No service is perfect but SunCom used to be really good
Written: Nov 08 '04 (Updated Nov 08 '04)
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Pros: Great customer service, network, huge voice mail box, referral program, price of features
Cons: limited availability, choice of phones, automatic contract renewal, 2 plans to choose from
The Bottom Line: At first the network quality and the customer service used to be worth it. Under their new GSM plans though it's not a good deal.
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| bobbyslav's Full Review: General Reviews of SunCom Customer Service |
A little update. I know I just wrote the review, and I am generally happy with the service. But that's given that I've signed up under previous terms and rate plan. If I were to sign up now with SunCom I wouldn't do it and do not recommend it.
After being for over three years with Cingular, I had become increasingly annoyed with their customer service, which prompted me to switch over to Suncom. At the time I signed up they were running a really good deal with their UnPlan – which gives you unlimited anytime minutes for $50 a month. The catch is that you only receive unlimited minutes in your local area, which is a very small territory, not even covering the larger city area. At the time it wasn’t big deal, because the plan included also 300 “just in case” minutes, which were good anywhere in the US on any network. 300 minutes of roaming were more than enough for me, so I had no complaints. The really bad news though is that apparently too many people found out the deal, so SunCom was quick to spoil the joy. Now the same UnPlan Costs $50, but doesn’t include any “just in case” minutes. It does, however, cover the entire SunCom region – which is really not very big: SC, NC, and parts of GA. If you want additional roaming minutes you have to pay at least $5 more, which only gives you 20 min.
The other thing I really hate about any wireless service is that the price they quote is far off from what you actually pay, when you add features, taxes and stuff you are paying at least $15 more. So after more than a year paying $60 for cell phone, which I didn’t use all that much, I got tired of it and switched to a different plan. The new plan was $30 a month, which includes 300 anytime minutes, unlimited nights and weekends, 1000 mobile to mobile minutes for other SunCom numbers, and all the basic features: voice mail, forwarding, waiting, etc. I’ve been really happy with this plan, never ran anywhere close to my limits, and it’s a national plan, which covers not only the SunCom, but also the AT&T networks.
I have to say I have been extremely satisfied with my service, and with SunCom’s customer service. When I first signed up for almost a year they had the quickest response time when you call them, and you never had to select any options – just dial the customer care number and you immediately got to speak to a real person. That changed eventually and now you have to punch a few choices first, but even so they still answer very quickly and I’ve never had to wait even a minute on hold. The coverage and reception on the network has been amazing. I really don’t understand why so many people are complaining. I have never had any problems, and never been to a place without some type of coverage. I remember on the Cingular network it was almost impossible to make a call on Fridays between 5 and 8 pm. I am sure they must have expanded their capacity by now, but a few years back it was awful.
Now the things I really dislike about the service. First is the fact that SunCom renews your contract for another year automatically so you have to be very careful when it expires, and call them a month in advance to tell them that you want to continue on month to month basis. The other thing is that their choice of phones is very limited. I have the hardest time selecting a phone, and I dread the stupid Motorolas that they have so many of. Also until recently they were using a TDMA network only, and have just recently started to develop the GSM network. On a TDMA network features like wireless internet and GPS are not available, so this is something I really miss. I’ve thinking about getting a new GSM phone, but again – the choices are so limited I can’t find one that I like for a reasonable amount of money. I am currently using the Nokia 3560 phone, which is the best phone I’ve ever had, but lacks a few features I really wish I had. And the last couple of things I dislike are that every time you want to make a change to your plan you have to either commit to a new year – long contract, or pay a $36 charge, but I think a lot of companies do that. Also they only have two plans to chose from and neither of those is a national plan, so I really need to stick with the one I have. I need to check if the AT&T network is still covered under my plan, because I have some suspicion that after the Cingular/AT&T merger, SunCom is no longer a part of the AT&T family.
A few more nice things about SunCom – they do let you upgrade your phone after only 10 months, most companies give you that choice after 12, Cingular, I found out, wants you to wait till your contract expires, and recently they’ve been making people sign up 2 years contracts, which is ridiculous, phones just don’t last that long. SunCom also has the Refer a friend program – for every new customer you bring them, they give you and your friend $35 each thank you check. I’ve made almost $200 from that program. And finally I really like the voicemail – it gives you a lot of time for messages, and a lot of options to reply directly to a person who left a message, without having to dial their number. With Cingular I only had 5 message allowance in the basic voice mail included in the service, and only 30 seconds per message. With SunCom I am not sure about the number I get – I think it might be unlimited, because my voicemail box has never filled up, and also every message could be up to 10 minutes long. It’s really nice.
You know, I’ve been thinking about switching carriers again lately, simply because I can’t find a cool phone for a reasonable price, but while I was writing this review, I realized how many things I really like about my SunCom service, and what I’ll be losing if I did switch, so I think I’ll have to stick with them.
Recommended:
No
Amount Paid (US$): 30/month
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Epinions.com ID:
bobbyslav
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Member: Bobby L
Location: Columbia, SC, USA
Reviews written: 131
Trusted by: 4 members
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