Why you left your previous carrier.

wingedkinetics
wingedkinetics Oct 8, 2015 11:02 AM
  • Member Since: Oct 7, 2015

    I'm a loyal customer, so it took me a lot to leave my previous carrier; I'm glad I did. Here are my reasons for leaving... what are yours?

     

    Carrier: Verizon

    How long was I with them? 10 years.

    Why did I pick them originally?: Back in 2005 I needed a cell phone that was good in rural areas, and their network was the best at the time.

    Devices Owned? Hollywood 885, Droid, Droid 2, Galaxy Note 3.

    Why did I leave?

    • Verizon Edge: They took away subsidizing phones without actually decreasing the cost of the plan. Customers were effectively paying twice for one phone. Rotten business practices.
    • "Reward Points": I wasn't even looking for any rewards, but they launched this points program, so I checked it out. The problem wasn't that I didn't like it, the problem is that it was insulting. Points were only redeemable for a discount on items (many of which were cheaper on Amazon even without the points.... 50,000 points and $50.00 plus shipping and tax for a speaker that retails for $100.00, but Amazon sells for $34.99, shipping and tax free? You have to be kidding me.)
    • "It's the network": Maybe in 2005, but my reception with T-Mobile is better than it was with Verizon.
    • Way too many "maybe's": Maybe we'll add wifi calling. Maybe we'll add more data. Maybe we'll support Samsung Pay. Maybe we'll enable you to take advantage of manufacturer rebates. Buy now, lock yourself in, and maybe get what you want; or maybe not. Great.
    • Transparency: Verizon has a whole lot of plans without actual end dates or goals. T-Mobile doesn't give you the world, but at least they phrase their plans as "We are going to do thing thing by this date, and it will work." or "No, we are not going to do this thing, but we're at least not going to leave you hanging."
    • Price: It's the obvious hit against Verizon, but I was paying $130/mo for 2 contracted 32GB Note 3's with wraparound insurance and a paltry 250MB of data to split between me and my wife. I know it's my fault for signing up, but damn. Their CEO loves to say that they won't compete on price... but let's be real, they're not really competing anywhere else either.

     


    Relevant, interesting articles:

    http://news.yahoo.com/verizon-won-t-lower-monthly-bills-just-compete-164036366.html

    http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2014/10/26/verizon-cant-afford-to-lose-its-1-wireless-network.aspx

    • 682 Views
    • 8 Replies
    • Latest reply on Oct 9, 2015 7:56 AM by wingedkinetics

      All replies

      • miket

        Re: Why you left your previous carrier.

        miket Oct 8, 2015 4:51 PM (in response to wingedkinetics)
        • Member Since: Jul 16, 2011

           I've had cellular since the day it went live in SF - about 30 years ago.  At that time there were only 2 carriers (an A carrier and a B carrier.  Coverage was only very local.  If we went to Sacto, 85 miles away, HUGE roaming fees.  $2/day plus at least $1/min.

           We paid $45/mo. w. no minutes inckuded.  Calls were 45¢/min day  -- 20¢ at nite.

        Phone was fixed in car.  "Portable" 5 lb. phones came along a couple years later.

          The original A/B carriers operated at 800mz  (aka 850)

          Forget the exact time - but few years later govt. opened 1900mz band which brought in Sprint, and other carriers.  Omnipoint was one.  That's about the time GSM (the world wide std.) and CDMA (mainly just used in U.S. and Canada) came along to supplement analogue phones.

          I signed up with Omnipoint at $20/mo. - mainly to roam overseas.  Local carriers charged $4-$5/min.  Omnipoint 29¢ as I recall. They wren't on west coast - I had an NYC number.  My every day phone was local here in Oakland.  Omnipoint eventually became TM and the day they opened in Ca., switched my former NY number to Ca. number and it became my main carrier. 

            So I never really switched to TM Was w. them from day one.  For a while did carry a Cingular (ATT) phone to use in case TM didn't cover where I needed to be.  Discovered in a year that didn't happen very often and gave that up.

