They all have a "chip" in them now. That is called a SIM card.

 

Verizon doesnt use sim cards

 

I've had AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, and switched to Cingular a few months ago...

The other services were all about the same, except for T-mobile, who is trying to screw me - I called for confirmation that my contract period was up, and I was paid thru the middle of Sep - got said confirmation VERBALLY, and changed to Cingular on 1 Sep; Gee, guess what, now I've a bill for 20 days of service that my personal records and the customer service rep said were paid for! Now, after I've called them twice demanding an accounting of my service over the past year, they are threatening to turn me over for collection, rather than send me said accounting.

Yeah, T-Mobile SUCKS!

 

My company phone is a Nextel Blackberry. When it works, it's kind of a cool little gadget, but they have problems that are weirder than just bad coverage. Occasionally, it just loses its signal. I'll be standing on my porch talking, and it'll go from 4 bars to 0. Now, my porch is pretty good sized, but it ain't that big...

My personal phone is a Cingular (originally AT&T Wireless), which I got because my Nextel flat-out won't work out at our farm. The Cingular gets me close, but it switches to Cellular One analog when I'm on the property, something that the Nextel won't do. Since it's really just for emergencies, it's not too big a deal, but I was hoping based on their coverage map that it would work alright out there so I wouldn't have to incur huge roaming charges.

I may switch to Sprint when my contract's up. My brother seemed to have a pretty good signal out there with his--he took a picture of himself on my tractor with his picture phone and sent it to his wife. I think I'll borrow his extra phone and take it out there as a test.

Long story short, they all have their problems, but Nextel seems to be the worst of the bunch in terms of coverage. Sprint was outstanding back when they first started, then they fell off a bit, but they may be making a comeback. I really can't complain about Cingular at all.

 

I've particularly enjoyed Nextel. I never knew there were so many ways to tell you you don't have service! When I try to direct connect a friend of mine, (who just barely manages to operate the phone portion and doesn't even own a computer), I regularly get the message of 'User Busy In Data'. Yeah, RIGHT! He still thinks 'Data' is a character on Star Trek!

chaikwa.

 

Me and my wife just upgraded our plan for Alltel. We have been very happy with them and they are running a plan now that has 1000 anytime minutes with free nights & weekends that start at 7pm for only $75/month for 2 phones. It really depends on where you are and the converage for that company. We have had real good luck with Alltel here.

I have always wondered why somany people have Nextel when they are so expensive. My brother has them and his service sucks. He pays just as much for one phone as we pay for two phones. BUT IT HAS 2 WAY CALLING everyone says. Who cares?

 

I think it all depends on where you live. Some areas are not covered very well by one provider where another provider has covered the area well. Around here, Nextel and Verizon have great coverage. T-Mobile, Sprint, and Cricket dont work at all, Cingular works pretty much everywhere except the river valley. If you travel 50 miles away, you can find areas that Verizon, Nextel, and Sprint have spotty coverage, but Cingular has great coverage.

As far as customer service, I was going to get Cingular, they wouldnt give me the area code that I wanted (out of area by 5 miles or something like that)... Had AT&T for a while and they made me mad because they charged $50-100 roaming on a plan that had roaming included every month... got sick of calling to complain about it..... So far, Nextel is fine for me... they seem to have the only phones I can keep working longer than 3 weeks.... So until someone else comes out with a rhino-liner covered phone that will keep working after getting dropped, wet, run over, covered in oil, etc., I am happy with what i have now.

 

I only have Nextel because my customers have them, and they want the 'instant' access to me that the direct connect is supposed to deliver. It would be too much to ask for them to have to actually push 2 buttons for speed dial to get access to me via a regular phone!

It's all about customer service these days, and at least I'll attempt to give 'em what they want!

chaikwa.

 

Now don,t hold back any. Tell us how you really feel.

