Cellular One is the choice for pre-paid service.
Written: Nov 24 '00 (Updated Nov 24 '00)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Best value for your money
Cons: Cannot replenish card, have to purchase a new one
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| egab01's Full Review: AT&T Mobile Phone Service in San Francisco/San Jos... |
A couple of years ago my boss at the time gave me his old (Motorola) cell phone (with Cellular One service) and got himself a new one. When he gave me his phone there was still 8 months left on his 2-year contract. I used the phone for a little over a year before I had to cancel the contract for personal reasons. About a year and ½ after that I needed to reconnect the phone for work reasons. I was only able to reconnect the phone using pre-paid cellular. Because the phone had been turned on initially by Cellular One I also had to use Cellular One for the pre-paid service.
When I had to call in for customer service it was pretty decent most of the time. On the other hand when I went into the Cellular One store in person the customer service was excellent. Two times I have gone into authorized dealer stores (to purchase pre-paid minutes) rather than an actual Cellular One store and the customer service was adequate.
The rate plan I had the first time I had service was $29.95/mo. with 60 minutes and $15/mo. unlimited nights (7 p.m. to 7 a.m.). This was more than enough for me; I used the phone mostly in the evenings anyway and had 3 good batteries. When I turned the phone on the second time there was a special deal going at the time where if you purchased $60 or more of minutes the activation was free (otherwise it was $45). The cost per minute breakdown is $30 card = .60 cents/minute, $60 card = .50 cents/minute, $90 card = .40 cents/minute.
When I turned the phone on the second time I looked at the cost of Sprint’s service and GTE’s service to see if either of theirs would be more affordable. Sprint’s service (they no longer do pre-paid service) was .39 cents/minute (no matter the purchase amount of the card), .50 cents each day the phone was not used and an activation fee of $50. GTE’s service was .75 cents/minute (no matter the purchase amount of the card), no daily fee, and $40 activation fee. Ok I am a bookkeeper by profession so I did the math and Cellular One was the best value for my money.
Also Cellular One has a program for first time users of cellular service if you are getting pre-paid service you can get a free used phone. Since they cannot give new phones to these customers because there is no contract with this service, when a customer decides they no longer want their old phone they can turn it in to Cellular One and those are the phones they give to first time pre-paid service users.
Even though I had already been a customer, when my car was broken into and amongst the things stolen was my phone, I went into the store and talked to the sales rep. He in turn went to the manager and explained my situation and the manager agreed to give me one of the free used phones. I had $83 worth of minutes on the phone when it was stolen, they gave me a used phone, and a $60 card (so the activation could be waived), and a new phone number. Unfortunately I lost $23 worth of minutes but I saved a whole lot more by not having to purchase a new phone.
The only bad thing I have to say is that when you need to purchase more minutes, you have to go to the store and buy a new card. You can’t simply use a credit card and replenish the minutes. It is a bit of a pain to not be able to just call up and replenish the minutes and it is a little annoying to have to waste more paper and plastic (bad for the environment). When I addressed this concern with the sales rep he told me a lot of people had made the same complaint for the same reasons and gave me a number to call. He also said that it was his understanding that it was something Cellular One was looking into providing.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
egab01
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Member: Gabriella
Location: San Francisco, Ca
Reviews written: 19
Trusted by: 7 members
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