          • wingedkinetics

            Re: Why you left your previous carrier.

            wingedkinetics Oct 8, 2015 4:58 PM (in response to miket)
            • Member Since: Oct 7, 2015

            That's not the response I expected, but damn... that's an awesome story.

             

            My first cell was with Sprint... only 16 years ago. I believe it was 150min/mo with a relatively steep up-charge after that. No texting.

             

            The irony was that I didn't even want it. I was away at college and my parents gave it to me to try to get me to keep in better touch. To their credit, it worked.

              • e2k

                Re: Why you left your previous carrier.

                e2k Oct 8, 2015 7:48 PM (in response to wingedkinetics)
                • Member Since: Jan 7, 2015

                Previous carrier: AT&T

                # of years with previous carrier: 8

                Reason for leaving: Price (about twice as much when comparing family plans)

                 

                I'm quite happy with T-Mobile, and their rates cannot be beat. I pay less than $25 per line on a family plan with 8 lines and 2.5 GB of data per line. Sure, TMO has problems, but so does every other carrier. Coverage is not like that of AT&T or Verizon, but I live in the Bay Area, so it's not a problem.

                • tidbits

                  Re: Why you left your previous carrier.

                  tidbits Oct 8, 2015 8:04 PM (in response to wingedkinetics)
                  • Member Since: Jul 15, 2011

                  Do I have to give an exact time line? I have been on almost all carriers including ones that got gobbled up.

                   

                  Now for the company I work for we have 3 of the 4 major. We dropped support for Sprint for a very good reason. Depending on which region you'll find us with a particular carrier.

                   

                  My personal line I decided to grab just in case I decided to leave the company and wanted to make sure I didn't lose my number as a precautionary thing.

                  That line started off with GTE in the early 90s then became Verizon. When I could change companies without losing phone numbers I switched to T-Mobile and never looked back because it worked with the cost and service. If you have coverage T-Mobilegives the best bang for your buck.

                   

                  However I'd still use Verizon for my work lines. It's not T-Mobile fault and I know why they have trouble here. Back hand deals in the 90s helped GTE and Verizon after it was changed.  Uphill battle for other carriers.

              • drnewcomb2

                Re: Why you left your previous carrier.

                drnewcomb2 Oct 9, 2015 2:58 AM (in response to wingedkinetics)
                • Member Since: Mar 9, 2014

                I've actually never "left" a wireless carrier. Sometime in 1991 we signed up for service with Cellular South (now CSpire) and still have that service, although the plan and phone have changed several times. For 7 years we shared one cell phone. About 1998, I signed up for my own phone with a new GSM company: DigiPH PCS. DigiPH was bought by PowerTel, which in turn was bought by T-Mobile. Since T-Mobile had good international roaming and CSpire worked everywhere in the US this was a good combination. I'm currently considering porting the one line out of CSpire, probably to an AT&T MVNO. CSpire's LTE deployment has been really slow and they will not activate a Nexus 5X. I can actually get more LTE coverage for less money from another service.

                • smplyunprdctble

                  Re: Why you left your previous carrier.

                  smplyunprdctble Oct 9, 2015 7:40 AM (in response to wingedkinetics)
                  • Member Since: Jul 15, 2011

                  My previous provider was Sprint.

                  I left them back in 2003.  Why?  Because I was getting dropped calls left and right.  When I called to inquire what was going on, they suggested I might be travelling between cell towers.  I responded with "I know my living room is pretty large compared to places I've lived in Boston, but it's not THAT large."

                   

                  I came to T-Mobile on the suggestion of a friend of mine.  I went into a T-Mobile store and inquired about the plans and that.  I asked if I was able to pick the last four digits of my number and the guy was like "sure, if it's available." -- after checking about a dozen prefixes in the Atlanta area, we found one with my number available and I said "sign me up now."  (He also suggested I wait a week as number porting would be available then -- I said I didn't like my number I had with Sprint.)

                   

                  Plus, I was able to get a Nokia phone again (I sorely missed my Nokia that I started with).  I still have that phone.  I came across it the other day and was like "Wow.. it still works... except I don't have a SIM the right size..."