Pampered Perk Sprint/Nextel & Cell Phones in General

[melindag]

Last Saturday, 9/1, I pulled up on consultant corner the info on the newest pampered perk - the discount on sprint/nextel. The info indicates a 10% discount. I followed the instructions to call the 800# for current nextel subscribers since I already have a nextel phone, and the person I spoke with told me that it takes two months to get processed, and its only a 3% discount.

I then called home office, and spoke with someone. She couldn't pull up the info on consultant corner, she spoke with her supervisor and the supervisor couldn't find anything either. Given that it was a holiday weekend, I gave them my contact info, and offered for anybody higher up to call me and clarify. I haven't heard from anybody yet - and was just wondering what others have experienced with this new perk.

and now for my question in general......due to a minor mishap we had recently with our 14 yr old, we are finally jumping off the fence and are ready to start looking at a family cell phone plan. Depending on what the pampered perk offered, we are comparing the possibility of adding 2 phones to that plan......or possibly going a whole different route w/3 phones with another plan, and not renew my plan with nextel in July 08.

I've seen the thousands of commercials.....what I'm looking for is input from families with teens - and wisom you may be able to impart! I'm not interested in spending tons of money each month to accommodate this....I just want my daughter to be able to reach us when she needs us. Not alot of bells and whistles.....voice mail would be important, text could be optional - it would be nice for her to do it with us....I know some kids get out of control with it....she's a very responsible, farily incontrol kid - we can give her boundaries and she'll stay within (I pray it stays that way as she gets older, I remember stretching my own boundaries!!!)

I don't want to start a debate over which company has the best plan....I'd simply appreciate hearing what's worked for you, and myabe some pitfalls to look out for.

Thanks!
Melinda

 

[chefjeanine]

We just changed from Nextel to Sprint. I have to say I loved the Nextel coverage and enjoyed the direct connect feature (even though we did not use it very much).

We had to change plans because my husband needed to upgrade to a phone with "the works" (palm pilot type). So, now we have Sprint. I'm not thrilled so far (seemed the calls were clearer on Nextel).

One thing we found with Sprint, if you are a member of a credit union you can get a 15% discount. That's better (it seems) than what they are offering P-Chef Consultants.

I don't use my phone very much. I suppose I should use it for my evening calls since nights (and weekends) are free. Just prefer the quality of the land line.

Don't know if this helps much. We put 4 phones on this plan (DH, mine and one for each set of parents). Their phones were free, mine was $20 and don't ask about DH's (his work is buying).

 

[melindag]

I didn't know abou tthe credit union discount....I should check into that! thanks for your input- that's helpful.

Melinda

 

[jenniferp417]

I suggest prepaid, especially for their first phone, getting used to how quickly minutes add up, etc. I personally use Virgin Mobile - I've been very, very happy with them so far - it's what my husband and I use, because we don't use our cells very much. AND, the absolute minimum amount of money you have to pay to keep the phone active is $20 every 90 days - and that's great!

 

[GourmetGirl]

I have a family plan through Cingular with my Dad and it's been okay. My quality/clarity of service hasn't been great and I've had a lot of calls drop and phone freeze (it could be just my razor though... as I know other people in my area that have great service). The nice part is being able to call other people who use Cingular for free. Some of my closest friends are Cingular so that saves on minutes used. That might be something to think about, as I think a lot of companies do the free mobile-to-mobile service (I just looked and Sprint does do that). Plus their nights and weekends start at 7, which is a plus that I pay extra for through Cingular...

 

[chefsteph07]

I got a sprint phone back in May and the reception is terrible. I cannot even use it at my house. But I feel like I'm locked in since I got a 2 yr contract. We are spending a fortune on phone bills..I just switched to digital phone through our cable co, that is going to be about $40 per mo and then my dh and I each spend about $75 for our cell bills. CRAZY. If we didn't get such horrible reception at home I'd just give up the land phone. Oh well.

