Hy-Vee opens prepaid service
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If you live in the Des Moines, Iowa area, you’re about to get a new option in prepaid services. The popular supermarket Hy-Vee has announced that they will offer prepaid phones and plans at all of their locations starting, well, yesterday. This is powered by Fusion Mobile, a carrier in the Southwest region of the country, which boasts over eight million subscribers. They’ll soon be a feature on Prepaid Reviews, as we’re starting to do brief reviews of lesser-known MVNOs.
Let’s start with Hy-Vees prepaid rates. They use airtime cards, which come in $20, $35, $55, $75, $100, and $125 denominations. And, like most airtime cards, the per-minute rate decreases as the overall cost increases. The $20 card works out to 22 cents per minute, and the $125 card works out to 12.5 cents per minute.
So why the overly expensive per-minute rates? Free nights and weekends, that’s why. As long as you maintain a positive balance, all minutes beginning at 9 p.m. every night and all weekend are free. That should help even out some of the lopsided per-minute rates.
Text messaging is pretty standard at 10 cents each, both in an out. They allow picture messaging, but the rates can get a bit confusing — 18 cents each for three, unlimited for 30 cents a day plus .235 cents per 10Kb. Wireless web works in a similar manner: 20 cents per day plus .235 cents per 10Kb transferred.
If you thought that a grocery store brand would have cheap phones, you thought wrong. The cheapest one is the Sanyo 4920, an old and outdated phone, for $65. The Sanyo Katana is $210.
“With today’s fast-pace lifestyles, cell phones quickly keep families, friends and businesses connected,’ said Tom Watson, Hy-Vee, Vice President of General Merchandising. “To keep things extremely simple, there are no credit checks, no long-term contracts and no hidden fees. Getting your phone and minutes at a Hy-Vee checkout line is about as easy as it gets.”
We dunno. It seems kinda expensive for a checkout line impulse buy.
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I looked at the Hy-Vee mobile display this evening. The kicker is that $20 only lasts 15 days, then you have to buy another $20. Higher amounts are good for 30 days. You would have to do a lot of after hours talking to make this prepaid phone worthwhile.
Posted on January 29th, 2008 at 8:41 pm
I fully agree with the above comments. It would only be useful for a “heavy talker” . No matter how much time you buu they only increase your time 30 days max.
Posted on May 26th, 2008 at 4:24 pm