Great Rates, Awesome Customer Service - Boost Mobile - Prepaid Cellular That Doesn't Suck
Aug 20 '06 (Updated Dec 20 '09)
The Bottom Line Easy to understand rates, excellent customer service, nice selection of phones, flat rate wireless internet access.
Boost Mobile Asks ... Where You At?
If there is one thing I hate, it's paying for something that I don't use. Most cellular phone plans offer you attractive rates but suck you in to a one or two year contract. They offer you nice phones and accessories but if you cancel out of it, you can get zapped with a huge fee. Prepaid mobile phones are a great choice for most people - especially those that don't live on the phone. Boost Mobile offers you good rates and great customer service - and sometimes that is the determining factor for purchases when it comes to things like this. If you have trouble you want to know what someone is going to be able to help you, not give you the run around. Boost seems to me like it is targeted to the younger crowd - they have on going rock promotions and a very well designed website but that doesn't mean that it's just for kids. When I started asking around about prepaid plans everyone said that Boost was the best to deal with and had the best rates. Net 10 / Talk 10 [depending on where you live] offers you ten cents a minute no matter when you place your calls but the phones that they offer you are overpriced for what you get.
Hidden fees are something that plague almost every prepaid cellular plan but with Boost, everything is up front. There are no daily access fees [unless you opt for unlimited wireless internet or another pay features], long distance is included and you can get the refill cards pretty much anywhere. Verizon offered the Free Up / Re Up plan and the rates were so hard to understand; they changed them ever so often and you had a hard time keeping track of things. Then they closed that out so you had to go for the .99 cents a day plus per minute charges for their prepaid service. If you still have an active phone with the Free Up plan you can still use it as well as buying refill cards for it but if you call to do anything to your account like change a number, they won't be able to help you. That's another reason I like Boost - they are a prepaid service and that's it. They won't be phasing out anything any time soon because they have way too many customers.
I strongly urge you to keep all of the packaging materials when you purchase your phone; if there is a problem with it then you will have everything that you need to make a return without having to dig through the garbage. On the bottom of the container that the phone comes in there is a long number that you will need when you activate the phone, I am pretty sure that this number isn't printed anywhere else so you will need the box to activate your phone and get it up and running. You have to call customer service to start your service and the call only takes about ten minutes from start to finish and you don't have to give out any personal information like your address or home phone number. Pick out a pass code that you can remember because you will need that number each and every time you call in for help or with questions.
Phone Choices
When I picked up my Boost kit, it was $39.99 at Wal-Mart and the Motorola i215 was the only choice that they had. It was cheaper than TracPhone and the Net10 offer plus it came with $10.00 in airtime. I had no idea what the rates were and no one there could give me any information about it so I went into it blindly. My plan was to buy the phone and then check the website to see what the rates were, if they flat out sucked then I could return the phone. If you have a choice between phones go with something that has more features. This one isn't all that bad but it doesn't give you a ton of perks. After I called customer service to activate the phone I asked about other phone options and was told that the i215 was one of their most basic of choices. That's when I wanted to kick myself for getting the i215; it is good for people that don't have the need for a lot of fancy things but there are some things that you can't do with this phone like download cool ring tones or buy games.
I could have gone with a $49.99 a month plan with one of the local carriers but I don't like getting roped into a two year contact. There are times when I don't use the phone for days on end but I want to have something that is reliable in case someone needs to get in touch with me. With so many new prepaid services on the market I priced The Go plan which sucks if you don't go with the higher priced plan - why am I going to pay .99 cents a day plus .10 cents a minute when I could go with a plan like Boost and save $30.00 a month. This is why it is really important to read the fine print and the price of the phones that these places offer. If I would have gotten a 'nice' phone with the Go plan I would have had to pay $129.00 for it but they gave it away free with the two year, pay by the month plan. TracPhone's rates weren't the least bit appealing to me and Net10's phones were all bottom of the barrel.
Rates
With some prepaid plans the prices are so complicated that you feel like you constantly have to watch the clock when you are talking. Boost's pricing plan is pretty simple. From 7 am to 9 pm it's .20 cents a minute, after that it's .10 cents a minute. Text messages are .10 cents to send and free to receive so if someone starts sending you text spam you don't have to worry about it draining your account. Before you make a call you will hear the number of minutes that you have left on your account. If you use up all of your call credits you have sixty days to replenish your account or you lose your phone number and won't be able to reactivate your phone.
