ARIEUS

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Pay to Go cell phones: What's your take on them?

Sun Jan 29, 2012 11:31 PM EST

technology, at-t

By Arieus

Live Poll

Should cell phone companies be allowed to advertise "unlimited everything" in their ads, on their pay to go cell phones, and then hit you up with extra fees later.

Advertise | AdChoices

OK, I have been doing some research on the pay to go cell phones aka paygo phones, and I find them a bit confusing and yet better than a 2 year contract with a cellular company.

The benefits of a paygo cell phone lets you have control of your minutes without getting trapped into a 2 year contract with your local cellular companies.

First there is the AT&T paygo cells, but they are a bit tricky. The $50 plan reads that you have unlimited everything, but when you read the fine print, you have to pay out for the more with a data plan, but wait... a data plan fee on your cell. When it reads that you get everything included, they say, texting, calling, web, emails, and then there is that data plan.

So your $50 amth paygo with AT&T has now gone up to $65 + tax which rings you to about $70 a mth.

http://www.broadbandexpert.com/blog/cellphones/att-announces-new-50-pre-paid-unlimited-talk-text-and-web-plan/

"AT&T has a spoiler in their fine print: “Data services are not available for Smartphones with the Monthly Unlimited Talk, Text and Web plan without the purchase of a data package.”

Then there is the T-Mobile: hmmmm, making me wonder about that plan as well. If it sounds to good to be true, then it most likely is.

Yep, that T-Mobile ad, everything on their prepaid/paygo phones will cost you more than you think, and when they say unlimited everything, read the fine print. The internet is limited, and they will hit you up with more fees that will literally break your bank account.

http://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/monthly-4g-plans?cm_mmc_o=1zEpbETVzTw*Vzbpmwzygt*VzbpmwzygtHETkblt*FBEftkYS7Vzbpmwzygt?

$50 per month:Talk unlimited, text unlimited, Web unlimited for 1st 100 mb

-Well lets look at Verizon now.

$50 Monthly Unlimited Plan (Basic Phones)

Unlimited Talk, Text and Web

Anytime Minutes Monthly Access

Unlimited
$50.00

Messages Monthly Access

Unlimited
Included

Data Allowance Monthly Access

Unlimited
Included

Per-Minute Rate After Allowance: If you have sufficient balance for your $50 Monthly Access, get unlimited calling, messaging and
Mobile Web for 30 days. If you don’t have the enough funds to cover the monthly access, you will be charged 25¢ per minute, 20¢
per text, 25¢ per picture or video message, and 99¢ per day for Mobile Web.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

WTF! How much more confusing can these plans get? If everything is included, then why are there all these extra charges, and why are the people being forced to buy crappy phones and cannot use the iPhone or other so-called smart phones for these services.

For me, when they say everything included, then that means there should be no restriction on web, emails, texting, or calls, and I
do not understand how these companies get away with these kinds of programs that rip the people off imo.

Something needs to be done to make these contracts more simplified without all the little other things added in the small print bottom of their ads, and they need to stop advertising that everything is included, and then hit you up with restrictions. It's either everything is included or it's not.

Advertise honestly, don't do it in the underhanded ways these companies are doing.

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Public Discussion (21)

Arieus

I think when they say "everything included" that it means everything's included, web, email, calls, texting. You shouldn't be restricted on your amount of web use is you say it's included in the "everything included" ads and charged extra fees by the minute.

1 vote

#1 - Sun Jan 29, 2012 11:34 PM EST

Heavy Artillery Rocker

I'll stick with my pre-pay Trac-Phone I purchased at Wal-Mart for $20. A few years ago I took advantage of an opportunity to get double minutes for life (for free) so any minutes I purchase are automatically double. I know this isn't for everyone as I use it strictly for calls. For me, its perfect and has saved me a ton.

#1.1 - Wed Feb 1, 2012 7:20 AM EST

Red Wolf

Fair Trading in my neck of the woods would shred these bastards for advertising unlimited services that aren't, and have done so in the past, but this is the US, so you're on your own. About the only way you'd get that to change is a highly publicised class action lawsuit.

Going off my local plans, which are completely different, but probably close enough for comparison; if you're a heavy user, a post-paid plan is your best bet. However, if you're a light user, the pre-paid options can be better under certain circumstances.

Typically, post-paid and pre-paid offerings are almost identical aside from crap data under pre-paid. Provided you don't need data (which is sod all phones these days), are a light user and you can find a pre-paid plan that lasts longer than a month; pre-paid can be a better deal.

There's a local company that allows you to forgo some of the extras in exchange for your $50 credit lasting a year instead of a month. If you're a light user, you can't beat that kind of deal on post-paid. I'm betting that kind of offering will not be available via AT&T or T-Mobile, however, it's worth noting that data is not included in this offering and cannot be added.

