US Cell Providers

[Mooga]

So I'm very very very pissed off at Verizon for a large range of reasons (Customer Services is SHIT, broken phones, and bullshit "required data plans" on non-data phones). I need a 5+ Family Plan. Unlimited texting. Good service in Chicago. Data would be nice as long as it's reasonable.

I've looked at AT&T but their website makes a spaceship looks simple. None of their plans come with anything but voice. Adding Texting and Data is a futile task as there are 10 of each and you can't tell what's per line and what's per plan. All I know is that AT&T looks very expensive given that you need to pay at least $20 a month of texting... And AT&T's data plans are about the same at Verizon: $10 on useless phones, $30 on "smart phones."

A friend of mine recommended Sprint as the prices are relatively cheap. Plus, they have some nice phones.

Recommendations?

Also, if anyone know someone from Verizon who would be interested in know how shitty their customer services is, and how they continue to LIE and CHEAT me out of my money, please let me know.

[stray kitten]

Sprint has treated me well over the years. I can never go to ATT, that would be like selling my soul for an iPhone I have a couple Mogul data phones on Sprint.

[Dexter]

Have you looked at T-Mobile if its an option? I hear a lot of good about their family unlimited plans. But if its more then you need sprint is probably cheaper

[Innoc]

Originally Posted by Mooga

So I'm very very very pissed off at Verizon for a large range of reasons (Customer Services is SHIT, broken phones, and bullshit "required data plans" on non-data phones). I need a 5+ Family Plan. Unlimited texting. Good service in Chicago. Data would be nice as long as it's reasonable.

I've looked at AT&T but their website makes a spaceship looks simple. None of their plans come with anything but voice. Adding Texting and Data is a futile task as there are 10 of each and you can't tell what's per line and what's per plan. All I know is that AT&T looks very expensive given that you need to pay at least $20 a month of texting... And AT&T's data plans are about the same at Verizon: $10 on useless phones, $30 on "smart phones."

A friend of mine recommended Sprint as the prices are relatively cheap. Plus, they have some nice phones.

Recommendations?

Also, if anyone know someone from Verizon who would be interested in know how shitty their customer services is, and how they continue to LIE and CHEAT me out of my money, please let me know.

I carried an AT&T phone from 1992 to 2008. On top of that the company I managed for 18 years was dealer for both of the original A (AT&T in my area) and B (Verizon in my area) side carriers. I've have plenty of opportunity to deal with AT&T over the years. When I switched from AT&T to Verizon in 2008 it was a fantastic switch. Mind you I've had to actively manage issues and have had to pick up on the key words to get me escalated from the "brush you off" tier of the tech support so I could get to the "I have a few clues" tier. My Blackberry Storm gave me plenty of opportunities to test both customer service and tech support during the last couple of years. Verizon isn't perfect but I like them much better than AT&T.

Personally I think the biggest factor in which carrier you choose should be the performance of their network (voice and/or data) in the place where you expect to do most of your talking/texting/browsing. Go into to this knowing full well that all of these are big companies and poor customer service/support is going to be a factor. Learn how they are structured and how you can manipulate that to your advantage.

You didn't post any details on what it is you experienced so I can't really suggest anything relating to Verizon and things you might try to better your experience with them.

[Mooga]

I didn't want to go on a huge "VERIZON ARE ASSHOLES" thread, but basically I've had a phone for just over a year. It broke but they refused to replace it even though it starting to break months before the 1 year warranty expired.

When I went into the store, they handed me a phone and told me to talk to customer service on the phone. Customer service told me that couldn't do anything and passed me to Tech. Tech told me they couldn't do anything and forwarded me to LG. So I've been in the middle of the store for nearly an hour now pissed off because no one seems to do anything for me besides telling me that I can buy a new contract and a new phone. Finally I find the manager who was in the store not even bothering to help me. He finally agreed that for $50 they will overnight me a new phone.

