I was very against the use of cell phones until a few short months back. Besides the fact that they are seemingly unnecessary for most people, they too often lead to annoying incidents in supermarkets, restaurants, and movie theaters. That being said, when I was looking for a plan, I was regretting it, even though I almost needed to get wired, given my employment as a pizza delivery guy.

Having looked into several plans in Grand Rapids (and having heard negative reviews of some from friends), I settled for VoiceStream's simplest plan of 75 "whenever" minutes with more than enough (and rather unusable) weekend minutes included for $19.99 a month. Included in that price were voicemail, call waiting, caller ID, and many other options which I personally don't use (such as text messaging). I liked it so much that by the end of the first month, I was upgrading to the next level...600 "whenever" minutes for $40 a month...and scaling down my land-line at home to a sort of "internet only" use.

The service in town is impeccable. Being in the delivery business, I have made calls from virtually every corner in Grand Rapids and have found very few places where I cannot obtain a signal. Some of the old warehouses that have been converted into offices and apartments (The Water's Building comes to mind) have too solid of brick walls to allow a signal, but besides, calls go out and come in all over the place.

As for the limits of the service, things could not get much better. The home area that is allotted includes not only the entire state of Michigan, but also Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa, and Minnesota. Calls to and from anywhere in the home area are included in the service agreement. The only downside is that coverage outside of metropolitan areas can be lacking. For instance, traveling between Grand Rapids and Chicago on I-94, I found there to be absolutely no service between South Haven and Gary which can only suggest that other areas where one might expect coverage, one will not find it.

Customer service is also excellent. Having lost the security code to my phone (an act not advisable), my calls were handled with the friendliest service I have ever received over the phone (though technical information was a bit lacking). When my father had a problem with his bill (being charged long-distance even though his plan included nationwide long-distance), it was solved with absolutely no hassle and a smile in the CSR's voice.

But the area of ground covered remains as my only complaint about my service. If you plan on your phone's use for primarily the cities of Grand Rapids, Holland, or Muskegon (or anywhere in the GR metro area) I honestly believe you cannot go wrong with VoiceStream.

Recommended: Yes

Amount Paid (US$): 40/month