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Author Topic: Who is you cell phone service provider? Jason Burroughs Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 654 From: Allen, TX Registered: Jun 99 posted 04-25-2005 05:28 PM                     Had Sprint a number of hears ago, numerous billing and service issues. I've also never really liked Sprint's selection of available phones. Have had T-Mobile for a couple of years now. No problems other than weak signal at times  |  IP: Logged Bobby Henderson "Ask me about Trajan." Posts: 10973 From: Lawton, OK, USA Registered: Apr 2001 posted 04-25-2005 06:11 PM                     I'm not going to get a cellular phone until I'm forced to do so. Most of the time I'm within reach of a land line anyway. Aside from the cost, I'm always witnessing horror stories of piss poor customer service --industry wide. With just about every carrier mentioned, I know someone who has been screwed by them. In fact, none of my friends who have cellphones have been able to avoid getting shafted at least once by a carrier. The latest? Our neon guy at our sign company has had billing nightmares with Cingular. Hidden charges and incorrect info over what services were free. He purchased a plan for his family that was supposed to run around $60 per month. First bill: $600. Next month's bill: $1200. His son was going nuts with the text messages and downloading ring tones. Cellphones suck ass over those scams. I don't even know why people do text messaging on mobile phones. With those arthritis keys, they would have to pay me to use that feature. It's as useless as tits on a bull, IMHO. If and/or when I get a cellphone, I'll have a ringtone that sounds like a damned phone. If I want it to sound like something else, that's only going to happen if I can FREELY tranfer data between my computer and phone to change the ringer without paying some asshole $4. And then if I can fashion my own ringtone, I might make the phone sound like a loud fart. All of those weird ringtones are annoying as hell anyway. Why not have a ringer that does away with the pretense and is proud to be annoying? The fart sound might be a good ploy. It might clear a crowd away from you so you can be sure your conversation is kept private. If the phone goes off in the theater, people will just think you're gassy. Can you get thrown out of a movie theater for flatulence? Cellphones are great for business use or if you break down in your car. I'm just not going to get one for people to bug me in my personal life.  |  IP: Logged David Stambaugh Film God Posts: 4021 From: Eugene, Oregon Registered: Jan 2002 posted 04-25-2005 06:53 PM                        Hidden charges and incorrect info? Doubtful. It's all there in the service agreement. Yes, it'll make your head spin if you actually try to read it, so most people probably don't. But don't blame the carrier if the parents didn't read it and/or the kid didn't care.  |  IP: Logged Rick Raskin Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1100 From: Manassas Virginia Registered: Jan 2003 posted 04-25-2005 07:23 PM                     Its all about the coverage and the cost. My son attends college in Bristol, Virginia which is in the Verizon service area. First bill was over $1100 because calls were being picked up from a tower in Bristol, Tennessee which at that time was not part of the calling area. (The state line splits Bristol between VA and TN) Verizon promptly forgave the charges. Now with nationwide calling we never get hit with roaming charges. They offered us a new plan which increased the minutes at less overall cost. They have been very consistent in my dealings with them. Caveat: I retired from Verizon Communications and I get no special treatment or concessions from Verizon Wireless.  |  IP: Logged Brad Miller Administrator Posts: 17775 From: Plano, TX (36.2 miles NW of Rockwall) Registered: May 99 posted 04-25-2005 07:39 PM                     The anti-Sprint comments...how long ago was this? When I first got my Sprint phone I had customer service issues and a few billing problems, but over the last 2 years they have been solid and without any problems. It would appear they got their shit together. Nowadays they have great deals like an auto-adjusting minutes plan.  |  IP: Logged Monte L Fullmer Film God Posts: 8367 From: Nampa, Idaho, USA Registered: Nov 2004 posted 04-25-2005 07:48 PM                     ..I play with NexTEL..so I can 'walkie-talkie' with my other theatres. -Monte  |  IP: Logged Mark Gulbrandsen Resident Trollmaster Posts: 16657 From: Music City Registered: Jun 99 posted 04-25-2005 07:50 PM                     I'm with AT&T-Cingular. Have had it for years and they have great coverage out here in the mountain states.... Mark  |  IP: Logged Jason Black Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1723 From: Myrtle Beach, SC, USA Registered: Nov 2000 posted 04-25-2005 08:22 PM                        Nextel. Get it. Got it. Done.  |  IP: Logged Scott Norwood Film God Posts: 8146 From: Boston, MA. USA (1774.21 miles northeast of Dallas) Registered: Jun 99 posted 04-25-2005 09:04 PM                        Note that this service is not a commodity and that not all providers are the same. Around here, the Verizon network is optimized for reliability and not sound quality (they use CDMA for digital service). As such, the bit rate of each call goes down when more callers are using the service. This is good for those who always want to have service, but the sound quality is dismal at peak hours. I genuinely hate talking to people who are using digital cell phones with Verizon. Analog service (and, in some cases, other digital services) provides much better sound quality, but there is a greater chance of a dropped call or overloaded network. Battery life is apparently also an issue with analog. This sort of tradeoff exists with all providers, but the specifics may differ in other parts of the country. Obligatory disclaimer: I don't have or want a cell phone. This is all secondhand information (except for the part about my not liking to converse with users of most digital services). (Insert rant about stupid ringtones here.)  |  IP: Logged Mike Blakesley Film God Posts: 12767 From: Forsyth, Montana Registered: Jun 99 posted 04-25-2005 09:21 PM                        I don't have one but my wife does, and whenever I travel I'm usually with her. The rest of the time I don't need one and don't want one. We're with Cellular One. An aside re the games and ringtones: We used to sell cellphones at my day job (long story why it's "used to") and the signal around here was poor at the time -- this was pre-digital. They had promised us digital service for years but never delivered. Then they started pumping out the games, ring tones and other crap. I finally got fed up and emailed them, "Why don't you quit screwing around with the games and other useless junk and just improve the signal on your network?" The guy wrote me back and said, "That would be great, but the truth is we make a hell of a lot of money on the games etc." So as usual, the $$ wins out over improved service. Sort of like the movie business I guess.  |  IP: Logged David Stambaugh Film God Posts: 4021 From: Eugene, Oregon Registered: Jan 2002 posted 04-25-2005 09:50 PM                        This thread got me curious about the cost for things that I don't use like text messaging, multimedia access, etc. Cingular's web site spells out all these charges very plainly. Family Plan with 900 anytime minutes, no roaming or long distance charges: $59.95. Add'l minutes $0.40/min. MEdia Works Upgrade: $19.95, which includes 1,000 text/instant messages, $0.10 per additional msg; unlimited multimedia messages; 3MB wireless Internet, $.01 per additional wireless KB. Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't downloadable ringtones around $1-$2 and the charge has to be OK'd by the user at the time the download purchase is made?  |  IP: Logged Joe Redifer You need a beating today Posts: 12859 From: Denver, Colorado Registered: May 99 posted 04-25-2005 10:03 PM                        I pretty much agree with Bobby about cell phones. If anyone actually PAYS for text messaging, not only should they be shot in the gut, but they need to be told that they are morons for paying for such a worthless feature. People like this truly do not deserve to be alive. Also, if you yap on the phone so much that you need to spend $120 a month to cover your nonstop mouth, then I think perhaps you should hang up the phone. Do you think that everybody really enjoys listening to you yap over the phone so damned much? I think not. So just hang up. Hear that? It's real life. Betcha didn't know it was there, didja? I feel sorry for nobody who gets in a car wreck while using a cell phone. I laugh at them. They got what they deserve if they were injured or died. Ha ha! It really is funny. It is not funny to the people that they killed, though. "But Joe, it can't happen to me, I pay too much attention LOL!" Just you wait. Anyone who disagrees with this comment has the intelligence level of a dingleberry.  |  IP: Logged Jarryd Beard Expert Film Handler Posts: 229 From: Hellertown, PA Registered: Jul 2004 posted 04-25-2005 10:38 PM                     As far as Verizon customer support goes, they're top notch. I've never had a difficult time getting my questions answered. The support person on the other end sounds like he could be your neighbor. In fact, sometimes they're just too damn nice! I've found myself getting into unrelated conversations. When I got a new phone, I was given plenty of extra credits to redownload the "Get It Now" applications I had on the old one. When I broke my antenna off the new phone, tech support authorized free replacement... even though it wasn't covered by my insurance.  |  IP: Logged Bobby Henderson "Ask me about Trajan." Posts: 10973 From: Lawton, OK, USA Registered: Apr 2001 posted 04-26-2005 01:00 AM                     I do get annoyed by other motorists on the highways with their phone glued to their yapping heads. There's an impulse reaction I have to these people: get at least one lane between me and them if possible. Or at least a few car lengths. Use of cellphones while driving is #2 behind drunk drivers in leading causes of serious/fatal car accidents. Not having a cellphone, I guess I'm sort of biased in my attitude that I think it is okay for states to ban cellphone use while driving. At the very least, drivers need hands free sets or something akin to that OnStar crap (even though it's probably waaay overpriced).  |  IP: Logged William Hooper Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1879 From: Mobile, AL USA Registered: Jun 99 posted 04-26-2005 01:25 AM                        I also have no cell phone, & have been foisting off getting one because I don't have to have one & I don't really want one. It would be convenient at times, but I'm still associating cell phones with ball-and-chain beepers. Woo hoo, good company in the no cell phone number crowd: Josh Jones Bobby Henderson Scott Norwood Mike Blakesley  |  IP: Logged

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