Consumer Cellular

[Zzyvko Marjanovitch]

Have received and activated a Motorola w220 with Consumer Cellular and still can't believe how well the transfer (from Verizon) went, and how courteous and knowledgable the CC people are. A great contrast from Verizon! So far the voice quality is excellent and I have no complaints from the other end that I am breaking up (despite the fact that CC is using other carriers facilities). My primary reasons for switching: 1. lousy service from Verizon. 2. stuck with an LG fone (got to be the worst!) and the only possibilities (after 2 years) weren't much better. Yrs, folks, we are very happy with CC!

[AlGreen]

CONGRADS! YOU GOT A CELL THAT WORKED. I DIDN'T.
P.S. CC INFORMED ME THROUGH MY CARD Co. THAT THEY WILL PURSUE ME FOR PAYMENT OF A CELL THAT DIDN'T WORK AND SERVICE I DIDN'T USE.
GOOD LUCK
ALGREEN

[Zzyvko Marjanovitch]

Sorry, Al, at 83 I'm old enought, and served my country long enough, to not have to be politically correct. I say it like it is. Not allowed to give you legal advice but if you were one of my grand children I'd advise you to see an attorney. Of course, there's always another side to any story.

[AlGreen]

Sorry to tell you that U are not old enough to be my GRANDFATHER. Fortunately my brother is an attorney. So I'm set for CC when they try to collect. And yes there is always another side to any story. In this case U haven't heard all of my side yet. I count 8 letters written to me from CC . If U'd like a copy of CC confusing, poorly written letters I'd be glad to send U a copy. See if U think their nuts or not?
Al

[titus1928]

Originally Posted by bridgebooks

Chinasaur: I am brand new to this forum & have never done any posting before. However, I was searching for information about Consumer Cellular, a plan & cell phones offered by AAA, & found only your post. of 11/05. It's hard to believe nothing has been posted on this topic since then. What have you learned about Consumer Cellular?

I have been with Celllular for two years. I am very happy with it. Never had any problems with it. I use their Razor because I want the Blue tooth facility. It has internet facility, however I do not know if they charge extra. I have 200 minutes which I share with my girl friend at 30.00 per mnth for both phones. I left AT&T because of their foreign call center. I only talk to people who speak english. I have always spoken to Portland when i call their 800 number.

I can call anywhere in the US, only minutes are charged.

No roaming charges.

[Zzyvko Marjanovitch]

I've had the American Motorola and the American Consumer Cellular service six months, so far. No problems and no reason to call them. Everything works exactly the way they said it would (how about that for something different). Two friends have also joined CC but opted for different phones but no problems with them, either. I could say that the nicest thing is the reduced bill (vs AT&T and Verizon), but what I appreciate most is the excellent quality of sound going both ways.
It really feels good to get a service equal to what is charged.

[emcoe]

The last message regarding Consumer Cellular is from 4-22-09, and from Zzyvko Marjanovitch in North Carolina. Good news - he or she likes the service - Bad News - still looking for a user from California.
I will greatly appreciate hearing from a Cal CC user. THANX

[lars1331]

please don't "hook " up with these crooks. They rob you blind. They rip you off in every way imaginable. Don't honor quarantee, keep billing after cancelled, inaccurate charges. Just totally frustrating.. I had no overage (couldn't even make a decent call for longer than 10 minutes) and my bill was way different every month. They are rude, unfamiliar with their policies and seem to have much less than a GED, Or perhaps they just act stupid in the hope that you will just hang up. I can't write anymore. I just don't want to relive the nightmare any more. If you do go with them, stock up on Excedrin.

[szwick1213]

It has been a while since you posted but I have a question. I currently have Consumer Cellular and want to pick my own phone. They have stated they will send a sim card but cannot guarantee it will work. It will be an AT&T unlocked phone. What is your experience in them sending sim cards that will work in other phones?

Originally Posted by UncleHams

I wll be happy to advise you as I am a former employee there. First off its not a bad deal if you NEVER go over your minutes. They back date plans so if you call in after you went over, you can change and it will then just be your usage out of your normal plan.