1 vote

#2 - Mon Jan 30, 2012 3:02 AM EST

Arieus

Fair Trading in my neck of the woods would shred these bastards for advertising unlimited services that aren't, and have done so in the past, but this is the US, so you're on your own. About the only way you'd get that to change is a highly publicised class action lawsuit.

I can foresee a class action lawsuit in the US against these vultures for false advertising. A friend of mine in Ca is in over his head for signing up with Verizon "unlimited everything" and now he's over 1k in debt. He thought everything was included as they advertised internet included, so he and the kids used the internet to browse, now the prepaid phone has went way over the limit and now they are going after him for the money.

This is why I decided to seed this info to the people. Be very careful on getting these prepaid phones. When they advertise "unlimited everything" it doesn't mean that.

What's the difference between a data plan and surfing the net. IMO, nothing. It's just a underhanded way of these companies entrapping and robbing the people of their monies with these "unlimited everything plans".

It's criminal IMO, and should be stopped.

2 votes

#3 - Mon Jan 30, 2012 12:39 PM EST

Fred Evil

Don't think it's just the phone companies in this. I have an AT&T Pay-as-you-go plan, have had it for 3 years. Get 500 minutes/month for $30 (still 480 more than I need), rollover (up to $250, which is where it pretty much stays), and $20 for an unlimited data plan.

Cheesy flip phone came with it, so I pulled my SIM, popped it in a used Blackjack, and it worked like a charm for 2 1/2 years! Started to die, so I got a used iPhone 3G, pop in my SIM, got data and everything, it's all good, right? Not so much. I upgrade the OS on the iPhone, and immediately post-upgrade my data service is 'unavailable.' Turns out the iPhone is re-programmed to used a different data route when you upgrade, as it is not 'supposed' to be available on the unlimited data plan I have now, they want to force us to buy a MUCH more expensive plan.

I was able to find a method to reprogram the APN on my phone, and my data started working again immediately.

Thanks for nothing, AT&T AND Apple!

1 vote

#4 - Mon Jan 30, 2012 2:30 PM EST

Zero-

important to think about when in war time or enforcing the law

1 vote

#5 - Mon Jan 30, 2012 2:53 PM EST

engineer guy-2787179

At the risk of sounding like a shill, if you're interested in plans that don't lock you into a contract, you might check out Consumer Cellular. I found out about them in Consumer Reports. They had the highest rating (based on a survey of readers), yet I had never heard of them before.

The downside of their service is if you buy a phone from them, you pay about what you'd pay from Amazon for an unlocked one. Also, there is a $35 activation charge per phone. The major players sell you a phone dirt cheap but they make up more than the difference with their charges for voice and data, especially due to the confusion factor that they deliberately introduce.

On the plus side, with Consumer Cellular you can, up to the last day of your billing cycle, retroactively change your plan for that month to get the lowest possible charges. So if you have 90 minutes actual usage and you're on the 300 minute plan, you can retroactively change your plan to the 100 minute one up to the last day of the billing cycle. But there are no rollover minutes. You can go to the web to check your usage, and they also have an Android app that allows you to check it from your phone.

They use the AT&T network. You can have them send you a SIM card so you can use an unlocked GSM phone that's AT&T-compatible. I'm not sure if it's a good deal or not for heavy users, but I am a very light user and it's a good deal for me.

#6 - Mon Jan 30, 2012 3:46 PM EST

CL1

I always thought I was reasonably intelligent, but when it comes to cell phone plans, the neurons seem to shut down. I agree, it's pretty easy to read the bottom line cost that's advertized, then add in the extra $20.00 surcharges and taxes that we forget about, and ... don't even get me started on tv!!

3 votes

#7 - Mon Jan 30, 2012 9:59 PM EST

Red Wolf

I don't think it's a matter of intelligence when the marketing is purposely designed to obfuscate the reality of the plan.

3 votes

#7.1 - Tue Jan 31, 2012 4:13 PM EST

CL1

purposely designed to obfuscate the reality of the plan.

Oh, how true.

Hmmm.. as with insurance plans, bank loans, warranties, and any other contractual purchase agreement I'm leaving out, they talk fast and try to get us to sign on the dotted line before we've had the necessary two weeks to hire a Constitutional lawyer to decipher the fine print. :)

3 votes

#7.2 - Tue Jan 31, 2012 7:29 PM EST

Arieus

^^^^^

lol, cable and satellite companies is a whole new ballgame. They are just as bad as cellphone companies imo.

2 votes

#8 - Tue Jan 31, 2012 1:13 AM EST

northern girl

I got my son a Net10 phone. For $50 a month, he gets unlimited talk, text, web, and email. You can either buy the phone cards at places like Target, Walmart, or KMart, or you can buy your plan online. There are other options for people who dont use their phone very often, including a plan with 750 minutes (1500 texts) for $25 a month. You do have to buy the phone, but they're pretty cheap- his was $20- and if the phone breaks, you can put your sim into another Net10 phone with no activation fees.