Minutes are 'billed' in whole increments that start at the time the call is connected, if it just rings and rings there is no charge for it but if it connects to another line then that is when the timer starts. I really like the fact that it's a cut and dry plan - no special peak times to have to remember and one flat rate on the weekends. I do wish they would offer a perk if you recharge with a $50.00 card, extra minutes would be nice. This plan isn't for someone that talks a lot on the phone but it is a nice option for those who want to have a cell phone in case something happens or someone who wants to be accessible when they aren't at home. The walkie talkie feature is available for $1.50 a day for unlimited use. This is only charged when you use it so it is available when you want or need it. You need to give someone your walkie talkie identification number to have them call you so there is no way that you can accidentally use it. This is not something that you have to pay for every day [like the wireless internet], it's only charged to your account when you use it.
Through the phone you can download certain polyphonic ring tones [just like midi versions of songs] but at $1.99 a pop - I think I can live with the twenty or so that come built in to the phone. I did try to download a game but my phone just won't allow it. It's not the newest phone on the market and doesn't have the capabilities to download and store them. If you have the option to get a newer phone do it, this one works nicely but if you are someone that wants the perks of downloading things, this one just won't cut it. You can also opt for wireless web for .20 cents a day - that is for unlimited use too. The downside is that it is charged to your account whether you use it or not. Still, for twenty cents a day you get unlimited internet - you can't beat that price.
The rates are for local or long distance calling but if you want to make international calls you will have to contact customer service. When you set up your phone they ask you if you want international calling enabled, it's a smart thing to not do this in case you lose your phone or a child gets a hold if it and starts hitting random digits. You can receive international calls but until you tell them to activate international service, you can't make them from your phone. So far I haven't had any trouble with dropped calls or bad reception but inside larger buildings I do lose service. It comes up on the screen that there is 'no signal' or 'no service' so you know that you are in a black out area.
Recharging Your Account Reboosting
You can recharge your account using a credit card at the website or buy picking up a refill card at places like Wal-Mart and Target. The cards come in $25.00 and $50.00 denominations however some places carry cards in other amounts [like $35.00]. Once you add money to your account it remains there for 90 days, if you don't use it all in that amount of time just purchase another card or go to the website and add money to your account and any time left over will be extended for another 90 days. If you have any trouble doing this call customer service, they are always available to help. You can also add money to your account at the website or by using a credit card either online or over the phone. You can also go to a US Bank ATM machine to "reboost" your account with a credit or debit card.
Customer Service
[888] BOOST-4-U
-- Do not call [800] BOOST-4-U, that's an adult chat line.
From your phone ...
225 [send] - account balance
611 [send] - customer service
233 [send] - customer service
Customer service is available 24 hours a day and the calls to go to somewhere within the United States [one of the reps said he was in Mexico so some calls may go there] so you shouldn't have any trouble reaching a tech that is fluent in English. While most companies are outsourcing their calls to other countries, Boost hasn't. When ever I have had any trouble with the phone or service, they were always able to help me and they are very pleasant on the phone. This is another important feature for me because there is nothing more frustrating that having a problem and not being able to understand someone that is speaking with a heavy accent or can't understand what you are saying. No, that's not a racist comment or statement but I refuse to buy things from companies that outsource their customer service calls to foreign countries. When I want help I want it now, not when they can find someone that speaks English or someone that can understand me.
The Bottom Line
So far I am pretty pleased with Boost Mobile. When I had trouble sending and receiving text messages they helped me restart the browser on it without any attitude or acting like it was something that everyone knows how to do. If I had the choice I would have went with a better phone but for right now, this one is good enough for my needs. The website is easy to use and offers you a lot of information about the service and pay plan that they offer but right now, I don't use the phone enough to play $40.00 - $50.00 a month for downloads and games. If you are in the market for a prepaid cellular phone Boost is one that you should check out. Everything is up front about the charges and their customer service is always there when you need them.
As always, thanks for the read!
~^V^~ Freak ~^V^~
© 2006 Freak369
Boost Mobile Online Store
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