 

[missydivine]

We have Verizon, it's been fine. Before we had Cingular no complaints there, except when you need a new phone. I don't want to change my number just to get the good deals. I've never had Sprint.

 

[chefkristin]

My DH and I have the family plan for Verizon. I love it! I have a few friends that have Sprint and all they do is complain.

 

[BethCooks4U]

We have had Verizon for a really long time and have been very happy with the quality and service. One of my sons has US Cellular and loves it.

 

[etteluap70PC]

I've seen the thousands of commercials.....what I'm looking for is input from families with teens - and wisom you may be able to impart! I'm not interested in spending tons of money each month to accommodate this....I just want my daughter to be able to reach us when she needs us. Not alot of bells and whistles.....voice mail would be important, text could be optional - it would be nice for her to do it with us....I know some kids get out of control with it....she's a very responsible, farily incontrol kid - we can give her boundaries and she'll stay within (I pray it stays that way as she gets older, I remember stretching my own boundaries!!!)

I don't want to start a debate over which company has the best plan....I'd simply appreciate hearing what's worked for you, and myabe some pitfalls to look out for.

Thanks!
Melinda

My SIL has Sprint with a pretty good plan (she and hubby started out sharing a phone on the cheapest possible plan) and has added phones for both her girls (I think it was $5 a month for each) who are now in College. There are a total of 4 of them on the plan and they all share minutes. Now this has worked great for them since it costs nothing (no minutes even ) to talk to eachother and both girls are in college in Chicago and home is in MN.

The only thing you need to be careful with is the texting. It is not included on most plans. I think My SIL turned it off cause the girls friends kept texting them and it was getting out of controll. I know my SIL has said that she considdered it to be very affordable.

As far as coverage goes we could debate that till the end of time and sometimes it depends on the phone. Most cell servers you can go online and chack their coverage. Also talk to all your local friends to see who they have and if they like the coverage.

Personally I used to have T-mobile. Loved it for the price when I lived in the cities. Now out in the country it's useless! I now have Cingular (Now ATT :yuck: ) and LOVE my service and coverage. I can even get reception in my basement. Now I said coverage can be debated... I have a friend with Cingular also and she hates it. She has had tons of coverage issues even in her home. I do not have any problem at her house or in the same areas that she does.... wierd I know...

so thats my .02
Hope I helped a bit

 

[lacychef]

I don't think I could get a Sprint cell phone, because I hated having them as our local/long distance provider for our land line:grumpy:

 

[Chefgirl2]

I loved Sprint until my husband added our daughter to our plan. He bought us both Razors and by accident I got mine wet when I laid it on the counter. For some reason he didn't add the insurance and they would not go retroactive or give me a break in any way. I've spent at least $115 a month for the last 8.5 years (that was at least $11,700!!) and they basically told me too bad. UGHH! Their customer service is horrible. For us to get out of the plan will be $600. Grrr... I can't wait until our plan is up in April 09because I am switching ASAP.

My replacement phone got flushed down the toilet last week and the Customer service rep had me go to the store to get it replaced. The store told me they couldn't help me and to call the insurance company. For $50 they replaced it in 2 days. It is an awesome phone, but it doesn't fit any of the accessories that I had for purchased.

The other negative about Sprint is if I travel out of the city into the countryside I have huge ares with no service.

The positives are I have great city service and I love the nights and weekends plan. My husband's company gets us 17 or 18% savings. I have been able to use it when I been on the PC trips even to Hawaii, Alaska and Atlantis -except I didn't figure out how to use it until the last day.

I have been checking around and I think Verizon is the one I hear the least negative things about. So, as of now, I am lplanning on switching in 1 year, 6 months and 28 days.

