cell phone carriers time to weigh in

[imported_flatstick]

Been with Verizon wireless for quite some time now and for the most part happy with them. wanted to see who everybody else is using these days. seems they have changed some of their policies on the new every two . that means I get only one new phone for free instead of one for me and one for my wife, if I renew for 2 years, like we have done in the past. thought they had a great idea to keep customers by giving them $100 towards a new phone + add the $50 online discount and you have a nice phone every 2 years. if I have to pay for a phone, why not see if another carrier has a better deal , like giving me 2 new phones to sign up with them? also want to know what the other companies coverage, reception and customer service is like. Verizon`s coverage has been very good for me but their customer service leaves something to be desired LOL! maybe if I have some deals in my back pocket I can see if Verizon is willing to keep me as a customer.thanks for all of the input.

[BlackElantraGT]

I haven`t followed the cell phone industry lately, but I used to work for AT&T Wireless until some months after Cingular took over.



There is no single carrier that excels in every market, but generally speaking Verizon has best call quality network in most of the markets. It seems like you`re very happy with their coverage so you`d only be setting yourself up for disappointment. That`s like using Zaino, and switching to something like Turtle Wax.



I think Verizon`s CS is slightly better than some of their competition. The only one that I can see offering better CS are the regional carriers and possibly T-mobile.



Based on what you said, it seems like you`re the type that takes advantage of the free, basic phone most carriers offer. Cell phone coverage and voice network quality (i.e. dropped calls) should weigh more on your decision to leave a carrier than being able to get 2 new free, basic phones. It is just not worth the time and trouble. I laugh every time I see Cingular`s ads about having the least dropped calls because I deal with that constantly. I`m only with them because all my friends (AT&T/Cingular employees) and family were with them. I really do not use my cell phone much anymore, but if I did I would switch to Verizon so I wouldn`t have to deal with the constant dropped calls I`ve currently been experiencing with Cingular.



If Verizon doesn`t want to give you the deal that you want, you might want to look into going into a mom & pop cell phone store and inquiring about deals for upgrading or renewing your contract. Often times they have better deals, but there is usually a catch. Because your POS (point of sale) is with them, if there`s something wrong with your new phone you`d have to deal with them. And you have to know what the return policy is at these places because they often have shorter return periods than the carrier-owned stores.



My guess as to why they`re not offering as great of a deal as before is because the cell phone market has become very saturated. Almost everyone nowadays has a cell phone. I wouldn`t be surprised if the same thing was happening with the other carriers to a certain extent. Verizon on the other hand, has never been about lowest price or value. One thing I do like about them is that they are more about the quality of their service.



If the price is really bugging you and you don`t mind having to port your number and try a new carrier, sometimes once you tell them you`re planning on canceling, they might offer you a better retention plan. I`m not saying it will or won`t work, but I know that with AT&T Wireless we did have a special dept. within customer service handling these type of calls. I just don`t want this to backfire on you.

[Cooter]

I`ve been with Cingular/AT&T wireless for about 10 years. There is Cellular South here but it doesnt have near the coverage as C/ATT, but they do have better plans than C/ATT. So its a trade off. In my line of work I really need good coverage. Thats why i`m with them. Take it easy Matt!

[Wasatch]

They all suck, but I have Cingular/ATT right now, been with them for about 4 years. Before that VoiceStream/T-Mobile which sucked big time. Lots of minutes, if you get coverage.

[tod071]

Depending on what`s more important to you. Verizon has better coverage, but I`ve seen a dip in CS. So I moved to Cingular/ATT because of a better selection of phones, including the iPhone (wife`s new toy). I was actually impressed with their CS as well. Much better than when I was leaving Verizon.



My worst experience with Verizon was my last. I asked when my contract was up and could qualify for a new phone. They told me I was NOT in a contract and it was already expired. So I switched to Cingular because we wanted the BB Pearl. Got a bill for $175 from VZW, so I called and asked why. They said I terminated my contract when I switched. I told them that I was told that my contract was up and they responded with "we don`t have a record of that conversation" (how convenient...). They offered to waive the $175 if I switched back to VZW, and I asked what about the termination fee from Cingular? The reply was "you`ll have to take it up with them". `Click` went the phone and I`ve never looked back.



Overall, I still say VZW has good reception, but lacks a selection of phones. Cingular is pretty close in reception, with more phones, better CS, and cheaper plans. I`m saving over $60/mo after switching, for 2 phones.

