T-Mobile and Verizon, phones & plan costs. Help with a personal decision

In My Humble Opinion
1

We switched to Verizon from T-Mobile last weekend. The main reason was that Verizon gives my SO a 19% corporate discount, and I didn’t really like any of the T-Mobile phones except the Nexus 1. I had wanted a data plan, too, and Verizon’s 3G coverage is the best.

We got the cheapest shared plan: 700 shared minutes at $69, with the corporate discount it came out to $56. We added two data plans - a $10 limited, and a $30 unlimited. So we expected a bill in the $96 range, plus fees and taxes. Our T-Mobile plan, which we had for 7 years, was $49/mo.; with taxes it was $56/mo. total.

I chose a Blackberry Storm 2, which I returned after 3 days. The browsing was too slow and page rendering, especially on message boards, was awful. I got a Motorola Droid instead. Love it! It’s an ugly phone, but it is user friendly and the features are wonderful.

Then we got our first Verizon bill. OMG! The extra fees they added on plus taxes came out to $21! What we thought was going to be a phone bill around $96 plus taxes/fee charges, came out to $143. The activation fee was waived, and we bought our phones separately, so this charge was for services only. We called Verizon and the person on the phone could not adequately explain why our taxes and fees nearly quadrupled, even though the bill was only approximately double the cost of our T-Mobile plan. The 19% discount hadn’t been applied, either. So Verizon takes much more money out each month to be put into the pool (not taxes, the Verizon fee pool), it seems. She said she’d take $20 off for two months, whoop dee do.

Fortunately we can cancel it all, return the phones, and go back to T-Mobile and keep our old cheap plan. The bad part is, I’d have to give up the Droid, and T-Mobile’s 3G coverage is pathetic. The T-Mobile MyTouch is OK, but if I can I’d like to get the Nexus 1. The only way I’d get a Nexus 1 is if we qualify for one; $529 is too steep otherwise.

I just don’t know what to decide. Verizon: Nice phone, better coverage, astronomical bill. T-Mobile: Cheaper bill, not as nice phone, bad coverage.

I guess why I’m making this a poll is to get Verizon users experience. Do you notice the fees and such are high? Is it worth paying more for the Motorola Droid? Is the Verizon customer service as bad as I’ve heard? T-Mobile has always been easy to deal with for us.

Thanks!

2

we recently had this debate as well when it came time for me to upgrade my phone. We have been with T-Mobile for years, and they have consistently offered us great customer service, affordable plans, and decent coverage. On the other hand Verizon had a better selection of phones, a bertter coverage network, but also had much higher rates, and from chatting with others who had Verizon, their customer service left something to be desired.

We ended up committing to another 2 years with T Mobile, going with the BB 9700 (Bold), which I love. My opinion is stick with T Mobile, save yourself the money in the short term to purchase a better phone when one is available down the road.

3

No idea about Verizon, but I am a T-Mobile customer. We recently upgraded our phones to the myTouches, and I’m really happy with mine. I live in urban Mpls, and I’ve never noticed places where I can’t get network access - if the phone can’t get 3G coverage, you can have it scan for Edge or 2G networks, which work (even if they are slower). It can eat your battery, though. And yeah, there’s nothing in the boonies - my parents live in rural western Wisconsin and it’s pretty much a crapshoot whether we’ll get a signal, much less data coverage.

Our plan sounds similar to your old one: we share 1000 minutes for $49, I think. With the data plans for two phones ($20 each), and a discount from AAA, our bill comes out to $100ish. (I think the AAA discount is 10% anyway; could be 13%. I forget.)

If I were you, I’d stick with T-Mobile. I’ve never had a problem with them, and the few times I have needed to call for help, the service has been great. We’re happy with them as our carrier.

4

Oh! And how long did you have your old phone? We were able to upgrade for $150, I think. However, I think the myTouch with plan is cheaper than that, though you might have to change your plan. It might be worth sweet talking the store guy, though.

5

Why not go back to T-Mobile and buy the Nexus 1. I know you said it was too expensive, but the price is about the premium you’d pay for 6 months of Verizon. Either way, in the long term, you always work out better splurging on a phone with a cheaper plan.

6

Thanks for the advice! We decided to stick with T-Mobile. When we returned the phones, one of the sales persons said the high Verizon fees are the main reason they hear when people cancel and return the phones. So my experience wasn’t uncommon - Verizon does take more in fees.

Haha - I live in western Wisconsin! Fortunately, I’m close enough to I94 that I’ve had no problem with the voice signal; I’ll have to see about the 3G. You have a much better plan than us, if you’re splitting 1000 minutes for $49. We have 400 shared, and my data plan will be $25.

I’ve had my old phone since 2008. Both the T-mobile phone guy and the T-mobile store guy told us $149 for the MyTouch. The MyTouch without the headphone jack (?? why?) is no longer in stock, but it was only $99.

I went to a T-Mobile store today to play with phones, and I actually liked the Motorola Cliq better than the MyTouch. I like a physical keyboard and maybe it was the Swype thing, but I couldn’t get one word to spell correctly on the MyTouch’s keypad. The Nexus One is cool, but I think I’ll be happy with the Cliq, even if it is a bit heavy on the social networking apps.

Thanks for all the advice. Sometimes it just helps to write it all out. I know I don’t have tyo post it, but getting others opinions helps. :slight_smile: