Why "$2/day" Prepaid Cellphones are a Lie
My new phone (the Motoroloa Photon 4G from Sprint) has some serious issues. Sometimes it just decides to be an asshole for a few hours, and in that time it will do nothing except restart and get stuck at the sprint launch screen (which ironically is just a big "NOW"...)
So, I was in Target yesterday and I picked up a $10 AT&T prepaid phone. I chose AT&T because every other phone was $30 or more, this ancient candybar was on clearance for $10, and I really did not care what phone I got. All four major carriers offered $2/day plans (Sprint = Boost in this case) so I figured I would be paying the same (as clearly - the phones I was looking at were not capable of data anyway).
As the carriers often do stack up, "$2/day" gets you very different things
Sprint = Unlimited Calling, Texting, and Data (!!!)
T-Mobile = Unlimited Calling, Texting
AT&T = Unlimited Calling, Texting
Verizon = Unlimited Calling and a free punch in the face
Though Boost was clearly the best deal, I went with AT&T for the clearance phone - only $10. I entered the code which activated me on the "$2/day" plan, and then called to "add money" to my account.
Here is where the bullshit starts. It turns out that on AT&T Go, the minimum amount of money you can add is $15 (on a $2/day plan that does not even make any sense). But the kicker? You only have 30 days to use that money. So if you were buying the phone to be a backup or spare as I was, it is completely fucking useless. By the time you go to use the phone, it almost certainly has expired. And if I need to use my $2/day plan, then I would probably end up paying $15 for that day, because I would not need that phone again within 30 days.
Turns out that Boost gives you 90 days, minimum payment is $10, and of course includes unlimited data for the same price.
Screw you AT&T
So, I was in Target yesterday and I picked up a $10 AT&T prepaid phone. I chose AT&T because every other phone was $30 or more, this ancient candybar was on clearance for $10, and I really did not care what phone I got. All four major carriers offered $2/day plans (Sprint = Boost in this case) so I figured I would be paying the same (as clearly - the phones I was looking at were not capable of data anyway).
As the carriers often do stack up, "$2/day" gets you very different things
Sprint = Unlimited Calling, Texting, and Data (!!!)
T-Mobile = Unlimited Calling, Texting
AT&T = Unlimited Calling, Texting
Verizon = Unlimited Calling and a free punch in the face
Though Boost was clearly the best deal, I went with AT&T for the clearance phone - only $10. I entered the code which activated me on the "$2/day" plan, and then called to "add money" to my account.
Here is where the bullshit starts. It turns out that on AT&T Go, the minimum amount of money you can add is $15 (on a $2/day plan that does not even make any sense). But the kicker? You only have 30 days to use that money. So if you were buying the phone to be a backup or spare as I was, it is completely fucking useless. By the time you go to use the phone, it almost certainly has expired. And if I need to use my $2/day plan, then I would probably end up paying $15 for that day, because I would not need that phone again within 30 days.
Turns out that Boost gives you 90 days, minimum payment is $10, and of course includes unlimited data for the same price.
Screw you AT&T
Comments
Post a Comment