My son, wife and I all use Verizon and have had no problems at all. As a matter of fact, when my phone quit on me they fixed it for free. Go with Motorola.

 

i use nextel, around here it isnt to bad, work usually has me in larger cities, which i get pretty decent coverage in, once in a blue moon im in b.f.e. or timbucktoo, i wont get a signal for the life of me. im completely happy with the service, as far as the direct connect feature goes, walkie-talkie, its good but ya gotta have good etticut, turn yer speaker off in public places n all that jazz, i can testify to the direct connects capabilities, i was in Boston Mass and was talking all the way back to laredo tx, which i thought was cool, international dialing isnt a problem if thats what ya need. But i think it boils down to the area your in and the sort of plan your shopping for. I use my phone alot and im happy with the service i got, just my .02 centabos (spanish for cents)

 

Where do I begin when listing the problems I've had with Verizon's customer service (is there such a thing??) and billing (Oh yeah, they get as much as they can)


I can't tell you how I really feel....It's not allowed


Ur right about Motorola!! Never should have gotten rid of my StarTac My new Cingular Moto is great!

 

We've been with Verizon for nearly 4 years now. We switched from sprint due to poor coverage. Yes, their billing is messed up sometimes but they have fixed it when there is and issue. With free network calling and texts/pics I may even drop to a lower plan.

Randy

 

I have Verizon and I LOVE IT!! I haven't had one single problem with my service or customer service. Maybe it's because when I have a problem I'm actually nice to the people and they are more willing to help...........doesn't pay to be mean!! But yeah, verizon has great coverage, the only thing that I don't like is that they don't have unlimited text between other providers. Most of my conversations are with text and that freaking kills my bill, but I will deal with it because I never have to worry about having to make a call and not have service!!!

NEXTEL SUCKS!!!! I freaking hate there service and there phones are a piece of crap too! I have them through work, and I'm constantly dropping calls and it always says NO SERVICE. For the price you pay on the bills, they suck I would never recommend them for a personal phone!!

Cingular is ok, but not for me. I got there most expensive phone they had and it was supposed to work everywhere, ummmm wrong!! I had the phone for 3 days and I dropped 13 calls and I had no service at my house. Seeing how I don't have a house phone, I really need a phone that is going to work in my house. I have friends that have Cingular and they for the most part like it, but it doesn't come close to verizons coverage!!

T-Mobile in my opinion is not the greatest, my girlfriend has them and her dang phone is always hanging up on me and half the time when it doesn't I can't understand a dang word she says because it's all garbled.

My personal opinion, go with Verizon, I have had them since they were airtouch..............except for 2 years when I got my nextel..........but I am GLAD I went back. Highly recommend them!!

JMO

~Nick

 

From my personal experience, you cannot beat Verizon's network. Back in 2002 when The Ohio State Buckeyes won the National Championship, my buddies and I piled in an RV and drove from Columbus, OH to Tempe, AZ. I was the only one of the group that had Verizon and, aside from a couple of short-lived rare occasions, was the only one that consistently had a good signal. Our trip out consisted of Rte. 75 to Kentucky, Rte. 65 to Tennessee, Rte. 40 to Arkansas, Rte. 30 to Texas, Rte. 20 to New Mexico, Rte. 10 to Tempe. And, our trip back was Rte. 40 to Oklahoma, Rte. 44 to Missouri and Rte. 70 to Columbus. Also, due to my job, I put 24,000 miles on my car in the last 6 months traveling the state of Ohio without any problems making or maintaining calls. I am actually getting ready to buy a new Blackberry with Verizon service, as I understand I will be able to link it to my laptop for high speed internet access from anywhere.

 

cingular is the only phone I will ever have. They have treated me great and I have service almost everywhere around where I live and most places in KY. My GF and her brother have verizon and they just plain stink. and I'm not just saying in southern Ohio.it seems that everywhere we go they don't have serivce. in fact they don't have servise at their house or mine and I have all my bars at both
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