Saving Companies Thousands. Be One!

Something that bothers me is when a customer does not purchase insurance on their phone. It is not a pet peeve, I  just usually want what is in my customer’s best interest and declining insurance is usually a mistake. Now for some, insurance seems pointless because the mentality is this phone was just $10 or this phone was free. So the thought is if it breaks I can go to the store and receive a new one for free again.

To be honest the free phone usually retails in the $200 dollar range. So if your phone took a swim and you bought it two months ago and do not have insurance, unfortunately you have no choice but to pay retail, that is unless you buy insurance of course. All major carriers offer a form of insurance for their phones, some do not cover all phones.

Please buy insurance it is worth it. We even make it easy for you, you can walk into one of our stores pay an upfront amount and have insurance for a year. If your phone breaks or has issues, you just walk right back in and get a new phone….that was new not refurbished. Not only that but we save you about $25 in a years duration. If you do not buy it please buy the carriers or a third party’s insurance. Make that small monthly or one-time investment and you will have the peace of mind that you did. As always any questions let us know.

We usually write about the newest applications we have heard about or tried, accessories, or the news in the wireless industry. We like to give tips and tricks on how to make your phone work for you, but seldomly do we recommend wireless carriers. The best carrier for you usually is based on your needs versus what they offer.

I have noticed that some Contract Carriers have had their credit requirements become stricter and have been asking for a higher deposit. At The Phone Store we understand everybody does not have a great credit score and we do not feel that you have to have perfect credit to get a cell phone. Boost Unlimited and Cricket are great pay in advance wireless carriers.

Most contract carriers offer unlimited plans for the $100 range. Don’t get me wrong it is a great value considering the huge variety of features that some of the carriers offer. But, Boost and Cricket both offer Unlimited Minutes for $50 or less. They both have very reasonable text or web options and a decent variety of phones.

Now beware, the rate is almost unbeatable with these carriers, but keep in mind they are ideal for people that do not travel out of their calling area. Boost Unlimited charges a 15¢ a minute for calls outside of your home calling area. In Texas they allow you an extra $5 attachable that gives you most of Texas and Oklahoma. If you wanted to go to New York you have to put extra money on your account so the minutes pull from your balance.

Cricket has some great options for roaming, and they include a certain amount of roaming minutes on their higher tier plans. Overall Cricket is the less expensive of the two Pay in Advance services, but has a slightly smaller calling area. They trump that with the level of flexibility and number of plans they have. So as always do your homework to find what is best for you, and if you have any questions contact us.

Okay, even though I work in the wireless industry I at times have to call customer service myself. Now what is the worst thing about having to call customer service? For most people it is wading through all the prompts of Push 1 for English, or say what you are calling for. Of course this is time consuming and does not always know what you are trying to do. Then if you push the wrong prompt, you usually have to hang up and start again. How frustrating.

Thankfully Fonolo is trying to make this ordeal a much easier experience. They have a flow chart for every company in their database. According to the Boy Genius you select the point where you would like to be (Customer Service for example) and Fonolo will call the company, go through the menus, and ring your phone when it has reached your desired destination.

I normally would pay a premium for this, and as much as we need to work with customer service for our clients I would be happy to pay this. The awesome thing is it is FREE!!! After I read about this service on my Viigo I immediatley went to the webpage and it is in a Private beta. I signed up for it and I am so excited I will be able to try this out. I recommend visiting the site and signing up for the beta to take advantage of their services.

Recently some wireless carriers were getting sued for trying to collect a cancellation fee. The suit is good and bad for us as consumers. First of all the obvious bonus is if you cancel there would be no cancellation fee. This is great If you want to jump ship after 8 months you will not be penalized. What kind of drawbacks might this have?

The first one I can think of off the top of my head, is a huge difference in the price of phones. To put it simply the “Free” phone or cheap phone is normally in the $200 range with no contract. It is unbelievable for those of us that have never had to buy a phone at retail cost, but that is actually what phones cost. When we sign contracts Verizon, ATT, Sprint, T-Mobile, and Helio give us the phones at a discounted rate because we will generate enough revenue to warrant that.

Now let me tell you I love my Blackberry 8830 as most of you know and I can’t really imagine functioning well without it. As much as I love my Blackberry and all I do not know if I can warrant paying $500-$600 for it at retail price. Most carriers offer a 30 day satisfaction guarantee which is a fair enough time to tell whether you like the service or not. I am for contracts! With contracts we get discounted phones, cheaper plans, and bonuses for remaining long time and loyal customers.