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https://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile...for-consumers/
My opinion is this is going to raise costs for everyone. They are narrowing the competition. After the merger only T-Mobile, Verizon, and ATT will remain. They can collude together to give us a shittier product for more money. If they all are similar, we as consumers won’t really have any options.
there's a million mvno's on those networks so unless they limit access to the resellers, prices are going to be stable. Where we will see cost improvements is with in home broadband. You won't need the cable company to get 500mb speeds so those costs will go down.
I think T-Mobile has a 3 year or 5 year price lock as part of the deal.Quote:
Originally Posted by jsearles22
Have to change thinking, because cell is about to become a legit home internet competitor, which shakes everything up.
They have tried to keep prices up by adding all these “freebies” but prices will trend flat as they have tons of extra bandwidth.
Im not an expert on this, but here is my thinking- I call them now the "Big 3" and I figured they are watch and mirror each other and then prices and services would become more competitive and lean in favor of the customers. My only concern is that Ive read that T-Mobile and Sprint customer service are foreign based. If the Big 3 can just simplify and smooth things out, I would figure it would have a positive outcome.
Another note for me- I have Sprint and their rural Nevada coverage is mid-level to not so good. I was hoping the rural Nevada coverage would get better now with T-Mobile.
Customer service for both is beyond garbage.
T-Mobile treats the customer like shit and has no respect for them.
Sprint has outsourced it all to the Philippines and nobody knows what the fuck they're doing.
A merger can only make this worse.
Why are you calling customer service for a cell phone carrier anyways? I have had Mint mobile for the past 2 years and have had to interact with their CS 1 time.
Not sure if I've ever mentioned it but I don't have a cell phone so I don't give a shit.
You don't know about Druff yet?Quote:
Originally Posted by gauchojake
Really? Weren’t you away for months at a time working? How did you talk to your family?Quote:
Originally Posted by Hockey Guy
I don't know much about Mint, but you've run well if you haven't had to call customer service in 2 years.Quote:
Originally Posted by gauchojake
Among the many reasons to have to call:
- Billing errors
- Equipment upgrades at a discount
- Changes to a cheaper/better plan
T-Mobile and Southwest Airlines have a lot in common with their customer service model. It's what I call "fake customer friendly". Their standard policies seem to be generous, but they will make zero exceptions to anything, and they completely lack critical thinking skills. Thus, if you're getting screwed by something nonstandard that happens, they will tell you to go sit on a big black penis and spin.
Druff do I recall your experience with T-Mobile was 10-15 years ago or so? Not sure it’s fair to paint a company a certain way based on an experience over a decade ago.
Like 2 years ago I was semi trolling an ad which popped up on Twitter and one of their monkeys said the same thing to me, and encouraged me to give them another chance.Quote:
Originally Posted by Sheesfaced
Then I briefly described what happened in 2007, and the person wrote back, "Oh, yes, I'm afraid that's still our same policy", and basically conceded the same shit would've occurred if it happened in 2018.
Fuck them.
Mint mobile is a cheap budget cellular carrier that uses T-mobile's network. It is designed for people who use less data and T-mobile throttles the fuck out of it.Quote:
Originally Posted by gauchojake
Creating a regular account through AT&T, Verizon or T-Mobile directly is suppose to mean that you don't get throttled to death. Your average download speed should be at least 20 MB per second. With pre-paid cellular service your average download speed could be 10 times less, maybe 2 MB per second.
https://www.androidcentral.com/sites...?itok=sKCQmAT8
Very disappointing to discover that fellow UCSB alum gauchojake is using a poor people's throttled budget cell phone service.
Sad!
Druff- You roll Verizon or ATT?
Who isnt on wifi like 98% of the time these days? I have wifi at home, work, and in the car.Quote:
Originally Posted by TheXFactorMint mobile is a cheap budget cellular carrier that uses T-mobile's network. It is designed for people who use less data and T-mobile throttles the fuck out of it.Quote:
Originally Posted by gauchojake
Creating a regular account through AT&T, Verizon or T-Mobile directly is suppose to mean that you don't get throttled to death. Your average download speed should be at least 20 MB per second. With pre-paid cellular service your average download speed could be 10 times less, maybe 2 MB per second.
https://www.androidcentral.com/sites...?itok=sKCQmAT8
Ummm... people who do things besides sitting at home or work?Quote:
Originally Posted by jsearles22Who isnt on wifi like 98% of the time these days? I have wifi at home, work, and in the car.Quote:
Originally Posted by TheXFactor
Shitty wireless speeds sound tolerable until you actually experience it and feel like slamming your phone against the wall.
Is this a serious question?Quote:
Originally Posted by BCRReally? Weren’t you away for months at a time working? How did you talk to your family?Quote:
Originally Posted by Hockey Guy
Telephones still exist.
& the longest stretch I was away from home was 3 weeks.
:lolQuote:
Originally Posted by Dan Druff
I pay 300 for 1 year of service with 12G of 4g data/month. I have never been throttled as far as I can tell. Streams YouTube TV and Sunday Ticket just fine. I have a Verizon phone for work and find myself using the personal phone for any data related activity.
Shit I used to pay 200 a month for a fucking Verizon plan. 300 a year is worth it.
No, I was serous. I thought I recalled you working remote in oil and gas industry or something like that. I guess I have the wrong vision in my head of a Canadian drilling site. I truly don’t know a person without a cell phone whether 18 or 75. It wasn’t a dig. I’m not exactly young and iirc you’re only a few years older than I am. I just don’t see why anyone wouldn’t have one if only to have a more private conversation, and if you break down while driving. Just a standard throwaway.Quote:
Originally Posted by Hockey GuyIs this a serious question?Quote:
Originally Posted by BCR
Telephones still exist.
