Tracfone

[dvenardos]

So, I finally broke down and bought my first cell phone for emergencies and convenience when meeting up with people. I ended up getting a reconditioned Samsung T301G came with a 60 minute card / 90 day card, and double minutes for the life of the phone. Apparently tracfone has bonus minute codes when you add minutes that you can usually find on the internet. I also found a $3 discount code so it ended up coming out to $18.39 for the phone, 140 minutes of service, and 150 service days. It took three calls to customer service to get the phone working (I was a really noob user on the first call as the context of the buttons change based on the menu). The minutes didn't apply to the phone when activating the on the internet, then the phone number was being applied, then sim card wasn't activated properly so they had to reactivate it. They should have checked all that in one call and I just assumed that everything was working at each step, but there customer service answered promptly and they weren't bad. The buttons on the Samsung are kind of small but for infrequent use, no big deal.

[Drunkonjack]

And I thought I wasthe last person on the planet to purchase a Cell phone.

[Ray3]

Yeah, I bit the bullet in December. I was annoyed because we were spending $75/month for a landline that people rarely called (my wife's cell phone was much busier). I had our home phone ported to a new cell on our family plan and am saving $45/month.

I tried using a cell phone to blue tooth adapter to our five home wireless phones, but that isn't quite ready for prime time yet.

I figured I could get a VOIP line for $10 - $15/month if we needed a landline, but it looks like 2 cell phones will do it for us.

[Sandbagger]

Ray

I have the Vtech DS6321-3 at the house, interfaces with 2 bluetooth phones at a time and it works GREAT. http://www.vtechphones.com/vtechui/s...fm?itemID=4111

I have not so great cell reception at the house so I just charge the cell phone in the same room as the Vtech and I can answer any phone in the house.

Yeah, I bit the bullet in December. I was annoyed because we were spending $75/month for a landline that people rarely called (my wife's cell phone was much busier). I had our home phone ported to a new cell on our family plan and am saving $45/month.

I tried using a cell phone to blue tooth adapter to our five home wireless phones, but that isn't quite ready for prime time yet.

I figured I could get a VOIP line for $10 - $15/month if we needed a landline, but it looks like 2 cell phones will do it for us.

[dane]

So, I finally broke down and bought my first cell phone for emergencies and convenience when meeting up with people. I ended up getting a reconditioned Samsung T301G came with a 60 minute card / 90 day card, and double minutes for the life of the phone. Apparently tracfone has bonus minute codes when you add minutes that you can usually find on the internet. I also found a $3 discount code so it ended up coming out to $18.39 for the phone, 140 minutes of service, and 150 service days. It took three calls to customer service to get the phone working (I was a really noob user on the first call as the context of the buttons change based on the menu). The minutes didn't apply to the phone when activating the on the internet, then the phone number was being applied, then sim card wasn't activated properly so they had to reactivate it. They should have checked all that in one call and I just assumed that everything was working at each step, but there customer service answered promptly and they weren't bad. The buttons on the Samsung are kind of small but for infrequent use, no big deal.

Yea, we've had a tracfone for a number of years now.. they're great little phones for occasional use....

..dane

[django1]

I started out a few years ago with Pay and Talk where you buy minutes up front and carry the unused minutes. For the first couple of years it was costing me $10 or $20 a month but the last year it was getting expensive so I'm on a monthly plan now. And this being Canada I get robbed...

Wow, I just checked my bill. We have four services with the same supplier. Middling cable (nothing fancy), high speed internet, land phone (with long distance calls in Canada/Us included) and a fairly small cellphone package (100 minutes a month+ all incoming calls free+all calls to same supplier free+nights and weekends). We get a good discount for the multiple services and a discount for paying the whole shebang at the beginning of the year. Cost: around $1900 for the year. This passes for a good deal up here...

[dvenardos]

That is a lot of audio equipment. :omg:

Cost: around $1900 for the year. This passes for a good deal up here...

[django1]

That is a lot of audio equipment. :omg:

Yeah, I'd be curious to know, if it isn't too much of a thread jack, how much it costs you guys for similar services. It comes to about 160$ a month here...

[Jason]

Our mobile bill is outrageous.....3 iphones on a family shared minutes plan ~ $300/month.

[django1]

Our mobile bill is outrageous.....3 iphones on a family shared minutes plan ~ $300/month.

:eek: Wow! I don't feel so bad...

[dvenardos]

:eek: Wow! I don't feel so bad...

Yeah, it actually isn't a bad price you are paying. Wireless is pretty expensive.
Verizon Wireless Family Plans
Verion FIOS (internet/cable/phone)