Consumer Cellular

[Chinasaur]

MVNO on Cingulars network. Anyone have any info on them? Will be using my unlocked V330.

Just ported out of Sprint into Consumer Cellular. Took about 24 hours. Now waiting for my SIM to arrive from Portland, OR.

Some of the sales people didn't know too much, but I can overlook that for their prices. They offer no UNL N/W or other types of free calls, but they also don't force contracts and that's a primary reason I swtiched.

Anyway, any past history on them would be appreciated. I'll post my experience after I've been with them a while. FWTW

[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?

[elmo01]

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?

here's their website...

https://secure.consumercellular.com/pw/

and coverage

https://secure.consumercellular.com/...overagemap.pdf

looks like its a cingular reseller

[bridgebooks]

I am familiar with Consumer Cellular's website & know they are a reseller, although I don't understand the significance of reselling. Does that provide service of lesser quality? What I am interested in learning is what REAL experience customers have had with Consumer Cellular. I had never seen the map before, so thanks for that.

[elmo01]

Originally Posted by bridgebooks

I am familiar with Consumer Cellular's website & know they are a reseller, although I don't understand the significance of reselling. Does that provide service of lesser quality? What I am interested in learning is what REAL experience customers have had with Consumer Cellular. I had never seen the map before, so thanks for that.

resellers buy blocks of airtime from a provider (in this case CINGULAR) they bill on their own... normally prepaid or non contractual services ...in a direct comparison the rate plans arent as good but there is that no contract thing that is the big draw

[LJB]

We have used Consumer Cellular nearly a year. Service has always been available if there was any signal from any carrier. Along I-35 from Minneapolis to Dallas coverage has always been good. Some coverage available in Alaska too. They buy blocks of time on many networks so there is never a roaming charge. Its easy to change calling plans month by month however their web site sometimes screws that up. Its best to call them to change plans. A lost phone last March has required a phone call to fix billing every month. They are always willing to correct the error but nothing gets done to prevent it again next month.

[arachnia]

Is there a way to find out how many towers Consumer Cellular has for my city, and how many towers Verizon, or the company they resell from, has?

[akaangel]

http://www.bbbonline.org/update/issue.asp?ID=23 Today is the first posting for me. Received info from Triple AAA regarding Consumer Cellular and it sounded almost too good! Checked out different google sites and found the above listed from the Better Business Bureau helped. Currently have Cingular with Roll Over, never need all the minutes, and experience weak signal where we live, rural area. The Consumer Cellular map looks as tho we should be able to pick up signal very well.

[arachnia]

I'd already seen the BBB site, but it didn't offer a comparison of the number of towers for a metro area.

Also, I think that Cingular is who Consumer Cellular resells from.

Verizon is my first and only service so far, so I don't know how to compare, but it seems to be working OK for me. It gets good reviews all around in the consumer reporting I've seen (Clark Howard?, ...).

I just don't want to switch and find out that I had it good with Verizon.

So I think one objective measure would be the number of towers each has in a given metropolitan area.

Are there any comparison sites regarding this?

[akaangel]

Thttp://www.cellreception.com/towers/ Found this on google, looks as if it might help.

[krishof1]

I’m interested in signing up for Consumer Cellular, but don’t want to be locked into one of the four cell phones that they provide. I called their service line and that person told me that I MUST use a phone provided by Consumer Cellular.

Is this true or just propaganda? Does anyone use Consumer Cellular with a phone that was NOT provided by Consumer Cellular. Are you using your own phone bought from eBay or from some other online service?

[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.

[Izpecial]

Originally Posted by krishof1

I’m interested in signing up for Consumer Cellular, but don’t want to be locked into one of the four cell phones that they provide. I called their service line and that person told me that I MUST use a phone provided by Consumer Cellular.

Is this true or just propaganda? Does anyone use Consumer Cellular with a phone that was NOT provided by Consumer Cellular. Are you using your own phone bought from eBay or from some other online service?

I can tell you that if you are able to get ahold of an "unlocked" GSM phone it should work, some phones will not work with Cosumer Cellular's SIM cards but most will if they have been unlocked.

your best bet would be to try the SIM card in the phone you are interested in, it will work or it will not.

