FINALLY getting rid of my stupid cell phone.

The BBQ Pit
1

Ao, we got one of those “virgin mobile” phones.

We’re not going to activate it until the end of the month, but it cost $35 and we expect to pay about $7 a month to use it.

I can’t tell you how much i fucking HATE our fucking cell phone. It’s not like $40 a month is a huge expense, but it’s just like flushing money down the god damn toilet. I need to pay $40 a month for the $5 per month that I actually need it. Some months go by, I don’t talk on it for ONE MINUTE.

And, whatever stupid plan we signed up for in the first place had us locked in through October. And we signed up for that one because the ones that let you get out of your agreement sooner charge you a premium for the privilege. There oughta be a fucking law.

So, I got the phone on line, but I originally went into Radio Shack to see what they had.

I told the girl, “yeah, I’m trying to pick a plan. We use about 400 minutes a year.”

She goes, “you mean a month?”

“No, a year.”

We ended up not getting it there. I went in for the third time last week and the little shelves for the information pamphlets for Virgin and TracFone were empty. I said, “do you have any of the information for the Virgin or TracFone?”

She walks over and looks at the shelves and she goes, “no, sorry, usually we have the pamphlets out.”

I tried not to be rude, but I couldn’t stop from saying, “No, usually you don’t because this is the third time I’ve been in here in the last month and you haven’t had them at any time.”

She tried to sell me on the Verizon and Cingular pay as you go, but with both of those, YOU STILL NEED TO PAY LIKE $30 A MONTH and THEN pay as you go, so it’s going to be $40 a month anyway. Re-fucking-tarded.

There isn’t a month that goes by that I don’t think, “I fucking hate you cell phone.” I hate the bastards who sold it to us. I hate paying for it. I hate level 5 on push-push. I hate the way they got you over a barrel like no other subscription service. I hate it’s stupid ring.

I can’t wait to call those fuckers up and tell 'em, “cancel my fucking service, fuckers.”

2

I agree. Cell phones are nice to have once in a while when you’re out somewhere and need to get in touch with someone, but ALL the plans are such a royal ripoff.

3

I think this is better suited for the Pit. (And for $40 a month, I’ll move it there for you.)

4

No kidding. I have Verizon’s prepaid service, but it’s the real prepaid service, not the crap they offer now. That just sucks moosecock.

I think that T-Mobile offers a straight up prepaid plan, like Trac and Virgin.

5

We just recently got out of our Verizon contract. We were paying $75 per month for 2 phones and we used them as our primary phone numbers. Then in April, we moved to a “dead area”. As soon as I drive in my driveway, the calls get dropped. So we were paying about $75 per month for 2 phones we NEVER USE.

Normally, to get out of the contract, it’s $175 per fucking phone!! But they looked us up on a map and said, “Yep you’re in a dead area, so we’ll waive the termination fee.” I was dumbfounded. I thought sure there would be a lot more of a hassle than that.

I picked up a Virgin Mobile phone this weekend with a $30 card. And since we only need to put more money on it every 90 days, I’m happy with that.

Now if I can only get the a ringtone that doesn’t have “techno” or “krunk” in the title, I’ll be even happier. I’m 35, not 15. I don’t do “krunk” (whateverthehell that is).

6

I got a Virgin phone too, almost 6 months ago.

Been real happy with it, even though I think $7 a month is a little pricey. -(and I think if I don’t use it I lose it–never really checked)-----but-------best you can do. My second 3 months is almost up and I still have about $15 left on my second $20 card.

Only got a cell phone because there were maybe 10 times a year when I really needed one.

Late for a get together and on the road, want to call and tell them…and try and find a pay phone that actually works. And then use a phone card that works easily. Can easily blow a half hour just to tell somebody you planned to tell them you’d be a little late for dinner, but now you will be REAL late.

Car broke down on the road miles from anywhere. With choices being walk or talk----I would rather talk.

Usual although super infrequent need to call 911-----nice to know you could do that in seconds if necessary.

I think cell phones are way overused-------see so many people with cell phones glued to their ears. What the hell could they be talking about so much? Couldn’t be anything very important. Just a bad habit I guess.

7

Oh, and I did actually buy my Virgin phone from Radio Shack for $39. Seems to work very well. But found out later that I could have gotten the same exact phone for $3 cheaper off the Internet, directly from Virgin.

Oh well------didn’t mind the $3 very much. The people at Radio Shack were very nice and patient to a newbie Cell Phone purchaser who didn’t know squat about cell phones.

8

And this thread illustrates exactly why I wish I hadn’t gone in with a friend on that cell plan (Don’t ask, but I’ll just say that it was a better deal for her than for me).

