Pre-pay with dignity (yes, there IS such a thing).
Written: Dec 03 '01
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Pros: Excelent service, great features, great pricing
Cons: Read the title; it's pre-pay.
The Bottom Line: Except for the problem that Pre-pay IS pre-pay, Verizon shows that pre-pay can be done with dignity.
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| kfj001's Full Review: Verizon Mobile Phone Service in New York |
Pre-paid, or “FreeUP service”
Perhaps I should start with what is Pre-paid service? Well, to some, its what gets them a cellular phone in an era of personal credit checks, age checks or other forms of identification verification that not all of us are either comfortable or capable of satisfying.
Pre-paid service from Verzion Wireless (called “FreeUP”) is Verizon’s pre-pay cell phone plan.
Pre-pay phone plans are this; instead of entering into a contract where you swear you’ll pay for the service AFTER having it provided, AND having to submit to a credit check to do so, Verizon Wireless will sell you a cell phone, and then have you pay for your minutes up front to use it. Then, you may use those minutes at your convenience, wherever, and whenever.
Since there’s no credit check, there’s no deposit, and no bill at the end of the month. Pay for what you use, and use what you paid for.
TracFone, MCI/Worldcom, and others…
Companies on the pre-pay wagon like TracFone, MCI/Worldcom Wireless and “CellEase” are all in business to do one thing; sell pre-paid phones.
Those service providers have numerous problems. First, none of them have “roaming”. They aren’t national plans, and if you leave your “home area” (the area code where your phone is activated), you’ll pay ROAMING FEES.
Second, those phones are all ANALOG, they cut out, they get fuzzy, and they drain their batteries very quickly, while providing a lousy quality conversation in an era when digital phones are the standard.
Finally, each and every one of those services CHARGES YOU for calls that DON’T CONNECT. If you make a call, and no one picks up, YOU PAY.
Those companies want NOTHING to do with you, the customer once you’ve activated a phone, and paid for minutes, and they certainly won’t give you a refund for service problems.
Verizon – Prepaid done right
Verizon Wireless has a NATIONAL, digital cell network. FreeUP is just a pre-paid route onto that network.
First, you buy the phone and some minutes. If you do this in a Verizon Wireless store (or a Radioshack), someone will setup your new Nokia 5000 series DIGITAL cell phone (a nice phone, covered later), add the minutes to your account, and your off and calling once you leave the store.
Or you can call the 800 numbers inside the box, and activate using Verizon’s customer service line (which actually provides SERVICE!)
YOU own the phone, and you’ve pre-paid for the time to use it. Now, you are a Verizon Wireless customer through and through, for as long as that time card has time on it (or it expires).
What you get
With FreeUP, you get a heck of a lot more for your money than any other pre-paid service plan. If the customer service weren’t enough, Verizon gives you…
Voicemail, two-way SMS, National roaming and long-distance at no extra charge.
That may not sound like a lot of good extras, but think about it, lets say you leave your area-code on a trip somewhere, and get a flat, or just want to check on something. FreeUP will allow you to do that, AT NO EXTRA CHARGE.
Why? Because FreeUP is a national service plan on Verzion’s nationwide network, you don’t have to pay any extra to roam about the nation, or call anywhere IN that nation. Because long distance is ALSO included. A minute, 250 miles away is a minute 2 miles away.
Your Nokia handset will be capable of two-way SMS (text messaging), at $.05 per incoming message ($.10 outgoing). It’s Verizon’s Mobile Messenger service, and its available to you, a pre-pay subscriber.
And most importantly, you get service with Verizon Wireless. Customer service calls on your FreeUP phone (611) are FREE. Having a connection problem? Not getting your money’s worth? Questions in general? Call Verizon wireless customer service, they’ll actually HELP you.
And most importantly, it’s DIGITAL. Digital service (CDMA @ Standard & PCS), won’t get “fuzzy”, you won’t get cross-talk (other peoples conversations), and dropout’s (thanks to the Nokia phone).
Rates
Time cards are available at $30, $50, $75 and $150 amounts.
$30 – 90 Minutes
$50 - ~170 Minutes
$75 - ~ 270 Minutes
$150 – 600 Minutes
And of course, you get triple minutes during Nights and weekends.
Phones
There are now THREE different handsets available from Verizon that comes with FreeUP, (although you CAN buy ANY Verizon phone you wish, and get FreeUP service).
There is the cheapest phone, the Nokia 5185i. This is a very nice phone, with two-way SMS, Caller-ID (not that prepay subscribers get that), all calling features, and tri-mode CDMA (Analog, 800Mhz and 1.9GHz).
The Nokia phone is quite nice, simple, somewhat stylish (it’s got its charms). But if you decide to upgrade from FreeUP service, to a regular Verizon wireless plan (at some point in the future…) then this phone won’t support some of Verizon’s more interesting features (like wireless web).
The newer phones available from Verizon are the LGTM510. This ultra-tiny “flip-style” phone is screaming style (in a sleek, silver package with ID screen on the outside of the clamshell case), and is quite a bit more expensive than the Nokia.
The LG simply comes with a plethora of “cool features”. Which is its only differential between itself and the Nokia (or Kyocera).
The LG is also a tri-mode CDMA phone.
Then there is the Kyocera KWC 2135. The happy medium phone between the LG and the Nokia, the Kyocera comes with moderate “toy value”, includes a mini-browser (for mobile web), and is slightly less stylish than the LG. The Kyocera comes in neon/translucent blue, for “style” reasons.
Each phone is equally as FUNCTIONAL, the only difference is how much toy value you want in your cell phone.
And of course, any Verizon phone can be programmed to function as a Prepay phone on the Verizon network. You will however, have to PAY full price for the phone of your choice. To do this, you will have to go into a Verizon Wireless corporate store and have the phone activated by a Verizon Wireless employee.
Summary
Great features, competitive card pricing, and excellent customer service separate FreeUP from every other pre-pay plan on the market, and for the excellent quality you get, its worth having to own one of these phones (and the costs associated with it) for the excellent service.
Of course, all the phones from FreeUP can be activated on a standard Verizon SingleRate (contract) plan as well.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 129
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Epinions.com ID:
kfj001
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Member: Kyle
Location: Buffalo, NY, USA
Reviews written: 138
Trusted by: 30 members
About Me:
"Testing", "Destroying", it's all just one big, gray line to me.
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