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View Full Version : Who has experience with prepaid phone plans?



Ben Simmons 25
01-10-2019, 08:05 PM
I've been with Sprint and Verizon for the past I dunno... 16, 17 years? Last 10+ at Verizon... and it dawned on me that it's extremely likely I'm a moron for not using prepaid service all of this time or as long as the deals have been around which is probably forever...

I had Verizon's regular service, long since out of contract... 1 gb a month unlimited calling unlimited text and I was paying just north of $60 a month and I was like lol this is ridiculous so I started exploring other options... looked at all of the providers that piggyback off of the big boys' networks and since I wanted to stay with verizon, inevitably all of the absolute cheapest services had dog shit customer service reviews... well... that led me to Verizon itself offering a prepay service that worked off of their towers and was almost identical service to the postpaid service.

So I switched to Verizon prepaid from Verizon postpaid and so far the service and speed and everything else are seemingly identical except I've slashed $20 monthly off of my bill and now I'm getting 3 gigs down a month instead of 1, which I don't need because I'm almost exclusively on WiFi when using data. But I took the data upgrade anyways, I could have gone down to 500mb down and saved even more.

I was prepaying months in advance anyways, why the hell should I continue on with postpaid service?

I'm going to keep playing with this service for another month or two and then just start prepaying annually...

But the point of this thread is like... so many people I know are with postpaid cellular services and if this prepaid shit offered by the main carriers is virtually identical service for a significantly cheaper price percentage wise, why doesn't everyone switch?

What are the catches? Are there any?

So far the only thing I've even been able to dig up that's "negative" about prepay is the fact that they don't send you a bill and you need to pay in advance otherwise your service gets shut off. Not sure how lenient companies are with that... and that your data is probably more likely to be throttled in speed in times of high network congestion... again... I'm almost always on WiFi, so it doesn't matter.

TLDR: I'm a dumbass that used a postpaid cellular service for 15+ years when I could have saved literal thousands of dollars with a prepaid service getting a 99% identical product. FML.

kennethgriffen
01-10-2019, 08:36 PM
phone plans are retarded


download a free wifi number

free unlimited local/long distance, unlimited text

then just pay like 10$ a month for minutes in case of emergency or for meeting people when you're on the road


literally everyone has free wifi now and 911 works anywhere even without a service

MrFonzworth
01-10-2019, 08:41 PM
Yea. I pay $35 a month for unlimited talk, text and 3 gigs of data.

One thing that postpaid has an advantage on is they usually provide better phones, and you don't have to pay it all up front.

Ben Simmons 25
01-10-2019, 08:45 PM
Yea. I pay $35 a month for unlimited talk, text and 3 gigs of data.

One thing that postpaid has an advantage on is they usually provide better phones, and you don't have to pay it all up front.

Nice price. $35 flat or plus tax? Either way, very nice.

Verizon prepaid seems to offer all of the phones. But you're right... you can't... make payments... aka you can't go into debt over a ****ing phone. Seems like a plus to me.

kennethgriffen
01-10-2019, 09:00 PM
Yea. I pay $35 a month for unlimited talk, text and 3 gigs of data.

One thing that postpaid has an advantage on is they usually provide better phones, and you don't have to pay it all up front.


this is what we deal with in canada


https://i.ibb.co/mFbK4yN/Screen-Shot-2019-01-10-at-7-59-04-PM.png




and its like 50$ extra if you go over by a few gigs lmao


after getting a bill for nearly 200$ after just one month i said **** it. i'm out

MrFonzworth
01-10-2019, 09:07 PM
Nice price. $35 flat or plus tax? Either way, very nice.

Verizon prepaid seems to offer all of the phones. But you're right... you can't... make payments... aka you can't go into debt over a ****ing phone. Seems like a plus to me.
You can also pay upfront for postpaid lol. But yea it's 35 flat, but I can only get service in alaska so when I go to the lower 48 i usually get a month of at&t.

MrFonzworth
01-10-2019, 09:13 PM
this is what we deal with in canada


https://i.ibb.co/mFbK4yN/Screen-Shot-2019-01-10-at-7-59-04-PM.png




and its like 50$ extra if you go over by a few gigs lmao


after getting a bill for nearly 200$ after just one month i said **** it. i'm out
What about wifi plans? Surely they're better than this.

https://cdn.pbrd.co/images/HVSquZc.jpg

No unlimited packages. After 2 ps4 game updates you're ****ed.

Akrazotile
01-10-2019, 09:39 PM
OP seems like a guy who knows and appreciates value.

OP, let me ask you something: Have you ever considered purchasing your shaving razors in bulk??

Ben Simmons 25
01-10-2019, 09:44 PM
If they were available through Amazon in such a way that they were sitting at Amazon's warehouse and the guy on the initial production and supply side prior to Amazon's warehouse wasn't going to be able to get whatever address I gave to him? Sure.

Beyond that? Nope.

Akrazotile
01-11-2019, 01:10 AM
If they were available through Amazon in such a way that they were sitting at Amazon's warehouse and the guy on the initial production and supply side prior to Amazon's warehouse wasn't going to be able to get whatever address I gave to him? Sure.

Beyond that? Nope.


Listen, we both know Justin Lee Dancy's address. Why don't we meet up at his crib? I'll bring the razors, you bring the cash?

SomeBlackDude
01-11-2019, 01:39 AM
just go with virgin mobile's $35/month plan. don't know what their ratings/reviews are but works for me. i too was once a sucker like yourself, paying like $75/month for some bullshit service.

but few years ago decided to try the virgin lifestyle. they have a bunch of nice perks. like when i first joined, they were selling iphones that came with $5 knocked off the monthly bill forever, so eventually it was a free upgrade. then a few months ago i randomly get a text i was bumped up from 5 gbs to 10 gbs of that sweet 4g lte goodness for no charge.

so i get unlimited talk, text, data and 10 gigs for $33/month all taxes and fees included.

can't be mad at that.

https://i.postimg.cc/y8PsmcYQ/tumblr-lltzgn-Hi5-F1qzib3wo1-400.jpg

imdaman99
01-11-2019, 02:27 AM
https://www.ebay.com/itm/20-Mo-Red-Pocket-Prepaid-Wireless-Phone-Plan-SIM-Unlmtd-Everything-5GB-LTE/132544686405

I have red pocket, one of the cheaper plans since I don't need that many mins or text and a little data since I'm almost always on wifi. The only thing is the cheapest options you pay for the entire year in advance. Think about it, this comes to $20 a month for unlimited t&t and 5gb, and pretty much piggybacks on whichever service you currently have Verizon included. But yeah I guess the customer service ain't all it's cracked up to be lol.

Vino24
01-11-2019, 03:56 AM
If you are a light user I

Ben Simmons 25
01-11-2019, 08:36 AM
Ting doesn't use Verizon's network. They use T-Mobile and Sprint, which have improved over the years, yes, but Verizon is still more reliable.

Ting's rates are significantly higher than Verizon's prepaid service, unless, as you said, you're hardly using your device for just about anything, and that includes calls, texts and data.

If you don't use it pretty much at all... go with Ting.