Re: Best prepaid or "Pay As You Go" cel plan for occasional user?

Doc wrote:
> There are maybe half a dozen or fewer times a year when it might be
> convenient to have a cel phone, but I don't feel like tithing for a
> monthly fee for this little usage. Any opinions as to the best
> provider for a very occasional user?
>
> WalMart had something like 9 vendors on display, some of which seemed
> very pointedly aimed at the Hispanic market.
>
> Also wondering about issues like whether the given service is likely
> to be around for a while, how the service compares to other providers,
> if the phone itself is likely to work when I use it, etc. One of the
> complaints I keep seeing is customer service - activation being a
> hassle, reps somewhere in S. American who barely speak English.
>
> Thanks for all input.

For a dozen calls per year, I really think a payphone is your best bet.
Each call will be a ripoff, but I think you'll still come out ahead.

timeOday wrote:
> Doc wrote:
>> There are maybe half a dozen or fewer times a year when it might be
>> convenient to have a cel phone, but I don't feel like tithing for a
>> monthly fee for this little usage. Any opinions as to the best
>> provider for a very occasional user?
>>
>> WalMart had something like 9 vendors on display, some of which seemed
>> very pointedly aimed at the Hispanic market.
>>
>> Also wondering about issues like whether the given service is likely
>> to be around for a while, how the service compares to other providers,
>> if the phone itself is likely to work when I use it, etc. One of the
>> complaints I keep seeing is customer service - activation being a
>> hassle, reps somewhere in S. American who barely speak English.
>>
>> Thanks for all input.
>
> For a dozen calls per year, I really think a payphone is your best bet.
> Each call will be a ripoff, but I think you'll still come out ahead.

Unless you need the phone for incoming calls (e.g., you're traveling but
may get an emergency call). And assuming you can find a payphone.

--
Evelyn C. Leeper
I believe I found the missing link between animal
and civilized man. It is us. -Konrad Lorenz

timeOday wrote:
>
> For a dozen calls per year, I really think a payphone is your best bet.
> Each call will be a ripoff, but I think you'll still come out ahead.

Or just buy a Tracfone or other prepaid one from a store, leave it
unopened, and only activate it when you need it.

--
Every job is a self-portrait of the person who does it. Autograph your
work with excellence.

rick++ wrote:
>> For a dozen calls per year, I really think a payphone is your best bet.
>> Each call will be a ripoff, but I think you'll still come out ahead.
>
> They maybe hard to find.
> Plus many peole have cell#s with long distance. Many payphones dont
> do long distance.

Huh? I've never found a payphone that doesn't do long distance, either
by coins, credit card, or calling card. Plus there's always toll free
access to extremely low cost calling long distance services like
OneSuite or TalkLoop.

Payphones are a dumb idea for other reasons, including the fact that
they are being removed at a rapid pace due to lack of use, and due to
use by criminal elements. And of course the whole reason that some
people want occasional use cell phones is to have access to a phone
ITMON (in the middle of nowhere). With the ability to have a cell phone
for as little as 21¢ per month, a pay phone makes no sense at all.

Payphone?

or you absolutely nuts?

Payphones have been removed from most communities and are in the
process of being removed from others.

Payphones are history.




On Sun, 30 Dec 2007 05:56:32 -0700, timeOday
<timeOday-UNSPAM@theknack.net> wrote:

>Doc wrote:
>> There are maybe half a dozen or fewer times a year when it might be
>> convenient to have a cel phone, but I don't feel like tithing for a
>> monthly fee for this little usage. Any opinions as to the best
>> provider for a very occasional user?
>>
>> WalMart had something like 9 vendors on display, some of which seemed
>> very pointedly aimed at the Hispanic market.
>>
>> Also wondering about issues like whether the given service is likely
>> to be around for a while, how the service compares to other providers,
>> if the phone itself is likely to work when I use it, etc. One of the
>> complaints I keep seeing is customer service - activation being a
>> hassle, reps somewhere in S. American who barely speak English.
>>
>> Thanks for all input.
>
>For a dozen calls per year, I really think a payphone is your best bet.
> Each call will be a ripoff, but I think you'll still come out ahead.

