Comments on: MVNO Consumer Cellular signs content deal

By: Don

Don — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 22:38:04 +0000

Beware if CC roams onto AT&T.

I currently have T-mobile. In my rural town in Southeast NM, there is no T-Mobile local service anywhere and I have to roam onto AT&T. Service sucks because AT&T puts roamers at the back of the line for call connection. So, sometimes I can make an outgoing call and sometimes I can’t. If CC has a better roamer agreement than T-Mobile does with AT&T you may be okay in some small towns, but AT&T has a bad record of service in smaller towns. They probably do this so roamers will get discontented and switch to AT&T. Some way of getting new customers, eh?

By: dan b

dan b — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 16:23:30 +0000

I have been using cc for a few years. I have 4 lines and the family plan with 2000texts and several hundred minutes and several gb of data. total cost is about 90 bucks. I would like to get a wifi enabled phone and wonder if anyone has tried one with their cc sim card?
I have used motorola Karma and Razr which i bought from ebay with success. anyone else?

By: Mike Grieff

Mike Grieff — Tue, 26 Oct 2010 09:43:10 +0000

Susan D has eased some of my anxiety of switching from AT&T to CC, with AARP, in a week or so when the AT&T contract expires. I really, want my wife to be able to use her AT&T Nokia 6085, and I really, want to keep my AT&T LG CF 360. I recently, unlocked my LG and am waiting on AT&T to get back to me with the Nokia’s code.
I have been wondering about the specific AT&T stuff in the phones; Media Mall and Net, AT&T Music and GPS; those just, won’t work? Wouldn’t be a big deal, as we never have accessed those, anyway. We don’t do any internet, just, calls and text.

By: Susan D

Susan D — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 06:12:54 +0000

I moved to Consumer Cellular on the advice of a coworker (you get a rebate if someone signs up that you referred!), and I can say from experience that you CAN swap your SIM chip into an existing phone as long as it is compatible. I had my old phone from AT&T and it worked fine. I just spoke with customer service (upgrading my plans) and they confirmed that not all phones are compatible, but usually those 3 yrs old or less or from AT&T should work fine; Samsung phones and smart phones will NOT be compatible, they say.

I have had a good experience with CC. Good customer service, and I really like the flexibility of moving up & down with the minutes amounts (I use a lot more during holidays & vacations, not much at home) and it’s just plain cheaper. If you use a lot of minutes, CC may not be the best price (no free weekend or evening minutes, and no free minutes to talk with other people in the network, minutes do NOT roll over, etc.). But for me this is ideal and far cheaper.

They do have AAA and AARP discounts, and the reception is great – I’ve often had reception when my husband, who had a Verizon phone, did not.

The activation fee whenever you get a new phone is my only complaint – it costs $35 to activate any new phone, and their best phone is the KRZR K1 for $50 (so $85 altogether). That, to me, is kind of a rip off, but the low cost and no contract option make it up for me.

And as I said above, you can always get your own phone and have CC just ship you the SIM card and not buy one of their phones – they do not charge any activation fee if you ask them to send the SIM chip only. I did this when I first signed up and didn’t have any activation charge. When I decide to get a new phone that I’ll probably just buy one on eBay and swap my SIM card into it, if I can find one I like for less than CC’s charges.

I’ve been raving about this plan for a while, and am about to switch my husband & mother in law over to my plan. They were paying over $90/mo for a very low-level Verizon plan; we figure we will pay $60-70 for all 3 of us on CC. Very nice.

Also, my mother-in-law is getting CC’s ‘Doro’ flip phone; it has great reviews and is hearing-aid compatible (and it looks slicker than the other ‘senior phones’ I have seen).

The only alternative that seems reasonable for folks like me are the pay-as-you-go phones like Virgin and others, but if you let the minutes run out you have to get a new number.

P.S. Consumer Cell has kiosks at some Sears & Kmart stores, so you can at least skim the pamphlet and check out a couple of the phones available (https://www.consumercellular.com/About/PressRelease/13)

By: Roger Weeks

Roger Weeks — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 13:34:02 +0000

My aunt switched us over to CC and I personally hate it so much. Limited to 4 phones to choose from. The best one being a phone from like 5 years ago. No room to upgrade to a new phone.
The web access did not work and their tech support is worse then anything.

By: Owings Mills Man

Owings Mills Man — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 22:07:12 +0000

I was curious as to who’s towers CC used and they say they are AT&T, so reception should be as good as AT&T. I think I’ll give them a shot.

By: reddeb

reddeb — Sun, 17 May 2009 17:24:38 +0000

HELP – I live in the Colorado rockies near Glenwood and Aspen and have NO cell phone service and I am a cell phone novice. I am looking for a cheap reliable cell phone to use in the valley. AT&T works ok in the Roaring Fork valley, will Consumer Cellular have the same reception??

By: Dana

Dana — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 18:02:22 +0000

I’ve been with Consumer Cellular for over 2 years now, and have been very happy with them. Originally, I just wanted a basic plan because my use was limited. Now that I’m using the phone and text features a lot more, I’m thinking of looking to other carriers to upgrade my phone and features, but even at the higher end of the use spectrum, I think Consumer Cellular is pretty competitive, and I LOVE not having a contract!

I definitely think you should add a review for them!

By: richard

richard — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 23:39:59 +0000

hi, i recently kicked the habit and got rid of verizon. I googled cheap cell phone carriers and came up with consumer cellualar and am i glad i did. I am only 50 yrs old just looking for reliable phone service without all the bells and whistles and i am very pleased with the service. I live in the new york area and i have no dead spots crystal clear reception and i save money too.

By: Toni Sullivan

Toni Sullivan — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 19:34:13 +0000

Hi,
How does this compare to what I have?

I have Verizon, unlimited texting on 3 phones, 700 minutes to share between 3 phones per month. I pay 120 per month with all the taxes included.

I am an AARP member and I am looking for some good deals. We have always paid through the nose for everything but now we are, like many others, in deep hurtful times right now, money-wise.

Also, my husband has his own cell phone with Verizon on a seperate plan. How does your plan compare to his. We pay too much for his phone! He has unlimited calls and text and a computer card (internet card for computer) and it costs us 195.00 each month. Too Much Money!!!

Please Reply,
Thanks
Toni