Phone Discounts vs Lower Monthly Rates

[email protected] wrote:
> On Sat, 21 May 2005 19:10:49 -0700, Steve Sobol <[email protected]>
> wrote:
>
>
>>>No, it wasn't sarcasm. The Verizon store in Brea must have over 50
>>>phone models on display. Maybe lots more. It's unbelievable.
>>
>>Come up to Victorville. The last time I was there, they had around 15. That's
>>more typical of a VZW corporate store.
>
> Probably. That particular store is very chaotic. Customers wall to
> wall, employees too.

Brea, you mean?

Thing is, Verizon doesn't *sell* 50 different phone models. I've noticed up
here, they have more than 15 total display models, but there are certain
handsets that you can find in more than one place on the display. That seems to
be independent of how busy the store is or where it's located.

> I bet she would save $40 a month with F&F on Sprint however. She is
> on the phone all the time.

F&F saves you money in certain specific situations. You really would have to
analyze her calling patterns to make an educated decision.


--
JustThe.net - Apple Valley, CA - http://JustThe.net/ - 888.480.4NET (4638)
Steven J. Sobol, Geek In Charge / [email protected] / PGP: 0xE3AE35ED

"The wisdom of a fool won't set you free"
--New Order, "Bizarre Love Triangle"

---

› See More: Phone Discounts vs Lower Monthly Rates

On Sat, 21 May 2005 22:36:59 -0700, Steve Sobol <[email protected]>
wrote:

>
>> I bet she would save $40 a month with F&F on Sprint however. She is
>> on the phone all the time.
>
>F&F saves you money in certain specific situations. You really would have to
>analyze her calling patterns to make an educated decision.
I have been looking into it.
I agree, analysis is necessary. But it encourages you to get a lower
plan than you expect to use, and extra minutes are 5 cents.
There are few plans with 5 cent minutes, so you want to use as many
extra as possible.

It's a far cry from most carriers where extra minutes are 45 cents. I
can't see where it would ever get that bad.

[email protected] wrote:
> On Sat, 21 May 2005 22:36:59 -0700, Steve Sobol <[email protected]>
> wrote:
>
>
>>>I bet she would save $40 a month with F&F on Sprint however. She is
>>>on the phone all the time.
>>
>>F&F saves you money in certain specific situations. You really would have to
>>analyze her calling patterns to make an educated decision.
>
> I have been looking into it.
> I agree, analysis is necessary. But it encourages you to get a lower
> plan than you expect to use, and extra minutes are 5 cents.
> There are few plans with 5 cent minutes, so you want to use as many
> extra as possible.

Yeah, I'm on F&F 700, but I've stopped using my phone as much, so even though
700 minutes is the smallest amount that gives you 5c/minute overages (the lower
packages are 10c/min), I might drop down anyhow...

> It's a far cry from most carriers where extra minutes are 45 cents. I
> can't see where it would ever get that bad.

Yeah, but here's the thing. Go 99 minutes over, and it's about 5c per minute.
Go one minute over and it still cost you $5.00 -- that's $5/minute, two minutes
is $2.50/minute, etc. I think Sprint is correct in marketing it as a plan that
will help you avoid nasty surprises. They advertise that they'll bump you
another 100 minutes for $5. They don't necessarily market it as saving money.
But I like the idea of not having nasty surprises, so I switched anyhow...


--
JustThe.net - Apple Valley, CA - http://JustThe.net/ - 888.480.4NET (4638)
Steven J. Sobol, Geek In Charge / [email protected] / PGP: 0xE3AE35ED

"The wisdom of a fool won't set you free"
--New Order, "Bizarre Love Triangle"

On Sun, 22 May 2005 09:49:46 -0700, Steve Sobol <[email protected]>
wrote:

>> It's a far cry from most carriers where extra minutes are 45 cents. I
>> can't see where it would ever get that bad.
>
>Yeah, but here's the thing. Go 99 minutes over, and it's about 5c per minute.
>Go one minute over and it still cost you $5.00 -- that's $5/minute, two minutes
>is $2.50/minute, etc. I think Sprint is correct in marketing it as a plan that
>will help you avoid nasty surprises. They advertise that they'll bump you
>another 100 minutes for $5. They don't necessarily market it as saving money.
>But I like the idea of not having nasty surprises, so I switched anyhow...
Yeah, I realize that. But the fact that if you use 15 minutes over
your plan on Sprint and it costs you $5, and if you use 15 minutes
over your plan on any other carrier will surely cost lots more is
compelling.

It is way better if you use 200 minutes over. Gad.

The whole flawed logic you should decide how many minutes you want
BEFORE you use them is absolutely nuts. If they charged you $20 for
monthly service and charged you some fair rate for all you usage that
would be way closer to how we like to buy things in the US. Like
electricity, water, etc. You don't have to decide how much you want
and take it all whether you need it or not.

Glad cheese and eggs aren't like that! I really don't want 3 dozen
eggs a week, though I might want them certain weeks. The whole "plan"
idea is terrible.

"[email protected]" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> On Sun, 22 May 2005 09:49:46 -0700, Steve Sobol <[email protected]>
> wrote:
>
> >> It's a far cry from most carriers where extra minutes are 45 cents. I
> >> can't see where it would ever get that bad.
> >
> >Yeah, but here's the thing. Go 99 minutes over, and it's about 5c per
minute.
> >Go one minute over and it still cost you $5.00 -- that's $5/minute, two
minutes
> >is $2.50/minute, etc. I think Sprint is correct in marketing it as a plan
that
> >will help you avoid nasty surprises. They advertise that they'll bump you
> >another 100 minutes for $5. They don't necessarily market it as saving
money.
> >But I like the idea of not having nasty surprises, so I switched
anyhow...
> Yeah, I realize that. But the fact that if you use 15 minutes over
> your plan on Sprint and it costs you $5, and if you use 15 minutes
> over your plan on any other carrier will surely cost lots more is
> compelling.
>
> It is way better if you use 200 minutes over. Gad.
>
> The whole flawed logic you should decide how many minutes you want
> BEFORE you use them is absolutely nuts. If they charged you $20 for
> monthly service and charged you some fair rate for all you usage that
> would be way closer to how we like to buy things in the US. Like
> electricity, water, etc. You don't have to decide how much you want
> and take it all whether you need it or not.
>
> Glad cheese and eggs aren't like that! I really don't want 3 dozen
> eggs a week, though I might want them certain weeks. The whole "plan"
> idea is terrible.

Then there is a simple thing you can do if you don't like plans ... move to
a pre-pay account.

Bob