<p>We have t-mobile. No one in this house ever texts. We like being able to use the phone in Europe. We’re thinking of switching, mostly because we loathe the Windows mobile software. It stinks.</p>
<p>Hi Again we just went down to the states to finalize some banking and such but before going we did a final search for cell phone providers. We found a provider that is called page plus cellular and they use all of the Verizon network. I checked them out on BBB and other reviews. We had to buy a verizon phone and not have it set up by verizon then we called the page plus system and within 2 minutes she was working with text, phone and data on a local number. They have exactly the same coverage as Verizon apparently but the kicker is no contract, but for $39.99 prepaid she will get unlimited US cell phone, unlimited US text and 20 Mb of data. Of course any calls or texts to Canada will be more but I have a legal way of beating that as well. I am anxious to see how it all works out but it was the best and most convenient pay as you go we could find with national coverage</p>
<p>Percussiondad, can you keep us posted on this option as it sounds like a very good one. Is it a national service? I’ve never heard of it in Hawaii. I have heard good things about Verizon and hope it works out well for you & your student.</p>
<p>I have one issue with Verizon–their phones do not have sim cards–which really limits your options if something happens. Like maybe your ds does some work on someone’s patio with a jack hammer and forgets his phone is in his pocket. He’s puzzled how that screen got cracked. </p>
<p>When we had ATT and we had a similar issue, we bought a phone on Ebay and stuck the sim card in it and it worked fine. With Verizon you don’t have that option. We are still several months away for the “new every two” new phone, and I don’t really want to send him back to school with a phone that only works on speakerphone. </p>
<p>I never considered this when switching to Verizon because I had no idea that some phones don’t have sim cards. When I said that to the rep she said,“Well this is why I really encourage the insurance.” I said with the $6 a month charge per phone, and then the $50 deductible, I would have paid the same price as a new phone. Then she said,“This is why I encourage Verizon customers to keep one old phone rather than donating it to charity, because you might need a back-up.”</p>
<p>^^That’s what we did when we got our “new every two” & we actually needed one of the older phones when 22yo son was careless with putting something in his pocket that damaged his phone. We gave him the choice of using one of the older phones (no camera) or paying to replace his phone. Hating to spned money, you can guess which option he chose. It’s definitely worth keeping on older phone around.</p>
<p>Helenback, shellfell, I thought it was possible to buy a used Verizon phone off of ebay and then have Verizon activate it. Or is that not the case? I’m considering switching our family to either Verizon (best overall quality/coverage) or Sprint (unlimited text/data for reasonable price), neither of which has sim cards. Not having access to a cheap source of replacement phones if, say, one falls in the toilet is a big consideration for us.</p>
<p>I just bought a phone off ebay- cause while I am eligible for " new every two" I need a new phone now, but totally improved phones are not due for a few months.
You can update it yourself by dialing some #s</p>
<p>Slithey - Yeah it’s a touch more difficult to activate a non-SIM card phone than a SIM card one, but we’ve never had it take more that ten minutes. With five heavily used phones in the family there’s always one that’s dying. So we bought a couple spares on eBay and shipped them to the most like “Dad, my phone’s dead” candidates. Call Verizon, tell them which phone you want de-activated and the number (listed in the battery compartment) of the phone you want activated … and voila. If the old phone is merely sick (rather than dead/lost) you’d probably be better off taking the sickee and new phone to a Verizon store so the contents can be transferred.</p>
<p>PS, We’ve found that the Verizon stores are very good about swapping out sick phones … something our prior service was particularly bad at.</p>
<p>Good to hear about getting contents swapped. AT&T was not good at this & it irked me, especially when they sent me a number of poor phones in a row & I had to keep swapping out the info. Since it didn’t swap well, I had to manually enter much of it & then recheck.</p>
<p>Do wish Verizon had a SIM card but what about their on-line place you can store stuff & download to a new phone? I read that in their brochure if you have a myVerizon there is no $1.99/month/line charge for this.</p>
<p>We have also used old phones when we have T-Mobile phones that die/are stolen or have other problems and we are still paying for the lines. It has come in handy.</p>
<p>Slithey: Buying a phone on ebay would also have worked for us, but S didn’t want to spend any $ if possible on the replacement so he took one of our old phones to the Verizon store & had them transfer his phone book, etc. to the replacemnt phone. It was a very simple process.</p>
