Won a SDA! Should I leave Verizon for T-Mobile?

Hey All!

I won a SDA phone through "T-Mobile Days" out here in California! I'm really jazzed and happy about it, for I really like the phone and want to be with T-Mobile...for as a whole, I like them as a company (better than VZW). Also had a chance to play around with the phone (my 1st Smartphone!), and I really like it...I'm hooked! But there is a couple of issues holding me back.

1st, I'm still under contract with Verizon till next year. 2nd, the reception where I live in Oakland, CA. I found out is a little on the weak side. A friend who has T-Mobile makes calls just fine outside in front of my apt building...but inside can be sketchy (1-3 bars). 3rd, have family/friend's still on VZW (mobile to mobile).

So should I:

-Hold on to the phone, and wait till next year? See if I still feel the same and then if I don't stay with T-Mobile get something like the "Q" from Verizon? I could activate the SDA and use them side-by-side, but really can't afford to pay two cell phone bills.
-Leave Verizon and pay the $175 ETF? It would be cheaper than paying $39 for 12-month's.
-Do you think if I brought up the issue of the weak coverage area where I live to T-Mobile, would they do something about it? Like soon?
-I could also just activate it for internet/hot-spot only and use it for addresses/appt's, etc.
-Or sell the phone on something like E-Bay?

I really don't want to do the latter, for I'd rather be with T-Mobile...and be using this SDA!! I'd appreciate any opinion's and suggestions.

Thanks!

 

Thanks Mike for the info. I did check into T-Mobile's voice/data, and I would probably do the $39-voice & the $29-add-on data...which your right, would be about $68 a month, not including tax. T-Mobile does have a "day usage" rate of $6 (I think?!?) which I could do as well. I have been considering the "Q", but I like the size of the SDA better, since I keep it in my front pocket. I'm not in any rush to do anything...so I'm chewing on it for awhile. One thing I thought of is if I go with T-Mobile, the $175-ETF is not too bad considering I didn't have to pay for the phone, and I've read post's of other's in the past who have spent more on a new phone (with any carrier) out of contract. (See how I'm trying to convice myself here! :loony: ) Also have to check further into the coverage for my area.
Anyway, thanks again Mike!

 

Thanks Andy for the advise! But your probably right...in the long run I'll probably switch. Yes, I would lose M2M for 6 people...but after thinking about it:

My roommate - doesn't turn on his phone much anyway and calls me very little from it...maybe 5-10 min a day max. Otherwise we use our office phones. The only place that'll hurt is when he travels out of town and calls long distance during the day.
My 2 Cousin's - Usually call me after 9pm anyhow (why I don't know!), or weekends.
My sister - we speak on weekends.
And 1 friend - call via office phones, cell's occasionally.

So it doesn't appear there I'll be losing that much as far as M2M. Coverage is another thing I have to see about. I'll try T-Mobile out for the 15-day trial. If it's not much better/worse than what I do now with VZW, I'll be OK. I get about 2-bars in my apt with VZW now...drop calls occasionally (like tonight), but usually hold a signal pretty well. So I'll see!

Much thanks to you-Andy and Mike!

 

Well folks, I'm "live"!! :smilebig::highclap: Out here in CA we have 30-days for trial with T-Mobile, so I signed up with the cheapest plan ($29-voice) and the $29-data add-on. If i decide to port over, then I'll up to the $39-voice plan. So far-so good...even at home! One thing I've noticed about T-Mobile and/or GSM, is even with 1-bar, if the phone "lock's" on to a signal, it seems to "hold-it". As I've been advised here and in other forums, I know bars are necessarily representative of what level of service your receiving, but in my apt I've been getting 1-3 up to 4-bars. With VZW I get about the same, but it's more of a steady 2-3...though I do get dropped calls with VZW sometimes as well. This area where I live is blocks and blocks of apt building's, so maybe not a lot of towers in the area. But so far, no dropped with T-Mobile!

Yes SmArTeStChIlD421, edge is available in the Bay Area, and I've also tested the Wi-Fi...which works fantastic! I also like how I can have so many entries in the phone including addresses, B-Days, etc. The only thing I've noticed on some calls is this "hissing" sometimes kind of a high-pitched sqeeling sound...don't know what that is.

What I'm doing for this weekend, is I've set up call forwarding from my VZW phone so I don't have to inform and confuse people with another phone #...especially if I decide not to keep T-Mobile. Otherwise, we'll see!

 

"Update"...The converage in my apt...questionable. Most of the time it barely hovers around 1-bar, but a lot of the time the phone is on "searching". Then it'll pop back on with 5-bars for a second, then go back down to 1. If I stay in the bedroom area's near the window, it'll go up to 2...maybe 3, but just for a short while. Earlier this evening while I was charging the phone...it was on Cingular's network with 2-3 bars for a second, but went back to T-Mobile! Around Oakland, coverage is otherwise pretty good to excellent. My Verizon phone is usually on a constant 2-3 bars inside...but that's everywhere in the apt.

My zip is 94610...cross street's are "Lee and Van Buren". You'll see I'm kinda in a "hole". It's very light green in my neighborhood.

I'm under a 30-day trial. I just signed up for the $29-voice and $29-data. But if coverage doesn't improve and I get too many "searching" sessions on my phone, I'll have to throw in the towel, disconnect and stay with Verizon. I'll then probably sell the phone on E-Bay or something. Too bad, for I really like the SDA and T-Mobile! I have e-mailed T-Mobile with a "trouble ticket" and will call them tomorrow. But I highly doubt they'll be swinging into my neighborhood to throw up a new tower in the near future!