 

[tx_deputyswife]

We have been pre-paid cell family for years because we didn't see the need to get locked into a contract, etc. Then recently our teen daughter, who pays for her own cell phone, wanted to get service with Alltel, because she could talk to her boyfriend for free since he's on there. So, we researched all the different ones available here (Verizon isn't ) and went with Alltel after all. What we got:

3 phones (all three are the Kyocera Strobe - way cool - free after rebate).
1200 minutes on the Greater Freedom plan (59.99 plus 2 added at 9.99)
Free mobile-to-mobile, long distance, nights/weekends, voicemail
Unlimited text, picture, video, and instant messaging and web access on teen's phone. (19.99/mo)

DD pays for her part of the monthly service charge plus the $20 for unlimited text.

Since we bought everything online from Alltel directly, we had to wait for the phones to be shipped (free 2-day shipping!) and I called to find out, since they were all the same phone, which one had the unlimited stuff, and they told me. Well, they told me wrong, according to the paperwork I got after dd had texted like a crazed woman for three days! I called their customer service, and poof! No problem. They switched the phone the access was on, and backdated it to before the phones arrived, so we weren't going to have to pay for those 150 texts. YAY!!! I love doing business with companies who care about customer service!!

 

[pcjulie]

My husband works for Sprint (used to be Nextel) and we hear all kinds of talk from our friends about what plans works and what doesn't. I have to admit that some of the dead spots frustrate me, but friends who have switched from Nextel to something alse say that they also ave dead spots, just in different places. I would ask around to others in your area and see which have the best coverage in your area. Personally, I LOVE the walkie talkie feature. I would be lost without it! It also helps that he has a great plan for employees and we pay very little each month.

 

[grayby]

It really depends on the area where you live. We had Sprint for years in Tx, as did my mother in Ga. She had horrible problems stemming from a lack of coverage in her area - whereas we had no problem. We switched to Cingular because my husband gets a discount, but I haven't been as happy with them. My Mom loves Cingular because of the better reception there. Be extra sure to look at the coverage areas before deciding - it makes a huge difference.

My two cents.

 

[melindag]

thanks for all the info - it will definitely help as we begin shopping around.

Has anybody else tried to activate the pampered perk? Were you told what I was - that its only 3% not 10% like advertised on consultant corner?

thanks!
Melinda

 

[BethCooks4U]

My husband works for Sprint (used to be Nextel) and we hear all kinds of talk from our friends about what plans works and what doesn't. I have to admit that some of the dead spots frustrate me, but friends who have switched from Nextel to something alse say that they also ave dead spots, just in different places. I would ask around to others in your area and see which have the best coverage in your area. Personally, I LOVE the walkie talkie feature. I would be lost without it! It also helps that he has a great plan for employees and we pay very little each month.

No offense to you but as a person out in the general public there isn't anything more annoying (phone-wise) than walkie talkie options on phones. It makes me hear conversations that I don't feel I should be hearing and I also think it doesn't sound professional and is intrusive. JMHO - please don't take it personal.

 

[jenniferp417]

I used to have a Nextel, back when I worked at Staples and they sold them. The walkie talkie feature has a "privacy" mode - in which you basically have to hold the phone to your ear to hear the other party, but you still "push to talk." THAT was wonderful.

 

[ljeffries]

I called and the discount was 10%. That is standard - my bank has a similar discount with another provider. That said, though, because of the 'add-ons', taxes, etc., the 10% rarely makes a difference.

On another note - since you have a teenager, you might want to look into something with unlimited text messaging - that is all the kids do anymore!

 

[jrny2001]

We have Verizon and LOVE IT!!!
We have the family share plan (I think it's called) and we share minutes between 3 phones.
The only downfall is that text messaging is extra with our plan, as my 14 year old son found out this month with an $111.00 text messaging bill! For my husband and myself that doesn't affect us as we don't text message anyone.

 

[BethCooks4U]

We have Verizon and LOVE IT!!!
We have the family share plan (I think it's called) and we share minutes between 3 phones.
The only downfall is that text messaging is extra with our plan, as my 14 year old son found out this month with an $111.00 text messaging bill! For my husband and myself that doesn't affect us as we don't text message anyone.

Verizon charges $5 for 250 text messages and $10 for unlimited (per phone). You might want to consider that for your son.