[imported_flatstick]

Thanks for the replies all. kind of figured I would have to talk to the retention department to see if they can make me an offer to retain me as a customer. called and they are not in today. guess not every place runs 24/7 - 365 like mine LOL! what gets me is they gave me $100 off of both phones last time, when I renewed my contract and this time they change the rules. I also added a third line for our son. as somebody else said they do not want to hang onto their customers I suppose. was thinking maybe I can let the contract run out , then have my wife open an account under her name ( it is under mine ) . there seems to value new customers more then the current ones by looking at the start up packages. a friend at work just added 3 lines and somehow ended up getting 3 Razrs for free, even though he was going to only activate 3 existing phones. guess will pick the brain of my friend at work. maybe the retention people will be willing to throw me a bone to keep us. guess what gets me is when I renewed 2 years ago they gave me equal money to upgrade both line and now they went cheap on me :nono the best thing is that they tell me there is no way that I got two phones for free, ummmm I think I would remember that ha ha ha ha . hey we all know how much gas and everything has gone up ( except our paychecks). their phone quality is good, but they need to understand they do have competition. if anybody has any other ideas, feel free to let me know.

[BlackElantraGT]

If you want to know how the competition is in your area, try to get the opinions of people from your area because like I mentioned, their network might be good in one area but really spotty in others.



I`ve personally never really understood why many carriers work harder to gain new customers than keeping them. It`s just counter-intuitive to how most business models work, where the money is made from repeat customers. Once you`re already activated and your contract is over, it`s almost like they want you to go to their competition. What`s even funnier is before line number porting was available for cell phone numbers, they were able to get away with treating existing customers badly because many people stayed just to keep their numbers. You would think if the customer now has the ability to go anywhere they want and still keep their number, they would work harder to keep that customer.



One measure of performance that they all look at (and there`s a specific term for it, I just can`t remember it at the moment) is how much it costs to gain a new customer. They take into consideration many factors such as cost of advertisements, the cost to process credit, phone subsidies, dealer commission, etc. Anyone who`s ever had to pay full price for a cell phone knows first hand how expensive that can be. But yet they subsidize these phones and sell at very low cost or give it away for free just to gain that new customer. What`s the point of gaining new customers if you can`t keep them?

[imported_flatstick]

If you want to know how the competition is in your area, try to get the opinions of people from your area because like I mentioned, their network might be good in one area but really spotty in others.



I`ve personally never really understood why many carriers work harder to gain new customers than keeping them. It`s just counter-intuitive to how most business models work, where the money is made from repeat customers. Once you`re already activated and your contract is over, it`s almost like they want you to go to their competition. What`s even funnier is before line number porting was available for cell phone numbers, they were able to get away with treating existing customers badly because many people stayed just to keep their numbers. You would think if the customer now has the ability to go anywhere they want and still keep their number, they would work harder to keep that customer.



One measure of performance that they all look at (and there`s a specific term for it, I just can`t remember it at the moment) is how much it costs to gain a new customer. They take into consideration many factors such as cost of advertisements, the cost to process credit, phone subsidies, dealer commission, etc. Anyone who`s ever had to pay full price for a cell phone knows first hand how expensive that can be. But yet they subsidize these phones and sell at very low cost or give it away for free just to gain that new customer. What`s the point of gaining new customers if you can`t keep them?









All I can say is you have read my mind on this one 100% LOL! they have me as a customer, just give me the same deal as last time, a courtesy credit as a loyal customer. our daughter will be needing a phone soon, so I mayl be adding another line down the road. also as you said work of mouth from me to my friends and relatives is their best advertisement. will be talking to my co-workers tomorrow. sad part is most of them have Verizon. I am glad I am not the only one who is tired of being told what I must do by the cable and phone companies. like you said LNP ( line number portability) , take your number wherever you want. hope I hear some good things about the other carriers in my area.

[paul34]

HowardForums: Your Mobile Phone Community & Resource (http://www.howardforums.com)



I actually recently switched to T-Mobile after being a Cingular customer. I used to be a mortal enemy of T-Mobile - I always used to make fun of their coverage maps and such.



That is, until I used it.



Amazing! I can barely be getting signal with T-Mobile, and get crystal clear call quality, and no dropped calls. Take the same signal (and same phone) on Cingular, and their abuse of the half-rate codec (because they`re too cheap to actually build out more capacity), causes dropped calls - and if you`re lucky enough to keep the call, you can barely understand the other person because of the crapp half rate codec.



I`ve been pleasantly surprised - I still have yet to be in an area where T-Mobile coverage was either non existent or too weak to be used.



Also, I was reluctant to believe the claims of T-Mobile having the best CS when I was with Cingular. Well, that also changed when I swtiched over. Wow, they are truly amazing. I mean, the people who do CS truly love their jobs, and it shows on the phone. They`re also happy to carry on a very friendly conversation with you while something is processing (rather than putting you on hold to listen to some cheesy advertisements).