Then I told my two cousin's who are on VZW that I activated my T-Mobile phone, and right away it's "well is this call going to cost me more money now"? Even though they mostly call on weekends and after 9 on weekdays anyhow! But it really threw a "wicket" into my feelings about the phone and T-Mobile...compounded with the "searching" problem the phone is doing...Oh well! :dunno: (sigh)!

Oh...I do want to add that when I do lock on to a call, the call quality is excellent! That's a "good thing"!

 

"I throw in the towel" re: SDA & T-Mobile...

Hey All...I gave it a try, but it's not working in my apt. :crying: The phone almost constantly says "searching"...then maybe get 1-bar or two, and that's at one end of the apt near the window. I've called customer service, tech dept and gone back to the store. All the reps I've spoken to are "stellar" and have really tried to help, but no one can advise me if any new towers are going up in my neighborhood any time soon. I even tried to put it on manual and force it over to Cingular, but the phone/network told me it can't transfer the "setting's"?? Basically it's as it was 2-years ago when I tried T-Mobile previously. So I'm going to have a friend of mine sell the SDA on E-Bay for me. I may then turn around and get the Moto-Q through Verizon. Maybe I can find someone on E-Bay who would want to swap a SDA for a Q? :headscrat :idea: Anyway...Thanks to everyone who's helped and given suggestions. It's too bad, for I really liked the SDA and T-Mobile. But maybe I'll try again in the future if coverage improves in my neighborhood...or I move!

...had a 2nd thought, I could also disconnect the service and throw the phone in a drawer until service improves...then re-activate it. But I could also go the other route and use the money to buy a another phone? Opinions please??

Thanks again!

 

Yeah maybe you're right! But I keep going back and forth about it..."to sell or not to sell..." If only I didn't live in a cell-phone dead spot!! But can't see paying for two phones (I have other bills to pay) or paying a $175 ETF with VZW to have no coverage with T-Mobile at home. You should have seen the look on my roommates face when I suggested we move just so I can get a decent signal on my SDA...no words, just this "cold stare"! issed: I then had to laugh! :lmao:

 

Well SmArTeStChIlD421, I have e-mailed T-Mobile 3 times on-line and called the tech dept once...and she said that a trouble ticket would be entered, but no definate answer. Maybe when I call to cancel, they'll then finally offer to do something about it!!

Shores Guy...So far the only real weak spot's I have found (been using the phone all weekend), is my apt and the Bay Bridge! Around Oakland in most places I get a full 5-bars...it's just when I turn off the main street and go up 2-3 blocks up to my apt building that I can see the coverage going 5-4-3-2 bars. Then when I pull into my carport, it's usually "searching" again...until I get into the apt and go to the back end of it near the windows in my office or bedroom...maybe after 5-15 minutes of waiting I'll finally get 1-2 bars. Real frustrating. I like the voice quality and everything better about the SDA than my current carrier VZW, but as I've stated previously, can't see paying a $175 ETF with VZW for "iffy" coverage.

Am going to head over to CompUSA and Fry's Electronics and inquire about a repeater/cell phone booster...but again that would be kinda crazy to spend $175 ETF and $200-$300 for a repeater...just to make a damned phone work in my apt. Just wish that T-Mobile could get their act together and do something about the area where I live. Just seems like there is this "pale green spot/area" north of Lake Merritt where they need to throw up one more tower!! :headscrat

 

Matt...On the compass map if you put in 300 block of Lee St., cross Van Buren, you'll see I'm in that pale green area North of Lake Merritt. I'm unfortunately in the back of an apt building...surrounding by other apt building's (one right next to me) and I'm on the 2nd floor, sandwiched between two apt's. Maybe that has something to do with it.

I'm going to check into repeaters/cell phone booster's today...also going to check out the Moto-Q at VZW. I have a year left on my contract, but I'll see if they'll allow me to sign a new 2-year contract to get the 2-year price on a Q. If not, I'll keep my V325 and just stick it out for another year...maybe go to a data-only plan with T-Mobile to use the SDA at Hot Spot's, etc. Or just cancel the T-Mobile acct all together and sell the phone on E-Bay...unless someone on this forum, PhoneScoop or HoFo want's to buy the thing. Or maybe someone will trade a SDA for a Moto-Q! :highclap: :deal:

Either way, it's really been a frustrating experience and very disappointing. I tried T-Mobile 2-years ago and the same thing happened. You would have thought in that amount of time they would have done something about it!

 

Thanks Cailiff04 for your help and opinion! I actually tried signing up with them about a year and a half to 2 years ago...I used two different phones, a Samsung and a Motorola...I got about the same coverage at my apt that I got just recently over the last 2 weeks...nothing! Most of the time I was searching for a signal. If I managed to get a bar and dial out on a call, it would immediately drop. Once in awhile I would get 2-3 bars...but that was rare...and then I could lock on to a call and stay on. I was hoping in 2 years from my last attempt that things would have changed, but no improvement. I'm also with Verizon and have a year left on contract...so I was willing when I won this SDA to jump ship with VZW, pay the $175. But not so if I can't get coverage with T-Mobile. So as of today, my service with T-Mobile was cancelled. I have received over the last two-weeks several nice e-mail's from T-Mobile stating they are working on the problem...but the last e-mail I received, the rep suggested I cancel before the 30-day's was up (yes it's 30 here in CA.) so I would not be locked into a years contract and then have to pay a $200 ETF if I later changed my mind. I plan to write a nice letter to T-Mobile for despite the lack of signal, the customer service was excellent! I appreciated their honesty and not lie to me simply to have me complete my contract. I am now in the process of trying to sell the SDA.

Thanks again!