Your Cellphone/cellphone carrier

[SilvorX]

I'm surprised how cellphone popularity is getting in this day and age, I've never been a big fan of using the phone ever in my life, but when I was working for a cellphone carrier, I started getting a bit carried away with cellphones, I wanted top of the line, the best phone possible, etc, I had a Motorola c350 and before then I found it was fine enough for me, did exactly what I wanted, had good battery life, etc, but now I was getting too annoyed with how out-of-date the cellphone was, so as soon as the contract of that phone was over I cancelled the contract (it wasn't in my name) and started over.. anywho, what cell phones do you currently own, what carrier do you have with it, and if you want what sort of price plan do you have, and feel free to post a pic.

I have a Motorola v635, and my carrier is Rogers Wireless (Canada), I purchased the phone at the end of August, wanting a flip phone with a camera, mainly because I like to randomly take pics on the go, even if they aren't the best quality, it also has an mp3 player and an SD slot, but I never use it for mp3s, except my mp3 ringtone that I uploaded from my iBook. So far it's a pretty decent phone, has a decent battery life of around 6-8 days, the reception is pretty decent, even when I'm out of Rogers coverage area, but lately I'm having various reception days.

Plan wise, it's so/so, $25 Canadian for 200 daytime minutes, unlimited nights at 6PM and weekends, $10 'value bundle' including 75 text messages, call display, and voicemail... rip off I know, $3 "WhoCalled" which is a service that sends a text message when you're out of coverage area/phone is turned off/etc, and the usual $6.95 system access fee that Canadian carriers have.

The plan could be better especially for text messages but it's much better than the plans that my friends have where they pay for the same and only get 100 minutes, 8 or 9PM evenings, etc.

I'm fine with my phone even though Motorola's software is a piece of junk, sometimes I have to take the battery out of the phone to turn off the phone

Now how about you?

 

[Buschmaster]

That's a very jazzy version of the new phone I just got, it appears. I bought the Motorola V325 and I LOVE IT. Honestly, this phone doesn't have anything I've found not up to my standards yet. Granted it's brand new technology (basically) and I payed a fair share for it considering it is just a phone... I'm still very impressed with it. My plan is pretty standard... I have ringbacks, however!

Here's Motorola's page for my phone

I'd take a picture of it but I'm too damn lazy. Maybe I'll get some later with the phone lights going off. The outer edge of the silver part where you see the white ring is actually a light that lights up blue and has 4 (I think) different modes for lighting up. Right now it's set to Mania!

 

[floriflee]

I am using a very old flip phone--Samsung N200. It's so old it doesn't even have a color screen, camera, special ringtones or anything. I'm using it because my previous Samsung N400 color flip broke at the hinges one day when I was opening it up. This was the phone I was using prior to upgrading to the N400. I didn't want to change/upgrade my plan in order to get a deal on a new phone with all the bells and whistles so I just reactivated my old one. If this one breaks, I still have a Nokia 6550 that I can resort to before I absolutely HAVE to get a new one. The funny thing is that the phone I'm using now seems like it's a lot more sturdy than the one that broke--not just because it's bulkier, but because it feels like the materials it's made of are of a higher quality. I guess that just goes to show how disposable these phones are becoming the more we use them.

As far as provider goes, I use Sprint (USA). My plan costs me about $45 a month for 500 anytime minutes and unlimited night and weekend starting at 7PM. It's not the greatest of service since I've had my share of dropped calls, and their customer service has yet to actually be helpful in troubleshooting any of my phone/service problems. However, I've stuck with them for the past 7 years because they offer a lot of nice features (i.e., the 7PM-7AM night/weekend) and mobile-to-mobile, and my service hasn't yet driven me to the point of madness where I am just fed up with them. Besides, I'm wary of the other providers and how much better they may actually be. I can always find people that will argue a cell phone service one way or the other ("Oh, I LOVE Verizon!", "Oh, I HATE Verizon!").

However, I may actually make a switch this coming July after my two year contract expires. (I was ticked when they started moving from 1 to 2 year contracts, but what can you do?) My husband just switched to Cingular from Verizon last year and we would like to be able to take advantage of some sort of family plan where he just adds another line to his plan for $10--that would save us about $35/month. So change is ultimately on the horizon for me, which is another reason why I've just stuck with my clunker phone and not bothered to get another one I'd have to discard in a few months anyway.

 

[Buschmaster]

I can always find people that will argue a cell phone service one way or the other ("Oh, I LOVE Verizon!", "Oh, I HATE Verizon!").

