good prepaid cell phone?

[Oldtom]

I have been a Tracfone customer for 15 years. Tracfone has zero customer service if you have a problem with a phone. In my case, my old phone quit working and I tried to activate a new phone via the automated system. The activation failed and I have no usable phone. Past experience tells me I will spend 4 hours on the phone trying to fix this, and the "customer service rep" will be uncaring and borderline hostile and "no supervisor is available" nor will one ever call back.

Can anyone suggest a prepaid cell that actually provides decent customer service? I am a very low volume phone user and only need a simple flip phone with talk, voicemail and text. Thanks in advance for any opinions.

 

[bvance554]

My son bought a Boost mobile phone and used it for about 3-4 months before I gave in and bought him a new iPhone on my plan. It was a teaching moment. It was a cheap smart phone for $40, and the plan he had was $30 a month. He's 17 so I'm sure his usage is much greater than yours so you could probably buy cheaper plan. It worked very well, and they have real stores where someone can actually assist you.

 

[Nick1994]

Just get Cricket, unlimited minutes and texting for around $30 a month.

Walmart also has a phone plan

 

[bigt61]

I went to the Verizon store and bought a Samsung flip phone - it was $20 or $30. It costs $1 per day & 10 cents per minute - only if you use it and actually make or receive a call - leaving it on costs nothing. I have a landline so I only use the cell phone when I leave the house and turn it off when I'm home. I don't use it much and just add $5 a month to my account - with fees it costs $5.50 per month and I have a cell phone when I need it - on the Verizon network which is good - it works everywhere I've tried to use it for the last 4 years.

 

[supton]

I always viewed my Tracphone as disposable. I've got a huge stash of minutes, texts and data on it, because I rarely use it. But I know it would take just one issue with them for it to be trashed, like you indicate. I'm not sure I'd walk away from Tracphone if that occurred, as I could just start over. $6/month for a phone, it's not exactly breaking me.

That said, the Verizon plan or whatever where it's like a buck per day if you do something would work for me, I guess. It's a bad plan if you use the phone daily, but if it's just a couple times a month then perhaps it would work. I don't know if Verizon customer service for prepay is as good as for their regular phone--for some reason I would not be surprised if prepay got worse CS than traditional plans. I could be wrong.

My wife uses PagePlus and has been happy with that.

I guess you have to figure out your usage, and then look into the plans, to find what would best suit you.

BTW, Howard Forums might be a good place to look--I've looked there a few times for answers about smartphones and plans.

 

[Donald]

Do you want a prepaid or no contract? Look at Consumer Cellular for no contract.

 

[jcwit]

I'll stick with Tracfone, we used it since the phone that **** Clark used to husele went out of business.

 

[ARCOgraphite]

I dont think anybody provides good customer service, though net10 was o.k. BUT THEY HAVE BEEN ACQUIRED).

I went from a net10 flip phone ($15 a month) to a cricket 4G windows8 phone (nokia lumia). $27- for the phone outright and 35 a month unlimited++ data and talk. I use about 300mb a month.
(++2.5GB unthrottled) Phone is a little big (5.5" x 2.8") but I am getting used to it.
I Still prefer a flip for phone call only BY FAR.

 

[supton]

Speak of the devil: my Tracphone just ran out, and I never got a message of impending doom. So I think I just lost a ton of time, and a few texts too.

Doah!

 

[mk378]

T-Mobile has some plans which are suitable for very occasional users, starting at $3.00 per month which allows 30 minutes of calls. Check coverage before subscribing to T-Mobile though.

If you don't mind paying the price, Verizon service is hard to beat; their stuff just works. The automated systems for activating and adding money are usually all you need, and the live operators are able to resolve any problems readily.

 

[andrewg]

Consumer Cellular. Excellent service.

 

[Triple_Se7en]

Agree.... Consumer Cellular, plus I can receive / make calls in the most distant regions of our country.