Sorting through your cell phone choices

Tag : Cell Phone Chains


There may be no greater consumer challenge than analyzing your cellphone choices.
The factors that go into picking a service provider, a style ofphone and the cost of a monthly plan can be dizzying. And changescan be costly and difficult because many people find themselveslocked in a two-year service contract.
The problems can begin with trying to project your calling needs,which can change suddenly for a variety of personal andprofessional reasons.

A moderately expensive plan that includes a lot of minutes couldmake sense to start with, and the type of phone you select mightseem ideal compared with other models that work with a particularprovider's network. But those minutes will feel expensive if youdon't use them. Worse, you might be locked into many more months ofthose costs - unless you absorb a steep early termination fee -while also chafing to switch to a new style of phone that'sexclusive to a different service provider.
If those considerations aren't intimidating enough, add thesefactors to the checklist that consumers are supposed to research:extra charges (such as activation fees, "processing" fees and 411charges), network reliability, customer service quality, group- orjob-based discounts, overage rates and special data-use rates. Andthat's not everything.

What are people supposed to do if they don't have the time for allthat homework? Here's a condensed tip sheet compiled by the SanJose Mercury News:
- Give serious consideration to prepaid phones, also known aspay-as-you-go phones. The basic idea - although even this decisioncan entail many wrinkles - is that you buy an inexpensive phone anda set number of minutes without a contract. Well-known prepaidphone businesses include TracFone and Virgin Mobile; the bignational providers, including AT&T and Verizon Wireless, also offerprepaid services.

Once you've exhausted the prepaid minutes, your phone is no goodunless you buy more time. That avoids the pain of steep overagecharges that people sometimes run up on non-prepaid plans by usingtheir phones after their regular minutes run out.
"If you're using the phone primarily for voice service, and you'regoing to be using under 400 minutes a month, a pay-as-you-go phonecompares favorably," said Mike Gikas, the telecommunications editorfor Consumer Reports.
Linda Sherry of the Consumer Action organization noted that peoplewith credit problems may not be approved by companies for contractplans. But they can make an off-the-shelf purchase of a prepaidphone, either for regular or emergency needs.
- Get all the details on policies that allow you to cancel acontract within the first 15 or 30 days of signing up. Promotionalslogans can give the impression that these are no-catch guarantees,but there are usually certain conditions that still apply, as wellas charges you may remain responsible for while you're using a newphone.

Gikas suggests consumers immediately put a new phone and serviceplan through a rigorous tryout. Test the phone and serviceeverywhere you expect to need it and experiment with as many of theapplications as feasible. Once you're past the cancellation window,said Gikas, "You're not just locked into a contract, you're lockedinto your habits of use."
- Try negotiating with a service provider. Consumer advocates saythere are many anecdotes about customers successfully asking forcertain fees to be waived, although it may not be possible to getthe commitment in writing.
Pedro Morillas, the legislative advocate for the California PublicInterest Research Group, said consumers have their best leveragewhen their contracts are expiring. A service provider may bewilling to make otherwise unobtainable concessions to avoid havinga subscriber switch to another company's service.
"It's still a market-based system, although the amount ofcompetition is dwindling," Morillas said.
- Don't complicate the deal. Gikas, for instance, recommendedagainst making phone purchases from third-party vendors, such aselectronics-specialty retail chains. He said those stores sometimesimpose additional conditions, such as their own processing fees.His advice is to buy directly from the service provider, eitheronline or at brick-and-mortar locations.
Also, consumer groups almost always warn against the purchase ofextended warranties, and cell phones are no exceptions. Not only dothe monthly charges add up quickly, but the products also tend tolast without problems beyond the period of the warranty.

ONE PROVIDER OFFERS 3 LEVELS OF COST, SERVICE
The costs of using a cell phone can vary enormously. To illustratea range of prices for distinct tiers of services, the Mercury Newsvisited a Verizon Wireless store to research mock-ups oflower-cost, mid-cost and high-cost monthly plans.

These examples are not meant as an endorsement of Verizon Wireless.But the choices faced by a consumer can be more easily comparedwhen using only one company's set of voice, data and video plans.
Here is an outline of three possible levels of service. Not everyfeature of a plan is listed; some functions, such as 411information calls or mobile Web downloads, entail additional costsunder all or most plans.

- LOWER COST: With a two-year contract, the cheapest phone is$9.99, and the cheapest monthly plan is $39.99. That plan offers450 anytime calling minutes, plus unlimited night and weekendcalling, with no U.S. roaming or long-distance charges. The plancan be expanded to include text messaging for $5 a month. There'salso a $35 activation fee. Phone and activation total: $44.99.Monthly calling and text-messaging total: $44.99. Verizon alsoestimated taxes and surcharges, which can vary because ofdifferences between cities, would be $7 on the $39.99 plan.

- MID-COST: With a two-year contract, a mid-price phone (with acamera) would cost $49.99 (after a $50 mail-in rebate). A Bluetoothaccessory package that includes a headset and car charger is$59.97. Activation remains $35. One available plan is $59.99 amonth, including unlimited text, picture and video messaging. Aswith the low-cost plan, there would be 450 anytime minutes andunlimited night and weekend calling, with no roaming orlong-distance charges. The VZ Navigator feature that offersturn-by-turn directions would cost an additional $9.99. The V Castservice for music, video and game downloads would cost $15 a month,and mobile e-mail would cost $15 a month. Phone, Bluetoothaccessories and activation: $144.96. Monthly total for the callingand messaging plus the Navigator service: $69.98. With V Cast:$84.98. With mobile e-mail: $99.98. The tax and surcharge estimateon the $59.99 plan is $8.

- HIGHER-COST: With a two-year contract: An LG Voyager touch-screenphone is $199.99 (after a $50 mail-in rebate). The Bluetoothaccessory remains $59.97; the activation fee remains $35. A monthlyplan with the same minutes as the lower- and mid-cost plans, plusthe Navigator, V Cast and mobile e-mail services is $79.99. Phone,accessories and activation: $294.96. Monthly plan: $79.99. Tax andsurcharge estimate on the plan is $8.