A few things listed are both pros & cons as well as good and bad aspects both related to service, hiring practices and the people you are talking to on the other end of the phone.







A few things though moral wise I have quams about. They do not do back ground checks on their employees. Your FULL social security number is displayed 60% of the time as well as FULL credit card information exp date etc.

If you have a credit score of 550 or less you won't be allowed to have their service and a credit score of 550 to 599 will net you a year of being on Auto pay which you must then provide a debit or credit card that your monthly bill will come out of.

Most of their client base is seniors who care little to use the phone outside of needing to call AAA or report a drunk driver via 911, both free calls.

The owner is pretty generous with the employees and they celebrate almost every ones birth day with a cake etc. Theres min office politics but plenty of gossip from the 40% divorced over weight women who are jelous to see others who are in happy relationships


Anyhow I no longer work there due to a moral issue in which a customer had her friend pay her bill with a cc.

This CC was then added as the auto pay card in which her friend did not authorize. Note her friend was using one of the 3 phones on the acct.

Anyhow her friend called in to have her card removed and also read the full number to me. I was going to do it but I checked with billing AkA the owners wife and she told me to leave it and that although the lady was not authorized to go over the acct, she was still resposible since she was using one of the phones.

This sounded wrong because A) She was never ON the acct as an authorized user B) She was never informed that her friend ( the acct holder) had bad credit and that her one time payment would net her credit card to replace the account holders old declined card.

Anyhow I followed the card holders request even after billing said to leave it. The decision was simple, I put my self in that ladies place.


Anyhow I don't want it to be a full rant, Consumer cellular is a growing family business with failry decent ethics ( aside from my rant) I'm not sore since I just got hired at comcast which pays 16.00 an hour VRS the 11 I was making.

#Lastly a few tips in dealing with consumer cellular. 99% of the reps will take the time to help you.

#ALL and I mean ALL calls are recorded and heald for 30 days/

#They will ALWAYS try to assist you before sending you to a supervisor.

#They pay more for their cell phones than they sell them to you for.. After all they make their money on service, not cell phones.

#If you threaten to cancel service over a disputed overage ammount, they will almost always try to rerate the plan, if not ask for a supervisor.

#If you ever have a porting issue, ask to speak to the only lady in porting, she knows EVERYTHING!!!

# They do not carry any wireless services other than Txt msging and regular cell service. This means no internet.

# Consumer cellular is a reseller of Cingular. This means they have an account with cingular and resell plans.

#Every rep has access to email. Although email CAN be screened by the network admin, its never screened.

# Reps are told to when taking payments verify only the last 4 digits of the Credit card number, although the whole thing is visable, they won't tell you that so you have a false sense of security.

( THIS, combined with the fact they do NO credit checks OR background checks may leave a sour taste in your mouth. ) I can prove they don't They also have hired people with out checking the work references..

I can also prove they have in the past hired convicted felons who were convicted of Felony Theft

The have though started doing ____ testing.





In conclusion its not a bad company. I advice you use a credit card if you make online payments. Credit cards are easier to deal with when you have fraud than for someone having dirrect access to your bank account$


Thank you, any questions? Feel free to post them here.

[szwick1213]

Originally Posted by Zzyvko Marjanovitch

I've had the American Motorola and the American Consumer Cellular service six months, so far. No problems and no reason to call them. Everything works exactly the way they said it would (how about that for something different). Two friends have also joined CC but opted for different phones but no problems with them, either. I could say that the nicest thing is the reduced bill (vs AT&T and Verizon), but what I appreciate most is the excellent quality of sound going both ways.
It really feels good to get a service equal to what is charged.