At 01 Jan 2008 17:09:02 +0000 Stephen King wrote:

> > Or just buy a Tracfone or other prepaid one from a store, leave it
> > unopened, and only activate it when you need it.
> >
>
> help! help!
> Killers are after me.
> Please wait; I have to activate my phone.
> LOL


You must lead a far more interesting life than most of us, if te first
"emergency" situation you envision is "killers are after me."

You'd think MI5'd pay for YOUR phone. :-)

For the rest of us, the advice was ok. I imagine you have a few minutes to
kill activating a phone for an emergency as mundane as "my car broke down."

Amazingly enough, mankind managed to crawl out of the muck and create
nearly all of human acheivement in the 1,999,970 years before the invention
of the cellular telephone.

Todd Allcock wrote:
> At 01 Jan 2008 17:09:02 +0000 Stephen King wrote:
>
>>> Or just buy a Tracfone or other prepaid one from a store, leave it
>>> unopened, and only activate it when you need it.
>>>
>> help! help!
>> Killers are after me.
>> Please wait; I have to activate my phone.
>> LOL
>
>
> You must lead a far more interesting life than most of us, if te first
> "emergency" situation you envision is "killers are after me."
>
> You'd think MI5'd pay for YOUR phone. :-)
>
> For the rest of us, the advice was ok. I imagine you have a few minutes to
> kill activating a phone for an emergency as mundane as "my car broke down."
>
> Amazingly enough, mankind managed to crawl out of the muck and create
> nearly all of human acheivement in the 1,999,970 years before the invention
> of the cellular telephone.
>
>
>
<beep><beep><beep> sorry our activation service is not
available...please call back tomorrow...

"George" <george@nospam.invalid> wrote in message news:WoSdnYoxsMrDC->>
> <beep><beep><beep> sorry our activation service is not available...please
> call back tomorrow...

When I activated my tracfone years ago you could only do it online or over
the phone. It might be possible to do it just with the phone now, but back
then you had to spend quite a few minutes punching in codes and then wait
10-12 hours for the number to become "active". The phone didn't work until
the number was "active". Maybe all that's changed, but I sure wouldn't want
to chance it.

Todd Allcock wrote:

> For the rest of us, the advice was ok. I imagine you have a few minutes to
> kill activating a phone for an emergency as mundane as "my car broke down."

Probably not okay actually. Tracfones can be activated on-line, or by
calling a toll free number. However you should still be able to call 911
on an unactivated phone.

> Amazingly enough, mankind managed to crawl out of the muck and create
> nearly all of human acheivement in the 1,999,970 years before the invention
> of the cellular telephone.

One negative about the penetration of cell phones has been the wholesale
removal of pay phones. It's a lot harder to get buy without one now.

SMS 斯蒂文• � wrote:
> Todd Allcock wrote:
>
>> For the rest of us, the advice was ok. I imagine you have a few
>> minutes to
>> kill activating a phone for an emergency as mundane as "my car broke
>> down."
>
>
> Probably not okay actually. Tracfones can be activated on-line, or by
> calling a toll free number. However you should still be able to call 911
> on an unactivated phone.
>
>> Amazingly enough, mankind managed to crawl out of the muck and create
>> nearly all of human acheivement in the 1,999,970 years before the
>> invention
>> of the cellular telephone.
>
>
> One negative about the penetration of cell phones has been the wholesale
> removal of pay phones. It's a lot harder to get buy without one now.

"USA based, AT&T has announced plans to exit the shrinking
payphone business by the end of 2008. AT&T's Public
Communications unit has continued to experience significant
pressure from reduced payphone usage, primarily as a result
of the growth of mobile phones.

The company plans to phase out both public pay phones and
phones provided under contracts at government correctional
facilities through the end of next year. All customers will
receive advance notification of specific plans as well as
information on other potential providers and product options."

-- larry / dallas