[oregontech]

Anyone reading this blog site, PLEASE take anything said by UncleHams with a HUGE grain of salt. I am a current employee and know very well the SEVERAL inappropriate things done and said by "UncleHams" while an employee - both to customers and coworkers. Upon being fired (for MANY more reasons than he admits on his blog), he had copied down info to contact AT LEAST one of our customers. On calling her, he identified himself as a Consumer Cellular rep, repeatedly insulted her and cursed at her, and told her not to call anymore with her STUPID questions. Unfortunately for him, she had caller i.d., we did a reverse lookup & found out it was him. UncleHams is ABSOLUTELY lying on several points. Only the last 4 digits of a person's SS# are asked for on any credit check - and this is an Equifax Credit Bureau requirement, not ours. Also, the company DOES background checks. The line about hiring convicted felons convicted of felony theft is a bold faced lie. I do know an employee that was caught stealing from the company & fired immediately. As said before, UncleHams was fired for SEVERAL reasons & given MANY warnings before being let go. He said ANYTHING that came to mind with no thought to whether it was appropriate or not (mentioned sticking his cat in the fridge for a couple minutes when it was in heat). He also passed on info to customers that was often incorrect, all because he never asked questions of those of us who had been there longer & knew the answers. He just made stuff up as he went along & left us to clean up after him. Given this, and how he handled himself after he was fired with the harrassment of a client, I would disregard basically anything he posts.

[bstyyle]

Hey folks

B Styyle here,I just picked up a razr phone from Consumer Cellular.
Their rates seem to be ok as far as pay as you go is concerned.My problem
is I was under the impression that I would be able to keep my existing cell
phone #,when the unit arrived it came with a new #.When I purchased the
phone there was no mention of transferring my old # to the new phone,I
figured it would be mentioned in the paperwork that was to arrive with the phone,it was'nt.I've attempted to contact CC. via e-mail and have yet to receive a response 2nd day and counting.Am I going to have a problem with this issue?

[UncleHams]

Originally Posted by bstyyle

Hey folks

B Styyle here,I just picked up a razr phone from Consumer Cellular.
Their rates seem to be ok as far as pay as you go is concerned.My problem
is I was under the impression that I would be able to keep my existing cell
phone #,when the unit arrived it came with a new #.When I purchased the
phone there was no mention of transferring my old # to the new phone,I
figured it would be mentioned in the paperwork that was to arrive with the phone,it was'nt.I've attempted to contact CC. via e-mail and have yet to receive a response 2nd day and counting.Am I going to have a problem with this issue?

I would suggest you direct your email to a rep named Richard or Marry C

They both are long time reps and answer emails promptly.

Marryc@consumercellular.com I forget richards email.



Anyways your email winds up in a que. The porting dept are the only ones to handle email unless you dirrect it at a rep. I woudl advise against that since most reps there handle issues via phone. The porting dept consist of 4 people.



As far as the phone, if you have an unlocked phone you could just get their cheepo 35 dollar 1112 Nokia phone and take the Sim card out. if you have a cingular phone I think their sim card will work in it. I would act fast as you have 30 days or 30 minutes which ever comes first.





You could always ask to speak to a supervisor. I would suggest you ask for michele or adam as the other supervisor steph is a disgruntled 90% of the time. Good luck on your issue.

[bstyyle]

Good morning to all.


UncleHams thanks for the insight,I think we have the problem solved.I gave CC. a direct call an spoke with someone who appeared to know just
how to solve my dilemna.Hopefully all will go well and I won't have any more
hiccups in my relationship with CC.

Thanks again, Bstyyle

[evchrny]

to OREGONTECH 95% of what UNCLEHAM reported was pro

Consumer Cellular is this the part that should be taken with a

grain of salt???

[dontazzz]

I like them been with them a year...but then I do not texet or anything just the phone part

[dontazzz]

where is the sim card at.??

[beaverisland]

Yes, where is the SIM card??

Nancy

[Alienware_51]

Originally Posted by beaverisland

Yes, where is the SIM card??

Nancy

The sim card is usually located behind the battery of the phone.

[Chinasaur]

Wow..old thread

I fired CC two months after porting my number. Reasons:

1. No way to track your minute usage other than on your phone. They use AT&T's network.
2. Preferred T-Mobile's Custome Service - CC's was not very knowledgeable.
3. No data service - Once I started using I couldn't live without and the lack was too much of an impediment. Don't know if they offer data now.

You can use any unlocked GSM phone. i was fed a song and dance about only "modern' phones working..yadda yadda. Not to worry.

[bambam]

Does unused airtime roll over from the previous month ? - Thanks