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Home > Got Some Sun + Cell Phone Grumblings

Got Some Sun + Cell Phone Grumblings

April 1st, 2013 at 03:15 pm

**Easter was really nice.

IT's been very sunny here actually. Our gas bill was about 50% of what it was last year. We turned off the heat in later February, I believe. I guess that is official that it's more mild than last year. BUT, it was a very stormy weekend. In the end it turns out it worked out for the best to be out of town. Usually our weather is pretty similar to San Jose (we get the same storms anyway). But yesterday Sacramento was more crazy T-storms and even a funnel cloud spotted. We were 100 miles south enjoying beautiful sunny weather. If we knew it would have been so nice, MIL would have cleaned up the pool. Easter is usually a pool party, but every few years we get a storm. So anyway, the storm never materialized down there. I was so relieved to *enjoy* the sun, as I have been working too much to really enjoy the nice weather. The drive home was okay as we waited out the storms. We did pass through an area with a funnel cloud warning. I Was reading all the weather reports on the drive home. So, was happy to get home. Lots of WANRING: DANGER kind of stuff. Wind and floods and dangerous lightning. In the end we didn't see any hail and only drove through a few minutes of heavy rain. Phew! I Was expecting more of a show, but we really didn't see much lightning.

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**I am not sure what has changed from before to now, but dh has been really unhappy with Sprint. Maybe he always has and was getting more frustrated. He called to complain a couple of weeks ago, and they said they wanted to make sure they tried this and that before starting to talk about discounting our bill. Well, they called him back a few days later - actually left him a message while we were at our *final* vet appointment. So, he didn't want to deal with it right then and never called them back to complain whatever they did wasn't helping.

So on the drive down he was griping about it. While in San Jose I talked to my dad about it and he had a long list of complaints too (We share a phone plan - and they both have the same phone).

So on the drive home I told dh he should talk to my dad about it before he calls back. Make sure to report his complaints too. While we were talking about it he handed me his phone to do some speed tests. I Was getting 100 mbps in several spots (even one mile from our home which is basically the middle of a giant city, incidentally where dh spends most his time and got the *worst* readings). 100 mbps download, when they advertise a minimum of 1,000. OF course dh was peeved as the entire drive home I kept picking up, 200, 300, 500, 800. 100 was just the nail in the coffin. I got *one* reading of 1,000+ on a 100-mile drive.

In addition, dh is really peeved with their 4G advertising. We get 4G in the dinkiest towns, and that is it. He didn't necessarily expect it in Sacramento, but is realizing if they can't pull it off anywhere in the Bay Area, that they probably don't have the infrastructure. (That would be a logical place to start - where are the techies and reviewers are). So he did expect to enjoy in the Bay Area by now, as they of course told us "4G is being rolled out" when we signed up a year ago. We regularly get 4G in the car when driving past cow pastures. But that is it. !! Needless to say, their advertising was misleading.

So dh will work on getting some kind of action, help or discount. In the meantime, T-Mobile is rolling out an interesting plan where they are offering "no contract/unsubsidized phone" plans. & what they will do is add $20/month to your bill until your phone is paid off. (Or you can just buy a non-contract phone, probably elsewhere).

So, dh is going to talk seriously to Sprint about the cost to get out of our contract. & will be re-visiting Ting and other options. I think T-mobile won't be any better speed-wise. But, basically, we are at, "I ain't paying a gazillion dollars for this $%&^ if it doesn't work as advertised. T-mobile can give us the same crappy service for $50 less per month."

So we have some serious research and number crunching to do. We may be stuck with Sprint several more months due to the contract. IT was never our intention to stick with them for the long run. We still believe in other options and more cell phone competition, and are waiting for some of the other services to mature. But, I suppose there was an element of being willing to pay a little more for high expectations. Likewise, we had no baseline of what our data or text usage would be and now that we have that information we can start making some better informed decisions. Overall, the industry is still ridiculously priced for what it is. Time to Seriously Consider Plan B.

6 Responses to “Got Some Sun + Cell Phone Grumblings”

  1. FrugalTexan75 Says:
    1364836317

    I've looked at T-Mobile's plans too. I haven't switched over yet though, because I'm just not sure of the coverage. TING would be good too - but for you guys if Sprint isn't giving you good coverage, then it wouldn't improve that aspect - just the cost aspect.

  2. scfr Says:
    1364869148

    Clark Howard talks about using & loving Straight Talk.

    www.StraightTalk.com

  3. MonkeyMama Says:
    1364912199

    @FT - Ting is the front runner, for sure. Since I don't think we can justify the cost of what dh wants (Verizon). Or we may split off from each other - he can stay on Verizon with my dad to help the cost. I really appreciate all the reviews everyone has done with Ting on here so am really pushing that to him (plus telling him about referral codes). Might as well take a huge cost cut if it will be the same service anyway.

    Anyway, it looks like all carriers have lowered their priced in the past year, so that is a good sign. He is using Ting as a leverage to complain to Sprint and seriously threaten to leave. We are hoping they lower our bill for the duration of our contract. Will see...

  4. Looking Forward Says:
    1364938605

    As you know I have Ting (thanks to your post!) and it uses Sprint's network, but I am getting 4G in most areas around here. I wonder if the phone is more of the problem? I have the Sam.G3 and my DH has Iphn (w/Sprint) and I usually have better service so I chalk that up to the phone because what else could it be??

  5. Looking Forward Says:
    1364994182

    ps. Did you see the first episode of season 3 GoT on Sunday?

  6. MonkeyMama Says:
    1364997498

    Yes. Big Grin Actually, I fell asleep in the middle - LOL. I have to go back and watch the middle again.

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