Recently, my Nokia cellphone died, the battery won’t hold a charge and the phone won’t accept a new battery; several salespeople have tried. It’s a pretty old phone, a 5165 model that nevertheless served my needs. My service was with AT&T Wireless which turned into Cingular. I had 30 minutes a month at approximately $16.00 a month. I received a letter from Cingular stating that service for analog models would stop in February 2008, because the technology is just so old.
All I want is to get a phone that will work with my service plan at present; when needed I’ll get a pay as you go plan because I don’t use the phone a whole lot; but when I need it, I want it right then. Cingular said in the letter these phones are no longer manufactured, does this mean that they wouldn’t have a couple stashed somewhere so that I can finish out my current plan? All they want to do is sell me a cell phone that takes pictures, plays songs and costs beaucoup bucks, coupled with a calling plan that costs at least $40.00 a month.
All you cellphone Dopers, I want your opinions on what to do next. Would it be a good idea to buy a similar phone on Ebay, contact Cingular and have them do their hocus pocus to make the phone work on my current plan? Should I just bite the bullet and switch to a pay as you go plan now? Please bear in mind I’m not a techogeek and don’t want a phone full of bells and whistles or a overly generous calling plan–I rarely go over 15 minutes a month if that. Thanks for any assistance you all can provide.
The bad news is that it is unlikely that they have a cellphone like yours stashed away somewhere. And bells and whistles (and cameras) are so inexpensive to put on cell phones that the general approach is to ignore functions that you don’t need rather than use them. (Seriously, good luck finding a phone without bells and whistles).
I’d worry that a cell phone from e-bay which works with your service plan would drop dead soon–leaving you no better off than you are now. [I am not knowledgable enough about cell phones or e-Bay to know how likely this is].
If I were you, I’d probably bite the bullet and switch to the pay as you go plan now-- but that’s in part because I think it’s the choice with the fewest hassles, not because it’s neccessarily the best choice overall for you.
Analog phones will be supported until 2008, but until then coverage and features will keep getting worse and worse. If you’re holding onto a phone for emergency purposes, then you’ll want one that will be able to make calls when you need to make them.
And honestly, the world of cell phones is SO much different than it was last time you bought a phone. I know your plan seems inexpensive, but you’re paying .50/minute to use your phone. Virgin Mobile is .10/minute, prepaid, but there are minimums as to how much you have to buy at once and minutes do expire. You can pick up a phone at WalMart and keep your number, assuming you’re out of contract (which I imagine you are).
I’m start using your cell phone more. Eventually you may want to abandon your home phone for the convenience and cost savings… my parents (who swore they never would do that) did that.
This is exactly what Mr. S and I did about 2 years ago when his phone died. US Cellular said our only option was to upgrade to fancier phones (and since we had a shared plan, it would have to be BOTH phones) and a plan with even more minutes that we wouldn’t come close to using up (and of course more expensive to boot). We said “fuck that” and switched to Tracfones. Much cheaper and the phones have very few bells and whistles, just what we like. Better service and reception too. The first time Mr. S called me on his Tracfone, I thought he was on a landline; the old phones had been all hissy/crackly by comparison.
you could always try to find a new (used) phone at a pawn shop… just pop your sim card out of the old phone & into the new phone, you are good to go - unless you need to get the new phone unlocked; which can be done for $20 or less, all over the place. well, at least that’s how it works in the centre of the universe.
i’ve upgraded / replaced phones several times this way. if you keep your sim card, you keep your plan. the phone in which the sim card sits most always makes no difference.
When I lost my verizon phone earlier this year in March, I ordered a new one, but it wouldn’t arrive for several days. I still had an older model phone (tri-mode, just like the one I lost), but they said they could not activate it for me because it didn’t have the e911 stuff built in. It’s unlikely that you’ll convince Cingular to activate a phone on a plan they wish to discontinue. Id look into what it owuld cost you to cancel it, and then just go with pay as you go phones.
The big problem with PAYG phones is that if you suddenly need to make a long call, you can get cut off because you’ve run out of minutes.
And the bells and whistles - in particular the camera and Bluetooth- can be very useful. The camera is useful for when you have a prang. You can take pictures of the accident straight away. And Bluetooth allows you to use hands-free kits and GPS kits.
Yeah, this is the problem with getting another phone. Don’t you hate it when you finally start using new technology and you’re dragged kicking and screaming into something else you’re not comfortable with? :dubious:
Pay as you go with Tracphone seems to be the best option, but some cell phone companies really DO have phones that are just phones. I have one. I HAD a fancy camera phone that died on me (I had had it for nearly two years, though), and I got a very basic phone that makes calls and text messages. That’s all it does, and I’m quite happy with it.
Well, no, wait. There is a game that’s similar to Space Invaders, but with better graphics, and a bad snowboarding game. But that really is it.
It depends on the company you go with. I use Sprint (obviously not what you’re looking for), and the guys at the store worked with me when I said “I just want something cheap that makes phone calls and texts.” The cool thing with most cell providers is that if you go in and get their cheapest phone, you’ll get it for free (or almost free) when you sign up with them.
Another option is to look into something like Cricket (which they don’t have in your area, but if you’re interested in what I’m talking about it’s at www.mycricket.com) which is essentially like a landline - you get unlimited minutes a month for a low monthly payment. The downside is that you can’t make phone calls outside of your coverage area, which is great if you don’t leave the area a lot, and crappy if you travel a lot (as I do). There are a lot of copycat companies that cover a lot of localities - I’d check around.
It sounds as though the OP’er really needs it so infrequently, but of course needs to have one on hand for emergencies and a few moments per month.
I’d go to eBay, purchase a used phone and accessories that is a moderl digital phone. You need it in an emergency? Then make sure you won’t be denied because you have an older analog phone. Because of the shift in technology, holding on to this particular older technology will leave you out in the cold-possibly literally so.
I do not know about other carriers’ policies, but Verizon always accepts a used phone in terms of a customer calling or walking in and saying, " I want to turn off my current phone and have this one activated." They don’t ask where you got it. They do run a thorough search on the unit using the stored cel # on it, as well as the Hex Code on the back, to insure that it is not stolen.
I have not bought a brand new phone from Verizon in something like 3 years. And, I do not plan to ever buy one from them again.
Make sure that you keep the broken phone so that you can stage a dramatic flame-out. Appear to be having a heated argument with someone and then after screaming abuse at “the person on the other end”, throw the phone against a wall smashing it to pieces and just walk away. It will give any witnesses something to talk about at coffee break.
I saw a guy in a casino coffee shop do this, except that it was his working phone, and he stomped on it (repeatedly) because he was sick of his wife calling him repeatedly. It was a nice phone, too.