Unemployed, Homeless Needs a Prepaid Phone

Oct 25, 2009

PAYG Recommendation
by: PrepaidWirelessGuy

I'm sorry to hear about your troubles. That's really too bad about your bad experience with TracFone. They're known for having some of the lowest prices around (once you take into consideration their double minutes program), and they offer a reload that keeps your minutes valid for 365 days. Others to provide the year expiry too though. Too bad they treated you so poorly that they completely turned you off; their loss!

Unfortunately, a lot of carriers are trying to save costs, and have outsourced their call centers to India, and other countries where there's sometimes a language barrier. I've seen some carriers even bring their care operations back to the U.S. because of problems.

Anyway, although other carriers offer 365 day expiration, they require you to add a large chunk of money (ex. $100) at one time, which I assume you wouldn't want to do(?). Unfortunately, no companies offer minutes that never expire; it's too costly for them to do that. Believe it or not, even when you're not using the phone, there's some costs for carriers to keep your phone and number active.

A lot of prepaid carriers are starting to only include very minimal user manuals to save costs, which allows them to keep prices as low as possible. They expect customers will download the information online, or somehow figure things out, which isn't always easy!

With all that said, based on what you shared, I think that Page Plus is an option that you should seriously consider. Of course, there are a lot of other good options, but if you're asking for one recommendation, I think Page Plus might meet your needs. I say this for the following reasons:

- You can put on as little as a $10 every 120 days, where most other carriers either don't offer a $10 option, or it only lasts 90 days. This means that your effective monthly cost is very reasonable ($3.33/month). Though note that they do charge a $0.50 per month service fee.

- The per minute rate is relatively competitive. Note that the more money you add on, the lower your cost per minute will be. Once you figure out how much you use your phone, you'll know how much to reload to optimize/minimize your per minute cost.

- They're an MVNO on the Verizon network, so you'll have access to a good solid network.

- They also offer daily, monthly, and monthly unlimited plans, which would make it easy for you to switch programs/plans as your usage changes over time. i.e. It gives you very good flexibility.

I want to note that I don't have any relationship with Page Plus in terms of receiving any compensation for selling their products. I'm making a genuine, unbiased recommendation based on what you've shared as your needs. Others may have other recommendations.

You can compare per minute plans (including Page Plus) by visiting PAYG Plans.

I hope this helps!

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Oct 25, 2009
Rating

Submitted by: PrepaidWirelessGuy

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Comment
I'm sorry to hear about your troubles. That's really too bad about your bad experience with TracFone. They're known for having some of the lowest prices around (once you take into consideration their double minutes program), and they offer a reload that keeps your minutes valid for 365 days. Others to provide the year expiry too though. Too bad they treated you so poorly that they completely turned you off; their loss! Unfortunately, a lot of carriers are trying to save costs, and have outsourced their call centers to India, and other countries where there's sometimes a language barrier. I've seen some carriers even bring their care operations back to the U.S. because of problems. Anyway, although other carriers offer 365 day expiration, they require you to add a large chunk of money (ex. $100) at one time, which I assume you wouldn't want to do(?). Unfortunately, no companies offer minutes that never expire; it's too costly for them to do that. Believe it or not, even when you're not using the phone, there's some costs for carriers to keep your phone and number active. A lot of prepaid carriers are starting to only include very minimal user manuals to save costs, which allows them to keep prices as low as possible. They expect customers will download the information online, or somehow figure things out, which isn't always easy! With all that said, based on what you shared, I think that Page Plus is an option that you should seriously consider. Of course, there are a lot of other good options, but if you're asking for one recommendation, I think Page Plus might meet your needs. I say this for the following reasons: - You can put on as little as a $10 every 120 days, where most other carriers either don't offer a $10 option, or it only lasts 90 days. This means that your effective monthly cost is very reasonable ($3.33/month). Though note that they do charge a $0.50 per month service fee. - The per minute rate is relatively competitive. Note that the more money you add on, the lower your cost per minute will be. Once you figure out how much you use your phone, you'll know how much to reload to optimize/minimize your per minute cost. - They're an MVNO on the Verizon network, so you'll have access to a good solid network. - They also offer daily, monthly, and monthly unlimited plans, which would make it easy for you to switch programs/plans as your usage changes over time. i.e. It gives you very good flexibility. I want to note that I don't have any relationship with Page Plus in terms of receiving any compensation for selling their products. I'm making a genuine, unbiased recommendation based on what you've shared as your needs. Others may have other recommendations. You can compare per minute plans (including Page Plus) by visiting <a href="http://www.prepaid-wireless-guide.com/compare-payg.html">PAYG Plans</a>. I hope this helps!

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Unemployed, Homeless Needs a Prepaid Phone

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