I'm looking to get 2 cell phones for the family.

I have a no-contract deal with Sprint, with an old phone that is on its last leg.   And besides, other than the price on the plan I have, Sprint SUCKS!  Trying to get a human on the line can take anywhere from 5 min to half an hour, and they are usually unable to help me if any in-depth knowledge is involved.


So now I'm probably going to do a one-year contract with a free / low-cost phone

We will possibly go with one of those shared-minutes plans, with long distance included.

Each  service provider seems to have phones made just for them. Are there any that you can transfer from one company to another? Or is your current phone worthless if you switch companies?

Another thing I'm wondering is - which companies are ones to avoid.   I would put Sprint in this category.

Which ones allow you to carry over unused minutes?  Cingular supposedly allows this, but I've heard they are not so good otherwise.

Are there any good consumer sites covering what kinds of questions to ask, what good features to look for, and what to watch out for and avoid?

Whic companies in your experience have really goo customer service?

Get this:  I caught Sprint adding a late charge because they posted my payment several days AFTER they had received it, and the posting date was a day or two AFTER it had cleared my bank!!!

So I wrote them a letter protesting this, and I got a voicemail back a month later from someone with a name like Lameesha who sounded as if she made it all the way to eighth grade.  She wanted to straighten me out about payment posting.  She said they don't credit my account for up to ten days, because they have to be sure that checks clear their customers' banks and haven't bounced!!  So I got a credit for the late charge but they will only do it this one time.....really generous - we'll screw you and the first time you catch it, you can get credit, but you're out of luck after that.

The neat part about it is, you're paying for the month in advance.

OK, I'm getting off track.

What else should we look for?   While they have some fancy higher-priced phones (Nextel has a "Swiss Army" phone with a bunch of survival information stored in it, etc.), I'm tempted to avoid extra features of unexplored value.

Also I heard that some companies are lousy at that direct-connect technology.

Your advice, please.

You are right, Sprint SUcks Ass!!

I just changed to ATT.  Much better coverage.

Sprint does suck ass and their coverage is the WORST, especially here in CA.  I use t-mobile and they are just kinda eh, but their customer service has been good.  AT&T seems to be the best price/service leader now, but I already pay those bastards for tv and internet and didn't want to cut them another check.

One tip is to go haggle with the kiosks in the mall, especially if the manager is there.  The Cingular guy in the mall was going to give the wife new high end erricson, case, cla, and 1000 minutes a month if she would upgrade her plan from her 29 buck a month plan.  First he wanted 49/mo. but then dropped it to 39/mo. and would add me with phone and everything for an extra 20. Wife still said no as she does not use the minutes she has and is fine with her current phone.

Remember, nothing is written in stone, see what deal they can make you, especially when dealing for two.  Just work it, there is A LOT of competition right now, even among dealers for the same company.

Oh, and as far as phones go, most now are locked to their provider.  I went through hell to get the unlock code for my erricson from cingular so I could use it with my t-mobile.  You can buy unlocked phones on the internet but they cost about full price.  And you'd have to get a "world" phone to be really versatile.  Best to just find a company with a good deal and deal the phone down to free if it is not already.

Don't get me started on Sprint. They're the local phone company here, I only have a cellphone now cause I don't want to give them anymore money, like the $300 I lost cause they didn't switch my plan. MCI gets under my skin too.

For a plan you might want to try Cingular. I think them or AT&T have a deal for families.

As far as total coverage goes, I'd have to say Verizon.  They have so many digital and analog towers that I have yet to go somewhere I couldn't get coverage.  If you stay in the city/suburbs, my second suggestion would be T-Mobile.

I would recommend Nextel.  They cost a little more, but their coverage is excellent.

So far I've had the best luck, quality of service and performance with cellular one.

Dave