[Louisiana84]

UPDATE: My iPhone 3GS works with Pure Talk USA. It isn't jailbroken or unlocked. I've got WiFi just about everywhere I go, so going without a data plan to save money doesn't affect me. It's an affordable way to enjoy ALL the features of my iPhone without having to pay an outrageous monthly fee for something I don't really need.

What doesn't work? Visual voice mail. Also not much of a problem. Pop the Pure Talk USA SIM card into your iPhone, activate and in less than 5 minutes you're talking. Instead of seeing AT&T as your service provider, your phone will display Pure GSM. Otherwise the only difference you'll notice is a bill that is MUCH LOWER every month.

And from what I understand, Pure Talk USA will be offering data plans in the near future, so that option will be available to those who need/want it. If Pure Talk USA data billing is as simple and straightforward as its voice/text, then this will be the dawning of a new day for those folks who like to save money and be free of contracts.

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› See More: Pure Talk USA

[thevilla1388]

I have had this service for 2 years and have found it to be excellent. Uses ATT network. Can just purchase a SIM card if your phone is compatible. No contract and nused minutes roll over to the next month.

[bwparker1]

Still using PureTalkUSA, and have been very happy. I hope that they announce data plans very shortly. They have recently offered a Family plan. - BWP

[Artsy034]

Just so you guys know the unlimited plan is now $39.95! Awesome! but I agree. Data would totally set it off!

[purplespeckl3]

I recently was looking up reviews on Straight Talk's R355C phone and someone posted how PureTalk USA was so much better. So I looked it up and it does seem too good to be true almost.
Straight Talk has unlimited everything (including Data!) but their phones are way too expensive and low quality.
I'm still with AT&T. My Mom has switched from AT&T to Straight Talk. But we are now considering switching to PureTalk USA.
I hope they get Data plans real soon. That was my only reason for not switching to Straight Talk.
I have a Nokia e71x which is a smartphone. But my phone bill with AT&T is around $80/month.

*What do they consider as "anniversary date"? Is it 30 days or is it for example October 25th - November 25th?
*Do they charge your acct like an auto-refill or do you have to do it yourself?
*If you pass over the 'anniversary date' do you lose your number?
*Does PureTalk USA give you a number if you don't want to use your current #? (I've been wanting to change my number with AT&T but it's $35!!!)
*If I bought a phone through the store would I have to buy a SIM card separately or is it included?

Thanks for any responses in advance!!

[J.Escobar]

Anniversary date is on the same day every month. Oct 25th, Nov 25th, Dec 25th.

They use auto refill as the payment option. So your credit card on file will be charged on your anniversary date.

I'm not sure if you lose your number immediately if you don't make payment. Most companies have a grace period before you would lose your number.

You can get a new phone number once you sign up with PureTalk. You do not have to port your old AT&T phone number if you do not want to.

PureTalk does not charge you for their SIM Cards. But you must pay the cost of the 1st month's service when you order your SIM or Phone. This is the same policy for any prepaid service.

Also, if you sign up for their unlimited plan, you get a $10 discount on the 1st months service. $29.95 for the 1st month, including the SIM card. After that price is $39.95 per month

Hope this helped

[purplespeckl3]

For those of you with iPhones who have Pure Talk does your iPhone still allow you to access and use the apps? Does it still let you buy apps from the iTunes store?

---------- Post added at 01:57 AM ---------- Previous post was at 01:56 AM ----------

@ J. Escobar - Yes that was very helpful. Thank you for all of the info.

[J.Escobar]

yes you can still access and buy apps if you are on PureTalk. Apps have nothing to do with AT&T, they are part of apple and the apple store. All you is need a valid itunes account.

Now the one thing that might be a problem for you is if you formally had an AT&T account with a data plan, then there's a good chance you were accessing some of those apps over their data network (3G), at least the apps that required you to connect to a network. For example Google Maps you would need to be connected to the internet to use.

