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We have AT & T for our family (I have verizon because AT&T was dropping 50% of my calls). The plan is supposed to be a big charge for the main pphone and then $10 a month for each additional phone. However the $10 a month is a lie. They have all kinds of fees and surcharges and it comes out more like $28 a month.
Then we added texting and some of the phones have data (but it appears they are charging data to all of the phones even though they do not use it). Now we are up to around $45 per month for the add on phones and something like $200 a month for the base account. That seems insane to me. Does anyone know of more reasonable family plans that include at least 3000 minutes of calling, unlimited texting and maybe 3-5 gig of data useage? We would prefer a plan where they tell you the real charge rather than lying about it and surprising you with the first bill.
It seems like they just tell you anything and then charge you something difference. The contract just says $10 plus "surcharges" and when we added texting and then data there was no contract, we just called and said we wanted it. I am not sure how you can sort out what the actual cost will be unless you sign up for different carriers and see what their charges are. We even asked them up front what the total charges woudl be and they lied (they said around $12.50 per phone). The unlimited texting was supposedly $5 a month more fo rthe entire account (Not mentioned: "for a limited time only").
We cannot switch for a while, ebcause we recently upgraded most of the phones and it would cost about $1000 to cancel, however I hope to find a better plan as soon as it becomes practical.
I am hoping that someone has already gone through this and checked out hte various plans and we can benefit from your experience. I am also hoping someone has some method of sorting out the lies form the actual charges.
You seem to be thinking about the old shared plans with Verizon. Try checking the new "Share Everything" plans. Airtime and text are unlimited and data is added to the account for a fee and shared among all active lines (including smartphones, feature phones, iPads, etc.)
Verizon has not offered a $5 unlimited text that was shared in the older shared plans since I signed up with them in 2007. Verizon did offer a $5 for 200 text messages per line up until about a year or so ago. I was a prior CS rep for At&t from 2001-2007 and they never offered a shared $5 unlimited text feature on the Family Talk plan while I worked for them.
I have Verizon, and am paying almost $200 a month for three phones. Only one has a data plan. So...thinking about making the switch. I called Verizon a few months ago, to cancel my contract, because I was paying over $200 a month...and they switched my plan. Not too much of a savings though.
you'll just have to look on the at&t website and see what the 'share everything' plan gets it down to. Log into your acct and select "change rate plan". You can play with the options to see what it comes down to.
i only have two phones on the att account (also have another verizon acct), and it seems like i was paying $10/mo for the extra line, $30/mo per line for data, and maybe another $30/mo for unlimited text.
the 'share everything' is unlimited minutes and text, a shared data limit, and $10/mo per extra line. I believe it can go up to $20/mo per line if you choose a lower data limit plan.
with all the extra fees, etc. . ., my plan with two smartphones and 4GB of shared data is $187/mo. Before i switched to the 'share everything' plan it was $235/mo.
12-05-2012, 09:06 AM
i7pXFLbhE3gq
n/a posts
Quote:
you'll just have to look on the at&t website and see what the 'share everything' plan gets it down to. Log into your acct and select "change rate plan". You can play with the options to see what it comes down to.
This.
Check out the Verizon site too.
Figure out what you want (which should be easy with the new plans) and see how much it costs. They don't just charge whatever they want. They charge whatever you sign up for and agree to pay. Taxes and fees are going to be basically the same with any carrier.
you'll just have to look on the at&t website and see what the 'share everything' plan gets it down to. Log into your acct and select "change rate plan". You can play with the options to see what it comes down to.
i only have two phones on the att account (also have another verizon acct), and it seems like i was paying $10/mo for the extra line, $30/mo per line for data, and maybe another $30/mo for unlimited text.
the 'share everything' is unlimited minutes and text, a shared data limit, and $10/mo per extra line. I believe it can go up to $20/mo per line if you choose a lower data limit plan.
with all the extra fees, etc. . ., my plan with two smartphones and 4GB of shared data is $187/mo. Before i switched to the 'share everything' plan it was $235/mo.
That is what we have, but the $10 a month for added phones is bait and switch BS. Sure there is a $10 charge on there, but the total is $45 a month. That is why I want to change.
We have 5 or 6 phones on AT & T I think two have data, but they seem to be charging all of them for Data. The bills make no sense whatsoever.
I have Verizon for my phone. It was $265 a month for the phone and the 4g antennae thingy for my computer. They made some changes and now it is $140 for both. I had to give up unlimited data, which iI was loathe to do because you cannot get it back, but the most I ever used was 2.5 gig. Now I do not need the antennae thingy because the smart phones can be used as hot spots at the same time you make/take calls, but it would cost more to cancel it than to just pay out the rest of the contract. When that expires, I can cut another $20 off my bill.
I was hoping someone else had just gone thought this so I could be lazy and piggy back of what they learned. However it looks like we will have to make up a set of options, take the different combinations of options to each carrier and see what their best price is. Of course some will have better pricing but not be able to provide all of the options. Then it will get messy to compare. I hate this process, especially since the phone stores leave you waiting for twenty minutes before they talk to you and then they take 5 minute interruptions constantly.
I am still hoping someone else has done this already.
12-05-2012, 08:20 PM
i7pXFLbhE3gq
n/a posts
Hop online and figure out what you want. There's absolutely no reason to waste your time at a store when you could get better information instantly online, without the pushy salesperson.
Quote:
That is what we have, but the $10 a month for added phones is bait and switch BS. Sure there is a $10 charge on there, but the total is $45 a month.
It is not "bait and switch BS." You signed up for a bunch of services that cost extra money. If you don't want to pay the extra money, don't sign up for the extra services.
It is not "bait and switch BS." You signed up for a bunch of services that cost extra money. If you don't want to pay the extra money, don't sign up for the extra services.
Have to agree with you. Fees and taxes are applied on all lines of service, it's not just $10 for additional lines. Never sold that way and it is fully disclosed.
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