Okay, so here's my deal.
I've had Verizon Wireless forever and have never really been fully impressed or enamored with their service, or at least in terms of what I pay/service provided. But it's never really been an issue or an issue enough to make me seriously think about going through the hassle of looking at other providers.
Now, my contract with Verizon has been up for who knows how long now (a while) and I've been going month-to-month (there's absolutely no difference in billing or anything like that). And I prefer it that way. I like being a "free agent," so to speak, knowing that I do have the option at any time, if I want, of looking at other providers without having to pay Verizon any exit-fee. But like I said, there really hasn't been any issues that made me seriously consider it. Just a nice option to have.
So this morning in my email (and on my phone in a text too) there's a message from Verizon saying that I've passed my monthly allotment of texts and am gonna have to pay more for each text until the next billing cycle kicks in (in like 2 weeks). So I log-in and actually check out my plan. Turns out I'm signed up for a plan that includes unlimited data/email, 450 minutes of talk, and 250 texts per month. In all it costs about $80/month with my somewhat old/outdated Blackberry.
Again not the worst but I've always felt I've never been fully getting my money's worth. Especially since I've never really had any issues going over the 450 minutes, using the data (I think I average like only 7-8 MB a month) or 250 texts. But I guess this month I've had some busy fingers (that's what she said).
So I start talking to a Verizon rep on the interwebs and I'm sure we're all aware of how "helpful" these reps can be. You ask 2 of 'em the same question and you'll get 500 different answers.
Anyway it turns out my plan is pretty outdated and Verizon doesn't even offer it anymore. So, to avoid the extra charges for the next 2 weeks I pretty much ended up switching my options and went from 450 mins/250 texts to unlimited talk/text and went from unlimited data to 500 MB. I'm not worried about the data switch because like I said above I only average 7-8 MB a month, if that even.
Good news, the change of plan is exactly the same price as my old plan (so there is no price increase) and it also keeps me as a month-to-month customer so I'm still a "free agent."
Long story short, for whatever reason this whole deal just has really soured me on Verizon, or enough to the point where I'm gonna actually start looking around at other options and see what else is out there. They really haven't done anything to give me any incentive to stay with them given how old my phone is (BlackBerry, I mean do people still have them?) and my current contract status. I mean, I was actually telling the reps that I was gonna start looking at other carriers and I expected them to be like "Well wait, we can offer you x (newer phone), y (better plan for your needs), and z to stay" but they didn't and the impression I got was "Sure, whatever. Do what you gotta do."
So my question I guess to everyone is, how happy is everyone with their cellphone/talk/text/data plans either with Verizon or any other carrier? Do you feel you're getting your money's worth? Has anyone switched from one carrier to another and if so how much of a hassle was/wasn't it? Were you allowed to keep your current number?
Has anyone tried some of the smaller carriers (though they're still all part of the big-boy carriers) that don't have contracts or anything like that like Virgin or Metro PCS or TMobile and been pleased? Or are most of those seemingly too good to be true? Like I think I saw one where it was just $40/month for unlimited talk/text/data but you really just had to buy the phone so while it would maybe cost more upfront, over the long-term it would be cheaper.
I'm not asking anyone to give me details (how much you pay or anything) unless you want to but I'm just looking to see what else is out there, in terms of cellphone service, and figured I'd ask everyone here.
