Cell phone service opinions

[Rich Stern]

Howdy all. I know a lot of you use cell phones out on the water, and have to deal with remote service areas where the number of bars on the phone ain't always great.



Jeanne and I have been on a shared T-Mobile plan for a few years, and the customer service is great, i.e., we never really need them because the phones and billing are what they were represented to be. They've never screwed up on us, which is refreshing in the cell phone industry. But the coverage is weak, particularly when we stray too far from metro Atlanta, into rural areas (lakes!).



AT&T is the big dog around here (having bought Cingular who bought Bellsouth). They have much better coverage, but their service reputation is bad. They also have more email and broadband services than T Mobile, which would also be useful to me.



Anybody use AT&T? If so, how's your experience been?

 

[William Schram]

Rich,

I was with cingular for about 5 years before AT&T took over, I am still with them,and have not had any problems at all, guess I am one of the lucky ones, coverage on the lake has been good also.

William

 

[Luke Musto2]

I used ATT in NY.. but here their coverage sucks.. SO I switched to Verizon and havent looked back.. Is Verizon an option for you? If so I highly recommend..



Also Check out the new GZ'one phone.. Built to miltary specs and is virtually waterproof.. Jumped into the Lake last summer with it in my pocket and it is still working fine..

 

[Marty Klein]

Dang it, premature posting again. I have Cingular/AT&T. Service on land everywhere is great, but around lakes I fish the service can be spotty--LOZ, Truman, Pomme de Terre, Stockton, and even my local Leavenworth can be dicey.

 

[Larry Harp]

I've used AT&T for many years. Here's the long story....

I started out with my first bag phone in 1996 with a 30 minute plan which eventually grew to over a 2000 minutes a month. Back then they treated me like I was their best customer. I could get free upgrades, a new phone every year with only a one year contract extension and great billing and customer service. When Nokia refused to replace a phone that was damaged because of the little belt clip that used to be popular, AT&T replaced it no problem. I could get a signal almost anywhere and didn't know what a dropped call was. Then came the ATT/Cingular merger. I don't remember the exact reason why but here in Oklahoma, all ATT customers were to become Alltell customers. I didn't like the idea of doing business with a high tech company based out of Arkansas so I opted out and moved the whole famdamily over to Cingular. I had done some business with Cingular before on a cell phone that my daughter had to have so she could talk to her boyfriend endlessly. I don't believe I ever had a month that the bill was correct. I was so angry about being forced to go to Alltell I went ahead and signed on with Cingular. Of course now that has come around back to AT&T again. All has gone pretty well since the switch. I do get more dropped calls but nothing like I had with Alltell. My 2000 minutes a month are now no better than most 13 year old girls so all the great customer service and free upgrades are a thing of the past. Coverage is good to excellent and whenever I can't get a signal out on the water I can plug my phone into my car speakerphone with it's external antenna and get out. I pay an extra 5 bucks a month for a very limited internet service with is only slightly faster than the line at the DMV but does allow me to check weather radar when I'm out on the boat and e-mail pictures back to the store. I guess of the choices we have here in OKC it's the best. I think if we had Verizon I would take a long look at it. I guess I would rate it a B where the old AT&T was an A+++.

 

[Carlos Hathcock III]

I aheva verizon for work, coverage is ok, but messages show up when they want to.....sometimes up two two or three days after the message. plus, you get a notice for a missed call, but the phone never rang.



Personal is Sprint, good service and no issues with the messages. A bit pricey, but good.

 

[Gilbert Scales2]

Rich, I use ATT here in Louisiana. I havn't have any problems. The phone is used for my business, I am a contractor. It is used pretty often, no problems on the lakes.



Bubby

 

[Aroldo Hernandez]

AT&T I have been with them since 1991. Well with bell, cingular, and who know's who else has taken there place which is AT&T know. no complanes here. I get local service with them since I'm there local locksmith or there locks will start to brake down. I get to meet all the local head managers and have great contact with them, so I get great service from them on return. As far as service coverage I travel to Monterrey, Mexico with no lose on coverage. I also fish Falcon Lake which is conected to Mexico with no problems.

 

[Jim B]

I use verizon personally. I have the phone and onstar in my truck. In my are the verizon network blows at@t away. I was with at&t for a number of years and was never happy with the service around Boston. It was pitiful wien i got into NH. My friends that still have them have no better coverage then i ever did. Verizon on the other hand has worked very well for me pertty much everywhere i go.

 

[C C]

Before buying I would suggest checking the below site and put in the zip or town you are experiencing difficulty with signal. No tower, no chance for signal no matter what carrier you sign up with.



http://www.cellreception.com/coverage/





Cass

 

[Teri C.]

I used Sprint in Indiana for years with no complaints on coverage but customer service did not exit. Came to Nashville and dropped calls all over the place with Sprint. Went to Verizon for 2 years. Good coverage, not too many issues but customer service takes awhile to answer. I think they all do now. Takes awhile to connect to India. Don't get me started! Just switched to a company paid PDA from AT&T last month. So far so good. Had to call tech support once and they picked up right away. Not sure if that was a regular number or a company support number. I don't get it but AT&T has rollover too.

 

[Rich Stern]

Appreciate all the detailed opinions!

 

[William H. (Bill) Barham]

I took advantage of an AT&T plan that gave Nancy and I our pick of whatever phone we wanted out of a huge selection, a shared 550 minutes monthly, and so far, great service and coverage for $50.00 a month, for both of us. 550 minutes may not be enough for you but I've had this service since last June and now have 2600 minutes that rolled over.



Uncle Billy

 

[Bill McElroy]

I have AT&T and rarely if EVER have any problems.....I can make and receive calls on lakes and in virtually every city I travel to.....no problems!

 

[Mini]

Loved AT&T prior to the Cingular merger.



HATE Cingular....



Now with Verizon, I like it but the phone choice is limited compared to GSM (unlocked) phones.



Good luck!

 

[gerald budurka]

15% off bill for being a union member. every few months att gets better. more towers being built in this mountainous region of pennsylvania

 

[Donald Fruge]

I've been with Bell South/Cingular (now AT&T) since my first phone in the early 90's. I have never had any problems with them. Coverage is good in almost all places I travel, and getting better in the 1 or 2 places I have had problems. A few dropped calls here and there but nothing to complain about.





Our company phones are with AT&T also and no complaints at all. Very reasonable corporate rates. (For us anyway).





Wolf

 

[Marty Klein]

Just a thought. Some problems could be the phone and not the service.

 

[Rich Stern]

Uncle Billy, that's the plan I am considering.

 

[Mini]

That is a huge difference.



I think that average coverage area plus customer service plus available phones should determine what service....

 

[Texas Transplant]

I had a 'number' of different services, and for me, have found Verizon to have the best coverage. I fished all over the Carolina's and only had one or two places that I went whereby I had any issues at all.



Even participated in a conference call from the middle of Santee Cooper one day.



However, I have not liked how my plan has changed around, at all. Service has been good to very good. Verizon, will do just about what you want with your minutes/service plans, but every time they make an adjustment, it's another new 2 year period.



I'm still paying far more than I think that I should pay - but I really need it for work. So . . . .



I haven't used any other carrier in the past 5 years, so AT&T/Sprint/Cingular (used them all separately) have changed so much - can't really comment on their current service.



Almost all are now standardizing on $99.00/month for unlimited.



Tex

 

[Thomas Mc Innish]

I have ATT(formerly Cingular) and the coverage on the lake is by far the best of any of the guys I fish with. So that is a big plus. Only one real bad area that I have dropped calls in and it is only about a 1/2 mile patch on the highway coming in and out of town. I haven't need much in the way of customer service so I can't speak to that. I don't like the phone selection since ATT took over. If anyone eles has ATT I am looking for a phone recommendation.

 

[TrepMan]

Rich - We also had Tmobile and same problem, great in the metro areas and highways (that is where they built their GSM network towers. I can honestly say (and yes I did work for them for 2 years) that i've had the best service (call quality, coverage but NOT customer service) from Verizon, I even kept them the last 7 years after I went to IBM. Tmobile did have WAY better customer service, billing and such then Verizon, but as I travelled more in the US/Globaly for IBM Verizon was the best US carrier.



Trep

 

[JR F]

Rich. I must say I have ATT Razor and It works In the areas verizon would not..Mine also works In the basement of IU Med center and In the elevators at the court house..Have yet to hear of anyone elses doing this... I really like It..Blackberry doesn't work worth a damm..it really sux....JR

 

[JIM SHINN]

T-Mobile sux for service IMO. When I'm on the water Upper Chesapeake Bay or down south below Ocean City, Md. I don't have any service at all. My buddy has Verizon and he has full service on every body of water we fished together to my no-service which is over 50% of the time while we are on large bodies of water.

 

[Greg Meyer]

we have 14 phones and 4 data devices on verizon. spent 14k with them last year. still, despite that, customer service is almost non-existant... takes forever to get anything major resolved... I have emails and recorded conversations with their employees telling absolute lies... we keep them because in our business coverage is important.



btw... according to jd powers 5 of the ten worst customer service national companies are cell phone companies.