We've used the Family National Freedom Plan for a number of years here in Virginia Beach and have been very satisfied. However, our daughter is now at college in Philadelphia and wants to upgrade to the HTC Touch which would require us to switch to a Smart Choice plan. I'm concerned that her relying on an Alltel phone in Philadelphia for eight or nine months per year might not be a good idea since Alltel has no presence there. Opinions on whether my concerns are justified would be appreciated.
It should not be a problem it looks like it is in their area, if she can connect to the internet with the phone then it should be ok. I would suggested checking it out within the first 30 days of the service on that phone, and if it does not work you can always return it. If it connects to the internet though it should be ok for roaming. As long as you have other lines on your account that are in the area Alltel shouldn't give you a hard time about it.
You should be fine. She might be better off buying one at retail or off eBay so it doesn't mess with your plan (unless you like the smartchoice offerings). With that you can buy it off one of those and just add it to the account without smartchoice, then add 29.99 plan add on for a data plan.
We bought the Touch on Friday in Virginia Beach, and it functioned perfectly. She returned to Philadelphia today; the phone still works great but she gets messages indicating that she may be incurring roaming charges and the triangle is not flashing. She called Alltel and the tech support people say that the phone is connecting to the proper tower in Philly. We've also been assured that we'll get a credit for any roaming charges that show up on our bill. Beyond that, the only advice she got is to turn the phone off for an hour or so and see if that clears the warnings. It didn't. If anyone has experienced a similar problem I'd welcome some feedback.
Sure, you will get credit for roaming.....if the charges are incorrect for the coverage your plan offers. Roaming indicator on smart phones don't work. Here is alltel's answer https://alltel.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/alltel.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=8540&p_created=1181672041&p_sid=S1T5D5Yi&p_accessibility=0&p_lva=8642&p_sp=cF9zcmNoPTEmcF9zb3J0X2J5PSZwX2dyaWRzb3J0PSZwX3Jvd19jbnQ9MzkmcF9wcm9kcz0wJnBfY2F0cz0mcF9wdj0mcF9jdj0mcF9wYWdlPTEmcF9zZWFyY2hfdGV4dD1yb2FtaW5nIG9uIHNtYXJ0cGhvbmU*&p_li=&p_topview=1
When upgrading does alltel charge any other fee other than the price of the phone? I will be upgrading to to scoop on thursday and I want to know before I go in there.
No they don't charge you for upgrading. Unless you are starting a new line or service entirely then there is an activation fee.