& the longest stretch I was away from home was 3 weeks.
You recalled correctly. I worked in the oil & gas industry & lived in a camp situation but it wasn't a "drilling site" but rather a production site after infrastructure would have been in place. The camps are normally pretty nice & the ones I stayed in were almost like a hotel so I had my own private room with my own private phone as well as a phone in my control room while I was at work & not at camp. We also had computers & Skype too so we were never in danger of being out of communication.Quote:
Originally Posted by BCRNo, I was serous. I thought I recalled you working remote in oil and gas industry or something like that. I guess I have the wrong vision in my head of a Canadian drilling site. I truly don’t know a person without a cell phone whether 18 or 75. It wasn’t a dig. I’m not exactly young and iirc you’re only a few years older than I am. I just don’t see why anyone wouldn’t have one if only to have a more private conversation, and if you break down while driving. Just a standard throwaway.Quote:
Originally Posted by Hockey Guy
I refuse to get my own phone now because I worked for many years in the industry when cell phones were just coming into vogue & I was on call & got called at all hours of the day & night & got sick of people calling because they were too stupid to plan anything & used their phone to try to micro-manage every little detail like it's some kind of important thing when it is not. Too many people think that because they are on the other end of a cell phone what they are saying is important for some reason.
My wife does have a phone though so when we are traveling together we are covered. I broke down & such while driving before the invention of cell phones & survived so that doesn't even register as a real concern to me. It's all a matter of perspective.
Time for an update and well, I was wrong to misjudge T-Mobile, they really stepped up and blew the doors off of my assumptions.
Random thoughts...
- I was with Nextel in 2003, got bought out by Sprint. Been with Sprint for around 17 years, horrible customer service overall.
- Every time I get on the phone now with T-Mobile, they are super nice, actually listen and care and not in the BS way. They actually make an effort to listen and they actually get it. I was totally shocked and surprised.
- One day I ordered an additional service I thought I needed for $15. Two days later, I found out I didnt need it, called the CS number, explained the issue and while I was still on the phone with the agent, my phone dinged with a text advising me the $15 dollars has been credited back to my account. I hadent even hung up with the CS agent and she instantly refunded me less than a few seconds after my request. Shocked again and appreciated the instant no BS service.
- I thought I needed a Hot Spot wifi for my home as Im in a rural area right now. Bought it for $80 new. Found out I didnt need it as expected and tried to return the item, they said keep it, we will credit your account $20 for the next 4 months, the wifi hot spot is a gift from us, youve been a valued customer with us since 2003. And they have kept to their word and I got to keep the hot spot box, free.
- I was assisting my mom with her rural home internet issue of no real service. The old ATT DSL modem box was dead and slow. Couldnt figure out what to do or get as I didnt want the local ISP to come over and drill on the house and install a small dish, etc. T-Mobile stepped up with the home internet box at a flat $50 a month. It works perfect and pretty reliable for a home in a bad cell coverage area. Again, impressed and satisfied. Link- https://www.t-mobile.com/isp
- I still do not know what the coverage will be like in the rural areas of Nevada as thats where the real test for me will be as I drive the lonely 95 from Vegas to Reno often.
I never cared for T-Mobile in the past as I thought they were some bargain brand, struggling single mother with two kids Walmart white trash type cell phone company...Well I will admit I was wrong, ateast now I am, back then, maybe it was spot on, dont know. They customer service on the phone is pretty good and really attentive and would get the "PFA no BS" approval. Just sharing and keeping it real here. Good jb to T-Mobile.
Read my posts on page 1 for comment.
BTW I tried to get a phone through Sprint last year. Was a disaster.
First, they sent me home because they couldn't do a credit check. Why? Because even though they close at 9pm, their national credit check department goes home at 8pm. I showed up at like 7:45, and they tried to run my credit at like 8:02. Fail.
Came back the next day at an earlier hour, and their reps at the store had no fucking clue about their own plans. They printed out a paper for me regarding which plan I ordered, and of course it totally contradicted the deal I was promised. I got in my car and noticed this, then walked back in and brought it to their attention.
First, they didn't know what I was talking about. Finally I got a manager. He took awhile to research it, finally told me that my plan was correct, and it's just the paper that is wrong. "Trust us, the bill will show the correct amount. The paper just doesn't show discounts."
:wtf2
Called customer service to verify what he was saying. I got clueless Philippines agents who couldn't tell me either way. Fail again.
Decided to just hope for the best, and deal with any problems when the first bill came. Then I needed to forward my phone -- something which admittedly is getting less common nowadays, but I have to do sometimes. After searching for how to do this, I learned it had to be done at the network level, rather than a phone feature. Okay. But then I found out that it's 20c per forward! WHAT!! No other carrier has ever charged to forward.
At this point, I said "Fuck it", and returned the phone.
Then I kept getting idiotic bills for service I had cancelled, and they kept promising me they'd fix it. Took about 3 bill cycles to finally get that done. Then for some reason I was receiving $0.00 bills for them for the following 6 months.
Customer service told me that they're all in the Philippines now.
Whole company is a mess. Never again.
I hope I didn’t come across as defending Sprint or T-Mobile. In my update post, all I can do is be honest. I was anti T-Mobile prior, but they really stepped up and have delivered quality service so far, so I have to be honest in here.Quote:
Originally Posted by Dan Druff