to my account to purchase the data pass
* Hope like hell they don't drop me, since the last 4 steps have to be completed sequentially - and if the call is dropped I have to start over again

All I want is to be able to go online (or call) and give them my credit card in a direct exchange for a week long data pass.

So - if I had any other option, I would drop T-Mobile in a heartbeat.

If you really want a cheap plan, try Republic Wireless. Unlimited talk and text for $15/month. I've been using them since I got fed up with Verizon's insistence that if I had a smart phone I was required to have a plan that included data.

[marlakay]

27. I switched years ago to Verizon because only

One that came in where I lived. Then other phones I had I would pay for years and never own phone. Verizon after 2 yrs I own phone my bill goes down a bunch for a few years till I buy new again. My store is busy, long wait, I try never to go there.

[MurrayDelph]

28. When I had a company phone

I frequently could get no signal with T-Mobile, and had to use my personal phone. This was about a dozen years ago, when I lived in L.A., near Roscoe and the 405, in the frigging middle of the San Fernando Valley.

Now that I'm retired and (when not stuck due to lockdown) travel back roads, I want a company I can trust for coverage.

And this doesn't take into account my severe dislike of the shenanigans T-Mobile did while lobbying for merger approval, where executives booked rooms at Trump's DC Casa de Emoluments, and were very visibly spending money in his long while wearing T-Mobile shirts.

[herding cats]

29. If it works locally for you they're ok, but if you move about their coverage is horrific.

They don't work for me, but I'm glad they do for some people.

[Hobo]

30. I have been with Tmobile for years

I have lived many places in the country both urban and rural never once a problem with their service or signal.

Hobo

[CabalPowered]

32. If you're home and on wifi all the time

Checkout ting. Half of both.

[retread]

33. Mrs. Retread and I use Credo. Credo uses the Verizon network and is no where near

the lowest cost service. We are on a fixed income and use little data, mostly voice and text.

Credo donates 150000 a month to progressive causes. Customers can "vote' for
1, 2, or all 3. This month it was People for the American Way Foundation, Planned Parenthood Action Fund, or
Stand.Earth.

Could we get the same service from T'mobile cheaper? T'moble coverage here is still spotty but they are building
the network. The 2 of us could probably pay $20 or so less for a similar plan but then there's the $150000 a month
donations.

[octoberlib]

36. I've been with AT&T for years. Was with Cingular before that. I have nothing against

T-Mobile and have even looked into switching but their coverage doesn't seem to be as good in my area.

[AirmensMom]

37. Here's how:

About 10 years ago, I bought a phone from T-Mobile and a plan to go with it. Once it came, I couldn't make calls. None. Sure, I live "out in the county." So I went to town. No service. None. It didn't matter if I was inside or outside a store. I could never get more than one bar and could not use the phone. I used another phone to call T-Mobile and they said too bad, so sad. They "generously" offered me to send the phone back and cancel. And they charged me for the entire month of service since I actually had possession of the phone for a day or so, not able to make a single call. Sure, I complained, but they didn't budge.

I went back to Verizon, but because of all the bullshit had to change my phone number at a time when it was very inconvenient to do so. And I had to pay for a new phone. Before my huge mistake to switch to T-Mobile, I was eligible for either a free phone or a huge discount. I lost that as well. I stayed with them until I found one that came with a guarantee, terrified to try anyone else.

I'm with Consumer Cellular now. Great rates, great service, and guess what? I can make phone calls. No contract, and they give an AARP discount and a guarantee with it. Absolutely no risk. I didn't like the first phone I bought and it was no big deal. They just swapped it for me and charged me the difference. My husband didn't like his phone either (it's hard for some of us old people to stitch from iOS to Android) and decided to keep his old phone. No biggie. Sent it back and they sent a SIM card for his old phone and refunded the one we returned.

You couldn't get me to go back to T-Mobile if they were the only service provider in the area. You got lucky.

[tishaLA]

38. I recently switched to Consumer Cellular

My friends made fun of me because it promotes itself as being for older people and I'm not in that category yet, but I've been so impressed in the 2 1/2 months I've been a customer.

-- Customer service is an actual person and he or she is polite and helpful
-- The prices are half what I paid for Metro by t-mobile (I was paying $61/month, which included Amazon Prime and 100G of Google Cloud data for $1, so the basic cost without that was $50.)
-- I live in a city so the coverage is fine. If I lived in a rural area, I'm not sure how it'd be, but they have coverage maps
-- I didn't feel like they were trying to price gouge me with the phones

[brooklynite]

40. T-Mobile also have free roaming and data in most foreign countries...

Verizon (and ATT) charge big rate for service abroad.

[Klaralven]

41. There are only 3 networks - AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon.

Others buy network capacity from them wholesale and sell it retail.

During a power outage that lasted days, it turned out that only Verizon had emergency generators at the local cell tower. The other two networks went down when their backup batteries drained.

[MineralMan]

47. Very good point!

We have had long power outages, as well. Our Verizon services were always up and available. Apparently, you get what you pay for, as is generally the case.

[MineralMan]

46. Well, I recently conducted, with my wife, a performance

test of T-Mobile, Verizon, and ATT in the Twin Cities of MN for PC Mag. The test involved six cell phones, 3 iPhones and 3 current Samsung 5G android phones, running automated test applications in 12 locations in the Twin Cities metro area. T-Mobile performed very poorly at most test locations.

So, there is that. Why would I switch, pray tell, from my Verizon service, which has performed exceptionally well everywhere in the country I have visited?

I'm glad you like your new bargain. You do not offer, however, any real reasons for switching other than cost.

[AnyFunctioningAdult]

48. It depends on where you live

But I have had to do many fairly extensive analyses of coverage and T-Mobile is very clearly a distant third in the US. If you are in a city and not in any kind of complicated building, T-Mobile is fine, but Verizon is the best period from an enterprise perspective looking at everything. AT&T has some benefits too, but I think Verizon is the best,