1 vote

#9 - Tue Jan 31, 2012 7:17 AM EST

kazutam

I also have the Net10 phone.

I have been with this company for almost 7 years now.

I control how much I want to spend using them.

If you go with the $25 750 minutes and use them all up simply go get another card.

Look for the "unlimited" plans, it's just like all those folks who took out the adjustable rate mortgages and then were shocked when the interest rates jumped after the "introductory" period.

READ THE PAPERWORK!!!!

If you don't understand it get them to explain it, if they won't do that run don't walk away from them.

These people are doing nothing more than preying upon the stupidity of consumers, people WANT to believe it's a great deal so they don't bother to protect themselves by reading the paperwork.

Just remember, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably isn't true.

#10 - Thu Feb 2, 2012 11:35 AM EST

CL1

ng & kazutam, I hate to sound like a dimwit, but... :), I'm not sure if I understand how using the phone works. I've always only had an expensive plan, always locked into a two-year contract, and have never used sims (I don't think), and am not sure what they are.

So, you're saying that you pay for extra minutes by going and buying "cards" for the $25.00 plan, but on the $50.00 plan you get unlimited minutes on each app--so why would anyone buy a card for that plan?

#10.1 - Thu Feb 2, 2012 1:14 PM EST

kazutam

but on the $50.00 plan you get unlimited minutes on each app--so why would anyone buy a card for that plan?

See that's it exactly.

If you want the "unlimited" you buy/spend the $50 a month.

For me I rarely even use half of the minutes that come with the $25 card, so it doesn't make sense to pay twice as much for something I'm not going to use.

IF on occasion I should happen to use all of the minutes that come with the $25 card, then I can simply go buy another one. NO outrageous "overage" charges, the phone simply stops working until you add more minutes.

As far as the sim cards go, your phone has one you just don't know about it.

#10.2 - Thu Feb 2, 2012 1:19 PM EST

CL1

Ok... I see why I was confused, now. It's a pay-as-you-go, and when you run out of minutes, you can choose to buy either the '50 or the 25.' Is that a hassle running out of minutes in the middle of a call?

#10.3 - Thu Feb 2, 2012 1:51 PM EST

CL1

If you have the 50 plan, then you have to remember to add more minutes on a certain date?

#10.4 - Thu Feb 2, 2012 1:56 PM EST

kazutam

The plans give you 30 days of airtime, so every 30 days you need to add more time.

The $50 plan is actually unlimited, so you don't run out of minutes on that one.

I've run out in the middle of a call a couple of times, but that's because of the females in my family that get me on the phone and won't shut up. My mother and my sisters can't call without keeping me on the phone for an hour and a half normally.

#10.5 - Thu Feb 2, 2012 2:39 PM EST

CL1

I'm glad to have learned about this. Thanks for all of the info!

#10.6 - Thu Feb 2, 2012 3:20 PM EST

northern girl

My AT&T contract is up next month and I am really tempted to get a Net10 plan for myself. The only thing holding me back is that I have the Rugby, which is virtually indestructible. Ive dropped it in the lake, gotten it soaked while 4-wheeling, dropped it out of my truck, and a host of other things that would kill most phones. Its water proof, shock proof, dust proof, and is supposed to have some resistance to EMPs (not that it would matter if all the towers are fried). What I'll probably do is wait for this one to die, and then go to Net10. If I kill a Net10 phone, I can get a new one for $20, instead of the $350 it would cost to replace the one I have if Im not eligible for an upgrade. Even with the upgrade discount, the Rugby was over $200 because its not a high demand, cool phone, plus they know you wont have to replace it mid-term because you broke it. I spend a lot of time on my phone, and 90% of it is for work, so I would probably get the $50/month unlimited plan. I pay $89/month for the plan I have now, and I use all the minutes and data that comes with the plan. Net10 would save me a lot of money each year.

#10.7 - Fri Feb 3, 2012 7:26 AM EST

CL1

Yep, waiting for it to die is what I do, too, before buying a new phone. I'm (against my will!!..:) more or less)..paying for two extra numbers on one plan, and each works out to about $50.00 a month, but not for unlimited apps! ..But I don't have to remember to purchase cards, either. ..A bit of a trade-off, but one I will consider when the current contract is up.

The Rugby does sound like a cool phone!

#10.8 - Fri Feb 3, 2012 3:31 PM EST

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ARIEUS

Pay to Go cell phones: What's your take on them?

Live Poll

$50 per month:Talk unlimited, text unlimited, Web unlimited for 1st 100 mb

$50 Monthly Unlimited Plan (Basic Phones)

Unlimited Talk, Text and Web

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