That's because everyone wants something different and coverage varies a lot. Where I live, Verizon has a fair share of coverage. I can get perfect coverage in the school (Much like a prison, actually, shouldn't get cell phone coverage at all...) where as some others can't get coverage outside the school. A friend of mine has sprint and I called him the other day and it was really choppy and I was like "uh oh... what did I get into with Verizon." So I called his home phone and it was perfect connection, it was either his phone or Sprint, it's happened since then, too. He says he doesn't get much coverage at his house. I'm glad I get coverage at my house, because I pay $50 a month to not answer the home phone.

 

[floriflee]

That's because everyone wants something different and coverage varies a lot.

Even with that said, I'm still skeptical. Perhaps it has to do with the phone, too, but I've known people that are using the same provider that don't always get coverage in the same areas--or that sometimes they will be fine in that area and sometimes they won't. My husband had Verizon before because it was supposed to give the best coverage in the area. For a while it was okay (just a few dropped calls here and there), but then he couldn't have a conversation in a lot of places that were fine before without having it drop at least once. That caused him to swear off Verizon because neither the customer service nor the people in the store would help him figure out what was going on.

In my opinion, even if you do your research about coverages of different companies you're still playing a little bit of Russian roullette as far as service goes. Maybe you'll get lucky and it will work everywhere you need/want it to...maybe you won't.

 

[saabmp3]

I can always find people that will argue a cell phone service one way or the other ("Oh, I LOVE Verizon!", "Oh, I HATE Verizon!").

That's because everybody who has a verizon account has a love/hate relationship with them. We love their coverage, it's hands down the best in the country. We hate their customer service, phone selection, billing system, etc. Some people find these bad qualities enough to switch, others (like me and the majority of people I know) stick with verizon based on their network.

Ben

 

[SilvorX]

As far as provider goes, I use Sprint (USA). My plan costs me about $45 a month for 500 anytime minutes and unlimited night and weekend starting at 7PM. It's not the greatest of service since I've had my share of dropped calls, and their customer service has yet to actually be helpful in troubleshooting any of my phone/service problems. However, I've stuck with them for the past 7 years because they offer a lot of nice features (i.e., the 7PM-7AM night/weekend) and mobile-to-mobile, and my service hasn't yet driven me to the point of madness where I am just fed up with them. Besides, I'm wary of the other providers and how much better they may actually be. I can always find people that will argue a cell phone service one way or the other ("Oh, I LOVE Verizon!", "Oh, I HATE Verizon!").

However, I may actually make a switch this coming July after my two year contract expires. (I was ticked when they started moving from 1 to 2 year contracts, but what can you do?) My husband just switched to Cingular from Verizon last year and we would like to be able to take advantage of some sort of family plan where he just adds another line to his plan for $10--that would save us about $35/month. So change is ultimately on the horizon for me, which is another reason why I've just stuck with my clunker phone and not bothered to get another one I'd have to discard in a few months anyway.

The problem with sprint is the training of their reps, the reps are only taught the basic elements, how to set up plans, add a phone to a line, pay a bill, discuss a bill, add/remove features on your plan, and offer you stuff every time you call in, they were never taught anything about dropped calls, it's as if "oh ya I forget, just to remind you when you start taking calls tomorrow, most of your questions will be about dropped calls, have fun!", it's terrible, the reps are in training classroom style for 2 months straight and don't get taught some of the most basic elements that are NEEDED for the job, especially lack of service or if the phone service is turned off even if the bills are fully paid, the next bill (if any) is not affecting the service, and the account is in good standing order

Sprint also has the add-a-line for $0 to $10/month, I believe the 2nd line is $0 (not too sure), the rest are $10, but the problem with that is that the main plan has to be changed, which can usually end up renewing the agreement


I'm sticking with Rogers Wireless for their selection of phones, sure we get our phones 2-3 months after Cingular does, but some of the phones look pretty nice, for the coverage, sure I don't have any reception right now, but it's the only carrier that has coverage where I live plus in Toronto or just about anywhere else in Canada, and my experience with them with my old contract, I never had problems with them except for sometimes when I was visiting family

 

[floriflee]

The problem with sprint is the training of their reps, the reps are only taught the basic elements, how to set up plans, add a phone to a line, pay a bill, discuss a bill, add/remove features on your plan, and offer you stuff every time you call in, they were never taught anything about dropped calls, it's as if "oh ya I forget, just to remind you when you start taking calls tomorrow, most of your questions will be about dropped calls, have fun!", it's terrible, the reps are in training classroom style for 2 months straight and don't get taught some of the most basic elements that are NEEDED for the job, especially lack of service or if the phone service is turned off even if the bills are fully paid, the next bill (if any) is not affecting the service, and the account is in good standing order

I know what you mean. I also don't particularly care for their new practice of asking you "Were you satisfied with the service I gave you?" at the end of each call to the help line. Even when I tell them "no" I don't have any hope of that helping anything because all they say after that is something to the effect of "I'm sorry about that. Have a good day!" It really caught me off guard the first time they did it, too. That's why I try to minimize my calls to them as much as possible.

