Phone Plans

[jcme]

Over the last few years, phone companies (cell and land line) have been dropping their lower cost plans in favor of "advanced feature" bundles and family plans.

Every time I check out the prices or try and shop around, I find my current plans are being dropped and the next new lowest plan is way more minutes or services than I'll ever need.

Thankfully they grandfather existing plans so I can keep them. That works great for my home phone, but for my cell, next time I decide to upgrade my phone, I'll be forced to pay more than $10 more per month. Although I'll get more than double my current minutes, I use less than half of what I currently have now, so why do I need more?

When I look at the rate plan prices overall, the phone companies are adding a lot more value to what consumers get for the price they are paying -- which is a good thing. I just wish they would keep the basic plans for those of us who don't need all the bells and whistles or tons of minutes. It would also help consumers cut expenses in this tough economy.

I think cable companies are also guilty of the same thing with offering packages and bundles on the upper ends and neglecting those who just want the basics.

Have you been forced to pay more for services you don't need?

[RHB]

Yes indeed and it is making me mad!!

[YellowRoseTex]

It is ridiculous, we've been paying more and more for our cable service. They have a cheaper bundle package, but we do not want to use the cable phone service. When we swapped out our box, dh talked to the customer service rep and was able to negotiate a cheaper rate. And she informed him that we will need to call again in October when the plan will expire. If you don't call, you don't get the cheaper rate.

We need to call our electric provider also, as I think the plan we were on just expired.

We just recently discontinued our long distance service on our home phone as we both have cell phones that we can call long distance on. More and more of the long distance carriers are charging monthly fees instead of charging just for what you use. :stomp: Why should we pay $10 a month for something we rarely use? Another option for long distance is to buy a prepaid phone card. I think I read somewhere where the cost is about 3cents per minute.

As for the cell phone, I don't know what we pay as my phone is covered on dh's plan thru his office. I rarely use it though, if I have 5 minutes a week that is alot!

It is really irritating that you have to call and ask. When you've been a long time customer they should let you know what the plans are and how you can maximize your savings. IMHO I think they gear the plans to get new customers and hope us old ones don't hear about it and don't call.

[jcme]

...It is really irritating that you have to call and ask. When you've been a long time customer they should let you know what the plans are and how you can maximize your savings. IMHO I think they gear the plans to get new customers and hope us old ones don't hear about it and don't call.

When my first cell phone plan expired they had all kinds of deals for new customers. I went in their company store a couple of times asking what they could offer me. They said all the deals were for new customers. So I found another provider and signed up.

When I called to cancel they told me they could give me the new customer offer so I should cancel my new service and stay with them. I told her forget it, they should have told me that before I went elsewhere, especially since I had told them of my plans. There was no way I was going through the hassle of cancelling with the new company.

Take care

[Duchie]

hmm that sounds strange on the cell phones. We have Verizon and have kept the same plan even when we have gotten new phones. DH actually called about plan and verizon said oh my you have an awesome plan we don't even offer this anymore and I wouldn't change it. So when you say your plans expire I don't get it.
As for the cable companies, well they are a rip off, talk about monopoly! We have two cable companies in this city and do we get a choice of which one we want to use, NOPE! It all depends on where you live, I call that a monopoly. Don't even get me started on bundles!! We pay close to 200 a month fro the same bundle they are advertising for 65 a month!!! (that reminds me I have to call cable company)
I think we as consumers are getting ripped off and I really wish they would stop messing with the people keeping them in business.

[jcme]

When I had my previous cable company the initial promotional period expired at the end of 12 months and price starting on month 13 was about double what I had been paying.

My cell phone plans have never expired, they just became obsolete. Whenever I wanted to upgrade my phone, I had to change plans. In most cases I've been able to keep the same price and have gotten more minutes, features plus a free (or very cheap) new phone. However last time my service provider discontinued the $29/month plan and $39/month was their cheapest plan. It had a lot more minutes, but since I never used all I had I switched to another provider that still offered a lower priced plan.

Take care

[YellowRoseTex]

As for the cable companies, well they are a rip off, talk about monopoly! We have two cable companies in this city and do we get a choice of which one we want to use, NOPE! It all depends on where you live, I call that a monopoly. Don't even get me started on bundles!! We pay close to 200 a month fro the same bundle they are advertising for 65 a month!!! (that reminds me I have to call cable company)


Definetly call the cable company! They won't get you a deal unless you call and ask about it. :stomp: I am so mad that we let this go for so long. I have put it on our calendar that dh needs to call in October when our current deal will expire. We were paying $133 and now pay $97.

JC, I do understand about the phone service. If not for me being on dh's plan at work, I don't know what we would do. While I need the phone for emergencies, it would be a total waste of money to be paying $39 a month for my phone. I probably use about 30 minutes a month and that is on a chatty month. ;)

[jcme]

...As for the cable companies, well they are a rip off, talk about monopoly! We have two cable companies in this city and do we get a choice of which one we want to use, NOPE! It all depends on where you live, I call that a monopoly. ...

When I moved into this house last fall, it was the first time I ever had a choice of cable companies. Before the only choice I had was cable, sattelite or antenna.

Take care

[kittykat31]

We have cable everything. My husband has it on his calender when to call to make sure we don't get overcharged. It's ridiculus.