T-Mobile truly is great. If you`re looking for 3G for data, it probably won`t be for you... but seeing as you want the basic phones, I`m sure you`re looking for just voice. T-Mobile should suit you.



Also, I should add, I use T-Mobile prepaid since I was wasting a lot of money on a reuglar plan from Cingular.

[wytstang]

I agree with paul34 I loved T-mobil when I was with them. The only reason I went with Verizon was because here in Charleston,SC I was running off of Suncom`s network and not T-Mobil. T-Mobil isn`t here yet but I still got a good signal running off of Suncom. We also needed better coverage since my wife is military, then need to get a hold of her when things go down and she is needed no exceptions. If T-mobil expands and covers here in my area we will switch back when our contract is up. That and my wife absolutely hates Verizon web site, she has a hard time navigating it to pay bills and just look up info.

[velobard]

I was with ATT when they were bought out by Cingular and from the time Cingular took over, I`m not sure if they got even one of my bills right. Usually they just overcharged me a minor amount, but it was *always* a mistake in their favor, never mine. Every single friggin month I had to call and explain the whole thing to the CSR how and why my bill was wrong. Every month they admitted their fault and promised it was fixed, but it never was. There were several other major problems with them, but that was the most persistant headache. When my wife took a job at a hospital where they offer a discount with Verizon we switched (plus then she got reception in the building).



I`m not claiming Verizon is all roses, but it sure beats Cingular.



There`s a lot of good info on the forums at Cell Phone Forums - Mobiledia (http://forums.mobiledia.com/)

Take a look at the CSR forums there, too.

[Paulie Walnuts]

Ive had every major carrier out there and by far and away Verizon has been the best. I despise cell phones and cell companies but they are the best at what they do.



The absolute worst I have ever had is Sprint, I wouldnt accept free service from them because they were so crummy, Cingular is a close second.

[Dan]

Add me as another convert to T-mobile. I used to have Sprint and then Cingular. So many dropped calls with those guys. With Cingular if it wasn`t a dropped call, I`d hope it was because the sound got so bad I had to hangup and redial. And yes I tried several different phones.



T-mobile is dirt cheap, has great customer service and great coverage where I live. They also don`t push 2 year contracts like some of the other carriers. You can usually just ask for a 1 year. Plus my bill is now under $50 with every silly tax for 1000 minutes, unlimited internet and 400 text messages.



Like was mentioned, the best way is to really ask in a regional forum as we can only tell you about our particular area. Then ask whatever carrier for a trial (without porting your number, that makes for a huge hassle going back). Just forward your old phone to the new phone and try it out for a few weeks.

[paul34]

Like was mentioned, the best way is to really ask in a regional forum as we can only tell you about our particular area. Then ask whatever carrier for a trial (without porting your number, that makes for a huge hassle going back). Just forward your old phone to the new phone and try it out for a few weeks.



Yup. In addition, if you really want to try out the carriers, just grab a prepaid SIM for whatever service you`re using (assuming you`re going to go GSM and not Sextel or Verizon), and just try it out. I suggest grabbing a SIM from eBay - that way, you don`t have to pay all the stupid extra money you have to do if you get a SIM from the store.



Since prepaid usually doesn`t include roaming on other networks, you`ll get a clear picture of the true network (i.e., the carrier`s native network) coverage.



And if you don`t like it, just sell it on eBay. SIMs are always being bought and sold there :) (especially since when you actually sign up for prepaid, they ask you far, far too many questions requiring personal information!)

[TigerMike]

I`ve been pretty happy with the past few years I`ve been with Verizon. I use cell phones for a "home phone", and have no landline. So, call quality and coverage is the most important to me, clearly, as is having a sturdy well built phone, none of that toy-like crap. Well, Verizon hasn`t disappointed me...rarely ever a dropped call (can`t remember the last one), and the call quality is as good as landline here. So, I`m not switching anytime soon. Cingular is utter crap, IMO. If I were going to switch (which I`m not), I`d probably go with T-Mobile.



I don`t deal with Verizon CS very often, so I have nothing bad really to say there. I use the phones, pay my bill, and rarely have problems, so CS is a non issue for me. I get a 17% access discount on my family plan (2100 minutes), and I guarantee no other carrier is gonna give that to me! The only issue I have with Verizon is the limited selection of phones available. I wish they carried some of the better Nokias and such, but they don`t. Not a big deal really, but I`d like a nice Nokia or Sony/E one day, but Verizon`s selection is pitiful. Again, not a deal killer as I really like my LG 8100, but it will need replacing one day I`m sure.