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how long have you been with your cell service provider?

-dustin

boring
Jun 10, 2002
7,155
1
austin
i'm just curious. i've been with Sprint for 6yrs, i believe (maybe 5.5), and i realize there isn't much to keep me with them. service is fine, and all that jazz, but i mean, really....is their service better than the others' overall? probably not.

so recently i've been looking for a new phone. i noticed, being with Sprint for 6yrs, that new accounts get substantially better deals/ offers than long-standing customers. i guess that should come as no surprise. being that my contract has been up since November of 2003, what's there to keep me with Sprint, rather than exploring other companies that have dandy new account deals?
 

cannondalejunky

ease dropper
Jun 19, 2005
2,924
2
Arkansas
i've been with alltel for 2 years and i like it...the service is so so...but i guess i cant complain too much, i can get my phones for practicly next to nothing since my pops works for alltel but i have to pay full price for the service
 

Crashby

Monkey
Jan 26, 2003
947
1
Rochester, NY
Ive been with Sprint for 9 years... I switch to Verizon in 6 days (end of Sprint contract). I cant wait. Service and network is much better with Verizon. I got one of those V-Cast phones through Verizon... 1 gig flash with mp3 player.... kewl....
 

hooples3

Fuggetaboutit!
Mar 14, 2005
5,245
0
Brooklyn
T-mobile.. gives me a selection of 4-5 phones I can upgrade too every year.. sprint my have the same, you just need to ask.
Its stupid, but if you change services you get a top of the line phone for free, i know, it doesnt make sense.
 

biggins

Rump Junkie
May 18, 2003
7,173
9
8 years with US Cellular and yes inbred services can vary greatly from region to region. i was with US Cellular before and after i worked for them.
 

biggins

Rump Junkie
May 18, 2003
7,173
9
bluebug32 said:
4+ years with Verizon. Seems pretty good, considering the competition and they told me if I ever find a better deal through Verizon, I can sign a new contract to get a better plan.
thats the problem though. before you know it you will be on a 3 year plan just cause you needed a few more minutes a month. cell phone companies make money off of roamers and people that go over their minutes.

the entire 8 years i have been with US Cell ular they have given customers the ability to change their plan whenever and NOT sign a new contract.
 

biggins

Rump Junkie
May 18, 2003
7,173
9
by the way i am not dogging on verizon they are not a "bad" cell company at all.
 

Angus

Jack Ass Pen Goo Win
Oct 15, 2004
1,478
0
South Bend
N8 said:
Sprint consistantly has the most anytime minutes for the money.
I had sprint for four years before moving to Arkansas, service was spotty at best down here, I have been with Alltel since Feb. They allow to change plans with no consequences, and have great coverage as they share thier network with Verizon, in fact I wouldn't be suprised if in the near future the two merge....
 

N8 v2.0

Not the sharpest tool in the shed
Oct 18, 2002
11,003
149
The Cleft of Venus
MunkeeHucker said:
I had sprint for four years before moving to Arkansas, service was spotty at best down here, I have been with Alltel since Feb. They allow to change plans with no consequences, and have great coverage as they share thier network with Verizon, in fact I wouldn't be suprised if in the near future the two merge....

Alltel rules AR.

My good buddy is the executive vice president and chief financial officer for Alltel. He used to ride MTB's before getting so damn busy... he's only like 33 years old.
 

blt2ride

Turbo Monkey
May 25, 2005
2,333
0
Chatsworth
Verizon for the past year and a half; before that I had ATT for years. Verizon is a more expensive than ATT, but the service is a lot better. In addition, 95% of my friends and family have Verizon, so I always talk to them for free...
 

I Are Baboon

The Full Dopey
Aug 6, 2001
32,383
9,289
MTB New England
I've been using Verizon for about four years now. They're certainly nothing special. What sucks is that I can't get cell service on my street. :mumble:
 

N8 v2.0

Not the sharpest tool in the shed
Oct 18, 2002
11,003
149
The Cleft of Venus
SkaredShtles said:
Why people waste their youth working that hard is beyond me........... :D

Oh I don't know... he started off at La Tech University taking electrical engineering classes but then during his summer intership at a elec coop in AR he thought it was boring. He had 2 years in the EE program then transfered to University of Arkansas at Little Rock where he took 4 years of accounting in 2 years (since it was a lot easier then the electrical engineering classes he was taking).

He graduated with a steller GPA and a CPA then went to work for Arthur Andersen. They sent him to New Zealand for a year while they opend an office there. He left the company just before the big scandle and joined Alltell as a VP of Finance.

..and he used to ride MTB's.... I've been trying to get him to ride again since he lives in Little Rock but so far he's been too busy...

:(
 

SkaredShtles

Michael Bolton
Sep 21, 2003
65,379
12,533
In a van.... down by the river
N8 said:
Oh I don't know... he started off at La Tech University taking electrical engineering classes but then during his summer intership at a elec coop in AR he thought it was boring. He had 2 years in the EE program then transfered to University of Arkansas at Little Rock where he took 4 years of accounting in 2 years (since it was a lot easier then the electrical engineering classes he was taking).

He graduated with a steller GPA and a CPA then went to work for Arthur Andersen. They sent him to New Zealand for a year while they opend an office there. He left the company just before the big scandle and joined Alltell as a VP of Finance.

..and he used to ride MTB's.... I've been trying to get him to ride again since he lives in Little Rock but so far he's been too busy...

:(
Sounds like alot of school & work to me. Although the NZ gig probably would've been cool. Although knowing AA he probably spent most of his time slaving at the grindstone.

I still can't understand why people work that hard. ;)
 

golgiaparatus

Out of my element
Aug 30, 2002
7,340
41
Deep in the Jungles of Oklahoma
I hve been with Cingular for about 1.5... it blows. Service is fine, features are fine, equipment, fine... the problem is I have the $50 plan yet I still pay $80 a month. And I dont ever go over on my minutes. WTF is that? As soon as my contract is up I will be looking for another provider.
 

N8 v2.0

Not the sharpest tool in the shed
Oct 18, 2002
11,003
149
The Cleft of Venus
SkaredShtles said:
Sounds like alot of school & work to me. Although the NZ gig probably would've been cool. Although knowing AA he probably spent most of his time slaving at the grindstone.

I still can't understand why people work that hard. ;)

When he was in NZ he and his wife went hiking/rafting/biking just about every weekend. He lived within biking distance of his office.

I'll NEVER be VP of a mjor corporation that's for sure.... :monkey:
 

SkaredShtles

Michael Bolton
Sep 21, 2003
65,379
12,533
In a van.... down by the river
golgiaparatus said:
I hve been with Cingular for about 1.5... it blows. Service is fine, features are fine, equipment, fine... the problem is I have the $50 plan yet I still pay $80 a month. And I dont ever go over on my minutes. WTF is that?
Quit talking on the phone.......... :think:
 

Salami

Turbo Monkey
Jul 17, 2003
1,784
118
Waxhaw, NC
Echo said:
I've been with Verizon for 10+ years. Actually I was with them before they were called Verizon.
PrimeCo.

I used them for quite some time. About two years ago we switched to Cingular because Verizon/PrimeCo wouldn't give us the promised upgrade credits towards new phones. We also couldn't get very good service in our house. With Cingular we make all of our long distance on our cell phones.

I just got a nice new Motorola Razr on Christmas eve. :thumb:
 

Ciaran

Fear my banana
Apr 5, 2004
9,839
15
So Cal
4 years. Was AT&T pre-paid but they are now Cingular. The bummer is that I get great reception everywhere except in Pasadena, where I live! So we are about to switch up. We'll go with a pre-pay dealio again since we rarely use our cell phones. Possibly T-mobile... they seem to have the best pre-pay plan.
 

berkshire_rider

Growler
Feb 5, 2003
2,552
10
The Blackstone Valley
golgiaparatus said:
I hve been with Cingular for about 1.5... it blows. Service is fine, features are fine, equipment, fine... the problem is I have the $50 plan yet I still pay $80 a month. And I dont ever go over on my minutes. WTF is that? As soon as my contract is up I will be looking for another provider.
Have you looked at your bill to see what the "extra" charges are? You must have multiple phones, send a $hitload of text messages, or surf from your phone to add that much onto your bill. I have Cingular with the 450 anytime minutes per month, 5000 nights and weekends $39.95 plan. It comes to $43 or $44 after taxes and "fees".
 

Toshi

Harbinger of Doom
Oct 23, 2001
38,031
7,550
i try to switch once every year once the contract runs out. however, i felt poor this year and didn't want to front the cost of a phone until the amazon.com rebates came in, so the current count for me on cingular is 17 months.
 

-dustin

boring
Jun 10, 2002
7,155
1
austin
Brunettes said:
6 years with sprint, just got a $340 sanyo for $100 and 100 extra anytime mintutes for no charge.
did you call up customer service to get that deal, or was that a promo they were running?

i got a response from them earlier today (sent an e-mail around 1am) that said i could get soem discounts that are best summed up by $150 instant rebate and 5% rebate on monthly recurring charges. Oddly, the rep said i've only been with Sprint for 4yrs. i've been in college for 5, and had Sprint during my senior year of high school. hmmm....
 

golgiaparatus

Out of my element
Aug 30, 2002
7,340
41
Deep in the Jungles of Oklahoma
berkshire_rider said:
Have you looked at your bill to see what the "extra" charges are? You must have multiple phones, send a $hitload of text messages, or surf from your phone to add that much onto your bill. I have Cingular with the 450 anytime minutes per month, 5000 nights and weekends $39.95 plan. It comes to $43 or $44 after taxes and "fees".
Extra charges are usually about $5 for info or text messages. The rest is all "fees & taxes".