<p>Wow! This is very good news that you can still buy a phone on ebay with Verizon! I guess it’s not surprising that the Verizon rep. didn’t volunteer that information to me.:)</p>
<p>Thanks so much!</p>
<p>A little update on Page Plus Cellular, Be careful using them as you will not get the same answer twice from tech support. I had contacted them and asked what phones I could purchase since I live in Canada and they do not have a store near me nor would they deliver to Canada. I was told to go to any Verizon store and buy a phone but do not activate it with Verizon. I did so and now find out that the web and IM will not work because it does not have their software and it cannot be put on. In other words I have been ripped off since I bought a good phone (over $300 CDN) that cannot be used completely. It works for Cell calls and Txt messaging but that is it. I am very upset and the worst part is that I find the American Cell phone companies to be extremely expensive. I think Page Plus would be a really good service if they all had the same story as to requirements but I have found that out the hard way. I may have to convert her service to Verizon and pay at least twice as much per month for the same service. BE CAREFUL</p>
<p>Thanks for the warning–sorry you are learning the hard way! We are still investigating and will probably end up with a regular Verizon plan for the 3 of us.</p>
<p>There are 16 family members on Verizon in our clan covering N, S E & W. We all talk to one another for free, and we have access to the “friends and family” which allows each billing group to add 5 additional numbers to call unlimited free. Some of us have added unlimited texting, $5 a month. We also get free nights (starting at 9PM wherever the caller is) and weekends. Not one of us has ever gone over our minutes and had to pay extra. Actually or biggest complaint is being able to “roll over” our unused minutes.</p>
<p>We are an AT&T family - originally Pac Bell Wireless later Cingular and now AT&T. Original choice was because I needed GSM to have the worldwide coverage I needed for my job which Sprint and Verizon did not offer. </p>
<p>Coverage is an issue in our area - but it is Verizon and Sprint who don’t have coverage at our house. T-Mobile and AT&T both work fine - V and S drop off about a mile away. Contractors doing work at our house go nuts!!!</p>
<p>Coverage is really the key - check with other people who visit your house to see what works. Have your kids do the same (although LA is pretty well covered by everyone).</p>
<p>Well, I’ve somewhat messed up. I decided to go ahead & get free LG nV3 phones for both kids & myself. Called S in VA with the good news but he was VERY unhappy. He wants to keep his old phone number & doesn’t want this model & wasn’t even sure he wanted this carrier. I told him we chose the carrier based on overall reception & reports from everyone so he seems resigned to that. The good news is taht the vendor will allow us to swap the phone we got him for another phone that S prefers (out of a selection of 5 phones) at no additional charge. S will study them tomorrow & get back to me so I can proceed and get S a phone he prefers. He can keep his old phone number for a charge of $15 (swapping it over from our existing T-Mobile; D may as well).</p>
<p>There was a time constraint as the phones are free only today & tomorrow (matching the BestBuy ad). D is happy with the new phone and I think it’s pretty cool as well, even tho I’m not a texter. D is thrilled that she finally has a $5 text plan so she can receive texts from her friends.</p>
<p>You had to pay to keep your number?! I’ve never heard of that.</p>
<p>Originally, he said we had to pay $15/number to keep it and then relented & didn’t charge us for porting over our old numbers to our new phones. We still need to get S his phone & port his old phone # into whatever phone he decides he wants to keep (he’s not sure at this moment whether he’ll buy a cheaper, slimmer phone somewhere & use that instead).</p>
<p>It was a bit confusing sorting everything out but things are OK now. Only paid the activation fee for each phone. Will be returning the car chargers we bought as we really don’t need them after all.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Sounds like that could have been my D2’s response. I would not hesitate to remind S that he can have the exact plan and phone he wants if he pays for it ;).</p>
<p>I think he just expected to have more time to mull over it but we couldn’t reach him & it was a time sensitive issue (needed to decide while they had the phone we wanted in stock & could get it at no charge). He has decided he’s OK with things as they are and is cheerful again.</p>
<p>He doesn’t like the Verizon’s phones are bulkier than he likes, but I told him I chose to get the phone service that can get reception where he lives rather than worry about whether he does or doesn’t get reception (his current carrier doesn’t get reception for any of the 3 apartments he’s been in this summer).</p>