I want to scream every time the bill comes in. Originally I thought it would be about $20 a month, but I didn’t realise the extra fees there were. For the first three months I got all extras free–bill was $32. Then it jumped to $42–the extra fees kicked in. Finally figured out what it was that had caused the jump, and got voice mail and text messages removed from the plan. Back to $32 for a month due to the change.

Then it jumps back to $40. Huh? It should really only be $36, and I’m not sure why it tends to be higher. Unfortunately my friend always forgets to bring the bill when I come to pay her, so I never could figure it out (though over the summer I was probably going over my minutes, it was my only phone). Occasionally it’s down where it should be though.

This month it was $40 again. I finally got fed up and told my friend I wasn’t going to pay her until I got to see the bill. We met again, she brought the bill and…it didn’t list my calls. Funny, it did when I first got the phone. So anyways, I asked her to find out why they weren’t being listed.

I am so gonna ditch this phone when the contract is up (in another 1.5 years :smack: ) I barely use it right now–half the time it isn’t even with me.

Did I mention that they’ll also occasionally send me a text ad? sighs

9

Good move Trunk.

We got a Virgin phone a while back and have been perfectly happy with it. Of course, we didn’t have a cellphone at all before that, but we wanted to avoid precisely the sort of thing that you’re talking about—paying 40 bucks a month for something you never use.

We got it for two main reasons. First, so my wife can have it if she’s out by herself, especially at night, in case she gets stuck somewhere. Second, so that if one or both of us goes out of town for any sort of extended period, we have a contact number that we can give people.

When we’re here at home, and just doing stuff around Baltimore, it usually just sits in the drawer. The phone itself works fine, and we’re very happy we wednt with a pay-as-you-go system.

10

I wish I could get rid of my land line and just use my cell phone. Unfortunately my apartment complex uses my land line to allow access from the call box.

11

Last time I was in my local mall - just a small mall, nothing fancy - I counted THIRTEEN cell phone stores. Each major provider had two or three separate retailers. Thirteen stores in one mall. Clearly, this is a highly lucrative business. The profit margins on cell phone services must be astronomical. And guess where all those piles of money are coming from?

12

Just thought I woudl point this out…you don’t need a calling plan in order to call 911 from a cell phone. Any cell network in the area capable of receiving your signal MUST CARRY the 911 call. It’s part of one of those extra fees that everyone else pays on their bill. An unactivated phone can still dial 911 and get emergency services.

13

I have a Virgin Mobile phone, the K7 Rave model, my ringtone is Fur Elise. :smiley:

My fiance has a Sprint plan, like 500 minutes a month with free nights and weekends, but he uses his cell fairly frequently (business, band stuff, friends, etc.).

I, however, loathe talking on the phone. I don’t even answer our home phone anymore. I let the machine get it, and only pick up if it’s someone I need or want to talk to. Months can go by with my fiance being the only person I’ve talked to on the phone in that whole time.

Obviously, paying the extra money every month for me to have a 2nd phone on his plan would be a complete waste. I only ever use the thing to call my fiance from work. I work nights however, so my sweetie is more comfortable with me having a way to get hold of him if I’m running late, or need a ride home, etc.

So, I got me a Virgin Mobile phone. I love it, even though I hardly ever use it (hell, I rarely even turn it on, unless I need to make a call). I have yet to even use the entire minimum of 20 dollars every 3 months you have to put on the thing, but it’s there if I need it, for the cheapest possible rates.

(By the way, the minutes DO roll over, I currently have about 55 dollars worth on my phone, and I only ever put the minimum 20 bucks every 3 months on it)

14

I live in an apt. building with a call box as well and it rings right to my cell phone, no problem.

15

You should have e-mailed me and I’d have told you about TMO2GO. MUCH cheaper for you.

16

Check on this. I think the required defining feature is that it is a local number. If your cell phone area code is local, it might be fine. I don’t do this myself, since my cell phone number is still based in Florida.

I use T-Mobile prepaid and I don’t have to spend a lot to keep it going. I think my purchase of a $25 airtime card kept it open for 365 days. That amount can last me a few months sometimes.

17

In Australia at the moment the default option almosts seems to be prepaid but genuine pay as you go. You get a phone, with a number and a SIM card with $X loaded calls which you use at your leisure…no other costs. The guy who runs the shop across the road from me tells me all the local university students have prepaid SIM cards with 4 or 5 companies and use whichever is cheapest for a particular call.

18

This looks suspiciously like you have been subscribed to recieve ‘information of interest’
Especially when you added the following

There are plenty of scams around like this, take a little bit from lots of accounts and most folks don’t notice, and since these are not calls as such but rather are services, they do not always appear among your calls, perhaps your friend has unwittingly subscribed your phone along with theirs to some service.

Me, I’d be out of this contract like a shot, there might be a penalty fee of $150 or so, but thats still a lot less than 18 months of $40 per month.