T-Mobile best value in NYC
Written: Dec 12 '02
|
Product Rating:
|
|
| Local Coverage: |
 |
|
| Plan Flexibility: |
 |
|
| Customer Service: |
 |
|
|
Pros: Great coverage in NYC. Good coverage in cities. Great value. GSM sounds better than CDMA.
Cons: Poor coverage out of urban areas. Poor customer service.
The Bottom Line: I recommend the T-Mobile GSM network's flexible, inexpensive price plan, and its urban signal coverage. Unfortunately, customer service usually provides inaccurate information. Choose Verizon instead if stronger ex-urban signal needed.
|
|
|
| geroshrink's Full Review: T-Mobile Phone Service in New York |
Which do you prefer: price or penetration? I, for one decided to go for price. I chose the carrier that offered the most minutes and best phone for the money.
I have been with Voice Stream, now T-Mobile for just over a year now. I thought of switching at the end of my contract; after extensive comparison shopping, and discussions with friends and associates, I decided to extend my contract for another year. I based my decision on more than just cost.
My first objective was to find a GSM carrier. I like the sound better than on CDMA equipment. I also like the fact that GSM is a world standard; in the event that I need to leave the USA I can still use my phone and get messages.
Alas, that pretty much ruled out Verizon, the only non-GSM network I had even considered. Verizon has the best signal penetration in basements and other more shielded areas. It also has better coverage in more remote areas. Since I rarely leave the greater NY area, except to go to other urban areas, this strength of Verizon was less important to me. If coverage areas and signal strength matter to you, I would recommend Verizon over any other carrier ("can you hear me now? Good). Having lived with Voice Stream/ T-M for the past year, I was quite satisfied with its range of coverage, and much preferred its sound.
There are three carriers in this market that currently operate on GSM: T-M, Cingulair and the newly re-tooling ATT (that offers an older generation product for less money and a new premium priced GSM product).
ATT was ruled out as too new with too spotty a coverage area. That problem may be rectified in the future as they continue to build more towers.
My choices were now whittled down to Cingulair and T-M.
Cingulair offered an attractive plan with rollover minutes, but they were only good in the Metro plan. There would be roaming and long distance charges whenever I was out of the home calling area. Since I visit relatives in other regions of the country, I would not be happy with such a plan. Cingulair's national plan had significantly fewer minutes than a comparable T-M national plan.
I liked T-M's specials this month as well: on the $39.99/month national plan, I got 600 minutes. Unlimited nights was finally added to unlimited weekends without additional charge. Until recently, T-M claimed that their market research indicated that people preferred more "anytime" minutes. They reluctantly offered free evenings for an additional fee. I guess their market research now tells them that more minutes, anytime and evenings was better yet since there is no longer a surcharge for unlimited evenings.
The other deal-maker for me -- having been looking for a phone that can take and send photos -- was that they waived the $2.99/month fee to enroll in "T-Zones", their own WAP-enabled GPRS browser system. The first megabyte is free. Additional MB's of data become very pricey: $10 per meg, billed in increments of 2KB ($.02/unit).
Lastly, the Sony Ericsson T300 was offered for $150 ($100 after $50 mail in rebate). Since private dealers compete to sign up customers, I found a neighborhood shop that was willing to sell the phone for $50, in effect it was a free phone.
It should be mentioned that I am very dissatisfied with the T300 (see my review of that phone). I remain enamored with its features. I should have spent the money for a more high-end phone like the Sony Ericsson T68i. But then again, its hard to beat a free phone with all its features. In any event, I remain satisfied with the carrier even if the phone I bought was less than satisfactory.
So now to the most significant disadvantage of T-M: customer service. While they usually answer quickly, don't expect to get the correct answer. I often need to call back several times in order to find someone knowledgeable enough to give me a straight answer. Most agents are clueless. I am persistent enough to find someone who knows what they are talking about. When I find one I take full advantage, asking detailed questions about the charges, the features, and the technical standards. As a rule of thumb, don't take anything at face value. Question the agent. Find out where she/he gets the facts. If this drives you crazy I would advise you not to activate with T-M.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 39.99/month
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
geroshrink
|
|
Reviews written: 2
Trusted by: 1 member
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.