Still, the actual service of making calls has been decent for wherever I've lived. I have trouble making calls in a couple of areas, but I've managed fine. I guess what it comes down to is that I just hate buying stuff and so I don't want to have to spend money on a new phone with a new carrier. Alas, come August, I will finally have to bite the bullet and get on my husband's plan. It will be cheaper, and I'm always in the market for finding ways to cut down on expenses.

Sprint also has the add-a-line for $0 to $10/month, I believe the 2nd line is $0 (not too sure), the rest are $10, but the problem with that is that the main plan has to be changed, which can usually end up renewing the agreement

Very true. The plan does need to be renewed. They didn't used to make you change your plan, and I really liked that fact. Luckily, I've only had to deal with it this last time when I changed my number a couple of years ago. Now, I'm just biding my time until my contract ends in July before I do anything else to it.

 

[nbs2]

That's because everybody who has a verizon account has a love/hate relationship with them. We love their coverage, it's hands down the best in the country. We hate their customer service, phone selection, billing system, etc. Some people find these bad qualities enough to switch, others (like me and the majority of people I know) stick with verizon based on their network.

Ben

Except there is one problem with that assumption. I find that outside of the DC Metro (with its Verizon exclusive contract), I get as good or better reception with Cingular than I did with Verizon. Everywhere I used to go with verizon I go to with my Cingular (plus more).

I do think that there may be something to do with phones and the quality of reception. I was a user of the ill-fated Moto 720 (and I was using WinME at the time - I was really having bad luck with electronics). I switched off of the Motos to SE for my current 637. I really like it a lot more, but I have been tempted by two phones - one real and one not. I am intrigued by the ESPN phone and the Apple phone. If the ESPN covereage rode on the Cingular backbone and I could transfer over without the fee, it would be almost a done deal for me.

 

[SilvorX]

I know what you mean. I also don't particularly care for their new practice of asking you "Were you satisfied with the service I gave you?" at the end of each call to the help line. Even when I tell them "no" I don't have any hope of that helping anything because all they say after that is something to the effect of "I'm sorry about that. Have a good day!" It really caught me off guard the first time they did it, too. That's why I try to minimize my calls to them as much as possible.

It's a mandatory practice by the employer, if the CSR doesn't ask you that question, and they are getting monitored, marks will be taken off for that, the higher the marks, the more pleased the employer will be (time IS money). On weekend days there's lots of people who complain right off the bat about "how long they took to get ahold of me", the problem is that many many many customers call in just to ask a very simple question like "how many minutes have I used in this billing cycle", or "can I make a payment", both can be done by automated system, the less of those calls we get, the more CSRs that are available to help people with the calls

Still, the actual service of making calls has been decent for wherever I've lived. I have trouble making calls in a couple of areas, but I've managed fine. I guess what it comes down to is that I just hate buying stuff and so I don't want to have to spend money on a new phone with a new carrier. Alas, come August, I will finally have to bite the bullet and get on my husband's plan. It will be cheaper, and I'm always in the market for finding ways to cut down on expenses.

I'm surprised with the amount of "dropped calls" American carriers have, I only ever had dropped calls where I'm currently located, mainly because there's no tower for over half an hour, but for many of the carriers in the US, so many people have dropped call problems, the tower can be sitting out in their yard and still have problems, I don't know what's wrong with it, either than there could be times when a competor's tower could be trying to pick up a signal (ie a Sprint customer picking up a Verizon tower halfway through a call), which is really annoying, but in the US right now there's major changes going on with roaming, many carriers are offering "free" roaming now, which is helping slash cellphone bills in some cases up to 95% (I've seen bills where there were roaming charges of $1000+)

What I'm not a big fan of is contracts, when I was working for the carrier people were very opposed to contracts, as was I, there were customers with the company at times for as long as 1997, they didn't receive any sort of "valued customer" benefits for being a customer for 8-9 years, and it's time for upgrading their phone, they want a brand new phone but don't want to sign a new contract, if they don't want to pay much, they're basically screwed over for that, so it's sad when they all of a sudden demand to cancel their account, because they've been a customer for many many years, and say if you have a broken phone and put an older phone on your line as temp measures, many times the phone upgrade eligibility will automatically start over because of it.

