topic Re: Anyone use Consumer Cellular? Opinion? in Electronics

Anyone use Consumer Cellular? Opinion?

mewsmomtoo — Mon, 02 Jun 2014 21:00:39 GMT

I want to get my first smart phone. I don't phone or text a lot (less than 300 min phone and probably 80-90 texts a month. I know I won't use a lot of data, but not really sure how to calculate how much I would use.

Consumer Cellular has separate plans for phone/text and data. I was looking at the 100MB data plan. Do different apps eat up diff amts of data? I would prob use the phone for finding places (GPS) and for sports apps i.e. what is happening with the team and who won today, and listening to some music.

I have looked at TracPhones and frankly the negative reviews have scared me away because it seems like it is luck of the draw if the phone is going to work for you, CS is dreadful plus I want to keep my phone number and I am on a no-contract phone now and those do not transfer to Tracphone, at least not very successfully from what I have read.

If anyone has an opinion regarding Con. Cell. and/or data use I would love to hear it. Thx!

Re: Anyone use Consumer Cellular? Opinion?

chickenbutt — Mon, 02 Jun 2014 21:19:27 GMT

Is that the one with the older people commercial? If so, I remember looking it up a while back and it was actually ATT. So that was it for me.

Other than that little fact (that they hide very well!), it looked good to me.

Re: Anyone use Consumer Cellular? Opinion?

lovinglife — Mon, 02 Jun 2014 21:41:05 GMT

I have been using Consumer Cellular for a number of years. It is an independent company (a wireless company without a wireless network) with excellent customer service which uses the AT&T network...much like many others use the Verizon network.

In 2014, Consumer Cellular received the highest overall satisfaction rating in the mobile carrier category of Pc Magazine's 27th annual Readers' Choice Awards survey, earning the top designation of Readers’ Choice in the category. Survey findings also highlight that Consumer Cellular customers are more likely to recommend the carrier than customers from any other mobile carrier in the United States.

Re: Anyone use Consumer Cellular? Opinion?

mewsmomtoo — Mon, 02 Jun 2014 21:42:01 GMT

It's not the Jitterbug, but it is directed to old people because we don't usually have the same phone needs as young people. I will have to check the ATT thing. That was also an issue for TracPhone people, the older phones use Verizon in addition to ATT and the new ones use just ATT so people who were able to use the TracPhone with no problem were suddenly having problems when they upgraded their phones. Maybe I should just keep current phone...(sigh). Thanks Chickenbutt - I will check it out.

Re: Anyone use Consumer Cellular? Opinion?

chickenbutt — Mon, 02 Jun 2014 21:44:09 GMT

On 6/2/2014 lovinglife said:
I have been using Consumer Cellular for a number of years. It is an independent company (a wireless company without a wireless network) with excellent customer service which uses the AT&T network...much like many others use the Verizon network.

In 2014, Consumer Cellular received the highest overall satisfaction rating in the mobile carrier category of Pc Magazine's 27th annual Readers' Choice Awards survey, earning the top designation of Readers’ Choice in the category. Survey findings also highlight that Consumer Cellular customers are more likely to recommend the carrier than customers from any other mobile carrier in the United States.

Thanks for that info! Perhaps I wrote them off too quickly. My husband has ATT for his cell phone service and, in this area anyway, they are just awful.

I'm probably considered a dinosaur, but I just use my cell phone as a phone - not for internet (screen too small) and I don't text. So I looked into this as it sounded right up my alley.

Re: Anyone use Consumer Cellular? Opinion?

lovinglife — Mon, 02 Jun 2014 21:45:35 GMT

With consumer cellular you can start out with a plan and if you feel you'll be under or over the plan you can adjust your rate plan as long as it's before the end of the billing cycle. I've done this many times.

Re: Anyone use Consumer Cellular? Opinion?

susan_ca — Mon, 02 Jun 2014 22:07:31 GMT

I liked Consumer Cellular. The only reason why I am no longer with them is I have Virgin plan from the Q here for $35/mo with unlimited texting and unlimited data and 300 minutes. The payment is always $35/mo, not a penny more, not a penny less. With Consumer Cellular, the monthly payment was always somewhere between $37 and $40 per month, never exact amount.

PROs:

Consumer Cellular customer service reprensentatives speak ENGLISH

Consumer Cellular customer service is here in UNITED STATES

Virgin has the same exact dollar amount every month

CONs:

Virgin customer service representatives are always someone by the name of PAUL JOHNSON or JANE SMITH but they don't speak English worth a schitt so you know they're not here in the good o' USA.

Consume Cellular monthly payment is always different amount

Re: Anyone use Consumer Cellular? Opinion?

Kachina624 — Mon, 02 Jun 2014 22:23:57 GMT

I've had a Tracfone for 5 or 6 years and have been very satisfied with it. On the few occasions when I've had to call CS, they've fixed my problem in a completely satisfactory manner. They use both AT&T and Verizon networks. I've never been in a place with no service except in Canada. I've never had a dropped call. It costs me about $7, a month to use it, which I rarely do.

Re: Anyone use Consumer Cellular? Opinion?

PINKdogWOOD — Mon, 02 Jun 2014 22:35:35 GMT

I've had Consumer Cellular since Dec 2012 and really like it. I agree w/everyone here who has it too. You can add on at very reasonable rates. Your rate may fluctuate by mere cents - at least this has been my experience. I don't have a lot of features so my monthly runs about $28.00. I really like having the camera feature that I can send to others.

And yeah for this old person with a pr of glasses in every room CAN see the numbers quite clearly!!!! I like the fact also that's it's a flip phone too.

Oh BTW, Consumer now offers the iphone in the pastel colors I'm imaging at a very fair rate.

I'd for sure check out what CC offers.

Re: Anyone use Consumer Cellular? Opinion?

Nuttmeg — Tue, 03 Jun 2014 03:13:52 GMT

This is a data calculator for a smartphone

http://www.verizonwireless.com/b2c/splash/datacalculatorPopup.jsp

Consumer Cellular is a great company. There are things beyond service like activating a smartphone, and putting in the SIMS card. Who is going to answer the questions you have about your phone?

Here is a link to stores that sell CC. https://www.consumercellular.com/About/StoreLocator

Re: Anyone use Consumer Cellular? Opinion?

mewsmomtoo — Tue, 03 Jun 2014 07:12:51 GMT

Thank you everyone for your information! Pink Dogwood, thanks for review, Susan I thought about Virgin too, but I pay $30.00 a month now and I was hoping to decrease my monthly "bill". Kachina624 I wish I had confidence in TracPhone, but I've just read so many bad things about it. Lovinglife thank you for the PC Magazine info and Nutmeg3 thank you for the data calculator - that was really interesting. I think I am going to need more than the 100MB I was looking at, which sort of brings me back to Virgin or I give up the idea of a smart phone and just get the phone/text plan

Thanks again everyone!

Re: Anyone use Consumer Cellular? Opinion?

okBlonde — Tue, 03 Jun 2014 21:06:07 GMT

I hate their dumb garage sale commercial so I wrote them off....seriously. Like people would really act like that at a garage sale....those ""people"" were acting like multi-level marketing people.

Re: Anyone use Consumer Cellular? Opinion?

colleena — Fri, 06 Jun 2014 23:53:21 GMT

Make sure to check if you can get 911 w/them as there are concerns with that here.