OK Westsiders....wife needs a new cell phone. (house, buy)

[firstclassflyer]

We're tired of the poor signal that she's getting from Sprint/Nextel out in our area. We've decided to switch providers (and phone). Wife is a stay at home mom and tends to stay in the area most of the time....so we want strong signal in/near Westcreek. Sprint/Nextel has terrible indoor service. It works fine outdoors/in the car...but once you're inside a building (store/office/mall) it's almost non existent. My Verizon Blackberry seems to work well...but I'm interested in hearing others recommendations.

Any personal experiences (especially Westcreekers) are welcome.

[sapphire]

People may bash 'em, but I don't have any problems at all with Cricket. I pay $42 a month total, and I have unlimited local, long distance, and text, with voice mail and caller ID/call waiting. My bill never changes. I used to be "married" to a cell phone with my other job, and I had T-Mobile--I was fine with them since my company paid for it--but they nickel-and-dimed us to death.

Anyway, I have good coverage everywhere I've been with Cricket.

[rd2007]

Smart man to be leaving sprint and I will as soon as my contract is up. They lost over a million subscribers in the first quarter and are starting to implode.. couldn't happen to a better company either. almost all of their "customer service" people should be sued for fraud.. yeah, I hate them.
I would be interested in finding another carrier as well, even though I have to wait over a year for my latest contract to be up. I definitely will not do at&t though...

[firstclassflyer]

Originally Posted by sapphire

People may bash 'em, but I don't have any problems at all with Cricket. I pay $42 a month total, and I have unlimited local, long distance, and text, with voice mail and caller ID/call waiting. My bill never changes. I used to be "married" to a cell phone with my other job, and I had T-Mobile--I was fine with them since my company paid for it--but they nickel-and-dimed us to death.

Anyway, I have good coverage everywhere I've been with Cricket.

Cricket,huh? Sapph, do you have any phone issues when you are indoors? Like, the mall, HEB etc? We had to file a network ticket with Sprint/Nextel and they finally admitted (after swearing up and down) that their indoor coverage was week, at best, in my area. The CSR's kept looking at the coverage map and telling me that we should have excellent signal!! Reality was quite different. That network ticket came back and I had all the evidence that I needed to waive the cancellation fee and get out from under our contract. It actually stated "indoor coverage weak...almost non existent".

[firstclassflyer]

Originally Posted by rd2007

Smart man to be leaving sprint and I will as soon as my contract is up. They lost over a million subscribers in the first quarter and are starting to implode.. couldn't happen to a better company either. almost all of their "customer service" people should be sued for fraud.. yeah, I hate them.
I would be interested in finding another carrier as well, even though I have to wait over a year for my latest contract to be up. I definitely will not do at&t though...

Rd- You CAN get out of your contract without penalty...check out my post above. I had 15 months left on my contract.

[rd2007]

holy crap, please do tell me more about this and I'll be right on it. I so want to get out of my contract. They definitely suck in my house and I think you live on the same street as me.
this is making my day even more than the front row parking spot I got thanks

[dangeruscurves]

Originally Posted by firstclassflyer

Rd- You CAN get out of your contract without penalty...check out my post above. I had 15 months left on my contract.

I've been trying to get away from Sprint, but I don't have weak coverage. I just get screwed payment wise.

[firstclassflyer]

Originally Posted by rd2007

holy crap, please do tell me more about this and I'll be right on it. I so want to get out of my contract. They definitely suck in my house and I think you live on the same street as me.
this is making my day even more than the front row parking spot I got thanks

Tell them that you want to open a network problem ticket...and that your signal is terrible (especially indoors) ...calls go right to voice mail etc...it will take a few days for the ticket to be acted upon..but they will call you back. Once you have that evidence that the signal is poor indoors....you escalate to a Supervisor in account services....they will waive your cancellation fee.

[scuba steve]

Get a GSM carrier, ebay the free phone that comes with, and buy an unlocked quad-band phone online. Phones from overseas are so much better than what we have in the US.

[sapphire]

Originally Posted by firstclassflyer

Cricket,huh? Sapph, do you have any phone issues when you are indoors? Like, the mall, HEB etc? We had to file a network ticket with Sprint/Nextel and they finally admitted (after swearing up and down) that their indoor coverage was week, at best, in my area. The CSR's kept looking at the coverage map and telling me that we should have excellent signal!! Reality was quite different. That network ticket came back and I had all the evidence that I needed to waive the cancellation fee and get out from under our contract. It actually stated "indoor coverage weak...almost non existent".

The one and only place I have an issue is at work (where I shouldn't be on the cell phone anyway. ) Everybody's phone does, though, not just mine . And it's really only at my desk....everywhere else is fine.

I just like the fact that my bill is totally consistent.