Sure enough, the next day I get a package and it's a refurbished phone. Now if a BRAND NEW phone lasted me less then a year, how long will a $50 refurb work? So I called then and they said I can return it if I call them ahead of time so they know I'm sending back the refurb. So I few days later I finally figured I was better off with my old phone. I called up Verizon to say I was sending it back and they jerked me around for an hour saying they didn't send me any phone and that the insurance did (which was a blatant lie as in the store they said it had 100% nothing to do with the insurance company).

We were also considering to just sign up for a new contract and get all new phones. Well, we have two Env3's currently. We wanted two more for 2 of my sisters. However, they now cost an extra $10 a month because they are no longer "Texting Phones" they are now "Data Phones." The manager said there was absolutely no way to remove the newly required "data plan" even though the other 2 Env3's don't have it.

I've talk to so many assholes both in person and on the phone that I want nothing to do with them. When I say I wanted to send my phone back to I can switch to AT&T they just jerked me around some more and say they can't do anything.

The only thing I didn't try way smashing in a window to the store and entering from there for a more dramatic entrance. (I did consider it, however)

[Innoc]

Originally Posted by Mooga

I didn't want to go on a huge "VERIZON ARE ASSHOLES" thread, but basically I've had a phone for just over a year. It broke but they refused to replace it even though it starting to break months before the 1 year warranty expired.

When I went into the store, they handed me a phone and told me to talk to customer service on the phone. Customer service told me that couldn't do anything and passed me to Tech. Tech told me they couldn't do anything and forwarded me to LG. So I've been in the middle of the store for nearly an hour now pissed off because no one seems to do anything for me besides telling me that I can buy a new contract and a new phone. Finally I find the manager who was in the store not even bothering to help me. He finally agreed that for $50 they will overnight me a new phone.

Sure enough, the next day I get a package and it's a refurbished phone. Now if a BRAND NEW phone lasted me less then a year, how long will a $50 refurb work? So I called then and they said I can return it if I call them ahead of time so they know I'm sending back the refurb. So I few days later I finally figured I was better off with my old phone. I called up Verizon to say I was sending it back and they jerked me around for an hour saying they didn't send me any phone and that the insurance did (which was a blatant lie as in the store they said it had 100% nothing to do with the insurance company).

We were also considering to just sign up for a new contract and get all new phones. Well, we have two Env3's currently. We wanted two more for 2 of my sisters. However, they now cost an extra $10 a month because they are no longer "Texting Phones" they are now "Data Phones." The manager said there was absolutely no way to remove the newly required "data plan" even though the other 2 Env3's don't have it.

I've talk to so many assholes both in person and on the phone that I want nothing to do with them. When I say I wanted to send my phone back to I can switch to AT&T they just jerked me around some more and say they can't do anything.

The only thing I didn't try way smashing in a window to the store and entering from there for a more dramatic entrance. (I did consider it, however)

It definitely sounds like Verizon botched your customer service experience. I noticed the rate plan change for the ENV3 when we did a shuffle with our phones and got my wife a Droid too. Annoying but it's what's going on with new activation or service additions.

BTW, Refurb is standard of practice for most industries. I think you'll find it rare that any company will trade out your failed/used phone with a new one.

One thing that bothers me about all of the Cell Phone Companies is the amount of time they expect to tie you up while "trying things" that *might* get your phone functioning again. The phone is an appliance....it's not a second job so expecting the customer to spend hours troubleshooting is unreasonable. I went through that with the phone until I figured out how to work Verizon.

1. Make the walk-in center tech confirm the failure but do not let them exchange it for you.
2. Make the tech center annotate your account documenting the failure.
3. Do NOT allow the tech center to charge you 50.00 for the replacement....
4. ...instead...take your phone home and call the customer service phone center and bitch to them. You should be able to get them to ship you a replacement phone at no charge under most circumstances...I know I did that twice with the Storm.