Now PureTalk doesn't have any data plans so you could not access any apps that require the internet, unless you are connected to WiFi like at your home or work, if available. So if you are driving and using PureTalk, you could not use any apps that require you to be connected to the internet.

Not a big deal, this is how I use my iPhone now, I can only use those apps at my house, my work or my friends homes or business that have free WiFi.

If you can live with only accessing data over WiFi, you are going to save yourself a ton of money!!! Glad to see other people exploring their options outside of the major carriers. Hope that makes sense.

[purplespeckl3]

Yes that makes perfect sense. Thanks so much! I've read on here about the voicemail icon issue with iPhones...are you experiencing that? What is the deal with that?
Yeah Pure Talk is non existent in my area and it seems like everyone wants to go with what is "popular".
I was looking at review on a Straight Talk phone on Walmart's website and saw someone post a negative review and that Pure Talk was better. So I googled and done a bit of research and figured that it has to be a great option.
My Mom just received her SIM and activated it this morning. She loves it so far.

[J.Escobar]

I don't know anything about that icon issue and haven't read about it on here. But the SIM card should have no affect on the apps on the phone. You could remove the SIM, any SIM, from the iPhone and it would basically turn it into an iPod touch and all the apps would still work the same. So it shouldn't matter what SIM card you have in the phone.

[Louisiana84]

If you use the PureTalk USA SIM card in your iPhone, you will not have "visual" voice mail, i.e. you will have old-style voice mail where your message have to be listened to in the order that they were received. Other than that, there is no difference except for the SAVINGS.

[bwparker1]

FYI, not sure if this is the voicemail issue, but when I activated my mother in law's phone on PureTalkUSA, her voicemail number that was configured did not work correctly. We held one and the phone kept dialing into the AT&T voicemail number, but her new account was not recognized. We had done a port of her old phone number over from T-Mobile. So I had to call customer service, and they gave me a different voicemail access phone number. It actually had an area code of CT, where I was activating the PureTalk SIM, even though my mother-in-law lives in Maine. I re-configured her phone to dial that phone number for VoiceMail, and everything worked flawlessly. I have activated 4 PureTalk SIMs and this was the only time I ever had that issue. Now, she holds the #1 and the phone dials into her voicemail no problems.... I will say that when you are porting an existing number to PureTalk from another carrier, whether a pre or post paid carrier, make sure that PureTalk customer service rep activates the Voice Mail features and then Text Message features. I had problems with this, but after a few calls to customer service, everything works great.

All in all, I know 5 people on PureTalk, myself and my wife, my wife's mother and father, and a friend in Rochester, NY. 3 of the lines are iPhones, one is a Nokia E65 and the last one is an el-cheapo AT&T phone. All work great.

The last hold out is the Data option. I am very much hoping that it happens ASAP.

bwparker1

[hapaki]

Stay clear away. It took almost a month to get activated and port my phone over. After some complaining, I got a big fat reward. They purposely upgraded my plan to unlimited and charged my credit card for 2 months until I notice. This company is unethical and will rip you off.

[Lostinplace]

I believe that Puretalkusa is a scam. They "couldn't activate" our old Verizon phones and so sent us new free "refurbished" phones. CSvc transferred our phone numbers so the old phones no longer worked, so now we have no phones and no service, but they still are billing us. The phones they sent us were old and worthless, and now they have our ccard number.
Try calling CSvc and you'll be on hold all day.
Thumbs down!

[203bravo]

placed an order for a new phone on 12/23/10 of which I intend to port my current provider's cell phone number. On Tuesday 1/5/2011 I contacted customer service by phone since I had heard nothing from PureTalk about the phone or service.

The CSR was very helpful and when she looked up the account saw that according to her tracking number it was scheduled for delivery on or around 1/6/2011.

I again called last week 1/13/2011 and was promised a return phone call to follow up when there was an update and how the issue would be addressed.

Today 1/19/2011 I called and got the exact same answer “you’re phone has been shipped and is in transit.” At this point I have requested the order cancelled and a refund issued. The CSR gave me a ticket number and said that it would take at least 2 weeks for this credit to be issued.