I am a customer of CC and also want to get my own phone. I was told that they would send me a sim card but could not guarantee it would work. It is an AT&T phone. Just wondering what your experience was in getting your own phonel

[szwick1213]

Originally Posted by cellularservice

Personally I love CC. I figure myself to be well informed of most companies offering service and I work for CC. I will admit that they are not for everyone. I personally have no issue telling someone to stick with what they have or give them phone numbers for other companies if I don't believe our service will suit them. We don't gain anything by unhappy customers. In today's world it's hard to find a company that takes this position. Most will tell you to SELL! SELL! SELL! They could care less about the person they're selling to. Not so with CC. We are low/no pressure sales and don't work on commission so tons of sales don't make our personal wallets grow. We can't always please everyone, but we try hard. Also, the company ethics are ones I can agree on. They treat their employees like family and they give back to the community through donations and volunteer work. They also have a phone recycling program to help keep them out of land fills and 100% of proceeds goes to Doernbecher Children's Hospital. Yes, I said 100%!!!! How's that for giving back. And that's just one charity that will be helped every year. I've worked many call centers and I truly can't say anything bad about anyone there. They all try very hard and if a customer has a problem we do all we can to help them. I can work there and go home at night and sleep. How many call centers can you say that about?

So are you still working there? I use CC and want to get my own phone. I am told it might work. What is your experience with that? It will be an AT&T phone.

[cclane]

Since you mention that you will be using an unlocked AT&T phone, the phone should work with the SIM card provided. The important thing to remember when searching for an unlocked phone for your Consumer Cellular service is that it should be a GSM phone for the U.S. network. An AT&T phone should satisfy that criteria.

Also, if you can tell us the specific model of phone and what network it works on, we can tell you immediately if it will work instead of waiting for the SIM card to arrive. Let us know if you have any more questions or thoughts. You are also welcome to give us a call at 1-888-345-5509. Thanks!

[szwick1213]

The phone is a 8100 Pearl Unlocked GSM phone AT&T

Bell Mobility, Fido, Rogers Wireless, Cellular One, AT&T, Cingular, SunCom, T-Mobile

[cclane]

“Yes, that phone should work just fine with the new SIM card. Thank you and enjoy your new phone!”

[sulla]

I have a ipaq 910 that I need to get service for. If I call cc and get a plan will they send me a sim card or do I have to buy one of their phones?

[cclane]

Looking at the specs for the ipaq 910 it looks like this phone works on the GSM network, which is what Consumer Cellular uses. This is a good sign that the phone will work with Consumer Cellular. Another way to tell if the phone will work is to ask the manufacturer what cellular networks the phone works on. If the phone you bought is compatible with the AT&T network, then you should not have a problem.

If you do decide to go with Consumer Cellular, a SIM card will be sent you free of charge, enabling you to test out the service. If you don’t like it you can always cancel within the first 30 days or 30 minutes of use, whichever comes first, for a full refund. If you have any more questions you are also welcome to talk to live customer service representatives based in the U.S. at 1-888-345-5509. Thanks!

[wht]

To avoid "Consumer Cellular's" data charges, would I have to remove their sim card from my unlocked GSM smart phone every time that I access the internet at a wifi hotspot?

I use a Lebara sim while traveling in Europe and find it convenient and relatively inexpensive because Lebara does not charge for wifi or wlan data connections (or at least didn't this spring), only voice and text messages.

AT&T will log data usage even with wifi hotspot usage, ... but not when their sim card is removed :)

I'm looking for a cellular voice plan with text messaging that would not charge me to access email, the internet, wunder radio, Skype, etc., etc., .... when in range of wifi hotspots ... with the convenience of leaving their sim in my smartphone while online.

All insight and help will be appreciated :)

[mframe]

There is a handy free utility for Windows Mobile devices called nodata, which will disable GPRS/EDGE connections and leave WiFi available. See link below.

New FREE Utility - NoData - WinMo @ MoDaCo

[cclane]

Looking at the specs for the ipaq 910 it looks like this phone works on the GSM network, which is what Consumer Cellular uses. This is a good sign that the phone will work with Consumer Cellular. Another way to tell if the phone will work is to ask the manufacturer what cellular networks the phone works on. If the phone you bought is compatible with the AT&T network, then you should not have a problem.

If you do decide to go with Consumer Cellular, a SIM card will be sent you free of charge, enabling you to test out the service. If you don’t like it you can always cancel within the first 30 days or 30 minutes of use, whichever comes first, for a full refund. If you have any more questions you are also welcome to talk to live customer service representatives based in the U.S. at 1-888-345-5509. Thanks!