What I'd like to see for cellphone customer service is the reps being trained more than they currently are, for more 'real' situations, instead of if a person wants a text messaging plan on their phone or if they have a new phone and want to activate it, and they need to get rid of offering services to customers, that's where the company makes their money but they end up losing money in the long run, say if text messaging was free for one month (regularly $5), 9/10 times the customer will call back in a month or 2 and cancel it anyways

 

[yg17]

I have a Moto V551 and unfortunately am stuck in a Cingular contract until December this year. Their service in STL completely sucks and I'll be switching to something else the second my contract's over

 

[ipacmm]

Right now I am using the Nokia N90 and my carrier is T-Mobile....I am waiting for new phones to come out before I upgrade. I have been happy with T-Mobile's service so I don't pan on switching.

 

[e²Studios]

I have a Samsung A-900 "the blade" as they call it.. it is a Samsung "me too" of the Moto RAZR, but honestly i think Samsung saw the flaws in the RAZR and made the A-900 better

My carrier is Sprint PCS

http://www.samsung.com/Products/MobilePhones/Sprint/SPH_A900ZKSXAR.asp

Ed

 

[iBlue]

verizon and i have an LG vx5200 (or something) camera phone. works fine for what i need. i got the snazzy ringtone i wanted and a few other nifty features and i'm all set. (i have the whistle from kill bill [elle driver in the hospital, vol 1] as my ringtone, had it for a while, i love it) i almost got a razr (or however you spell that phone) and occasionally, when i'm bored, i wish i got that one. the grass is always greener...

 

[runninmac]

Verizon RAZR, the coverage is great but there is so many things I would change about them. Like there crapy phone OS, there such a greedy company they have it so you can't even view how long you have been talking to someone untill you hang up, one of the simplest things to do but they take it out

 

[w_parietti22]

T-Mobile. Silver Razr V3.

 

[0098386]

Virgin Mobile. been with them for oh-so many years.
Phone is a Siemens M55. old. rock solid. with my lifestyle thats all I need. my mate said once... "I'm image conscious about my looks and clothes, not my mobile phone" to some phone salesman in town once. very funny. helped by the fact he was eating a crepe.

I've noticed that with phones at the moment... My phone is about 4 years old. yet there hasn't really been much improvement in phone technology. or none thats strikingly obvious. They got smaller and smaller until technology that clearly wasn't ready yet appeared which backtracked 10 years in the phone-size world.

The guy I mentioned up there who didn't bother with phones recently got some new Motorola effort. Its thin and all but take away the slightly lack-luster camera and video abilities and its the same as my 4 year old phone. meh. think I'm waiting for a phone revolution.

 

[LethalWolfe]

I have a Samsung SPH-A820. It's a pretty no-frills flip phone by todays standards. My last 3 phones have been Samsungs and I've always been happy w/them. My favorite thing about this phone is the "no training" voice dialing. I love using voice dialing (especially while driving), but I always hated having to program in all the names, but I don't have to do that w/this phone.

I've had Sprint for the past 5 years or so. Coverage has typically been good, and I've had middle of the road customer service w/them. The biggest reason I stick w/Sprint is 'cause most of my friends & family are on Sprint so I abuse the in network calling to no end. I probably average around 1000-1200 minutes a month and a good 80%-90% of that is in network calling. Best $5 a month extra I ever spent.


Lethal

 

[MonksMac]

I'v got a LG v3200 something on Verizon. Their service is pretty good with no dropped calls. Very good out of state coverage when I was on vacation this past summer to Chicago.

 

[kjwebb]

My mobile phone is the Nokia 2112.

My mobile phone network is Telstra's CDMA (Pre-Paid) Unfortuantly they are going to turn CDMA off in a few years time to replace it with 3G.

 

[faintember]

Verizon Wireless, Motorola E815. I think i get 500 mins plus the other basic stuff for around $46 after all the taxes.

I am quite happy with the service and the phone, but the crippled BT is a bit of a pain in the buttocks. In the past i had Sprint and Cingular, and with Sprint i had terrible experience with customer service, but Cingular was just as good as Verizon except in my area Cingular has more dead zones.

 

[After G]

T-Mobile. Black RAZR V3.

I want a new phone already ... Can't complain about the service though. It's pretty awesome.

 

[thevessels]

i have a sony t637 on tmobile
http://www.sonyericsson.com/spg.jsp...001&template=pp1_1_1&zone=pp&lm=pp1&pid=10136
its a great little brick phone with bluetooth . and i got it for like $50
i hate big flip phones .
somthin small , black , bluetooth , nice OS , joystick . all i need

 

[puckhead193]

I got a Moto E815 with verizon.... I love it, much better then the verizon's razr. I like adding wallpapers and ringtones via the transflash card...
now i need a BT headsets any ideas??

 

[xparaparafreakx]

I have a prepaid Nokia 6800 with t-Mobile. I Plan to move to a Sony P-990 and a monthy plan with T-Mobile. Get More plan with total internet. So I can get online anywhere and use skype on my PBG4.