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Straight Talk Prepaid Cell Phones
Editor Rating
Overview
Straight Talk is a registered trademark of Tracfone, which is owned by America Movil. This company boasts hundreds of millions of subscribers throughout North and South America. Straight Talk is a monthly plan offering, whereas Net10 and Tracfone offer minutes on a pay-as-you-go scale.
Pros: Straight Talk offers a cheap monthly plan which provides ample minutes, data, and messaging limits.
Cons: Customer service carries a poor reputation. There is only one plan offering
Detailed Provider Information
Plans: Straight Talk offers 1,000 minutes, 1,000 text or multimedia messages, 30 MB of data, and unlimited calls to 411 for 30 dollars. They also have a plan which includes unlimited voice, unlimited messaging, 30 MB of data, and unlimited 411 for 45 dollars per month.
Customer Service: Customer service can be reached by a toll-free number or by snail mail.
Credit Check: None
Contract: None
Payment Options: Straight Talk services can be purchased online at WalMart.com or at an authorized retailer using cash or credit.
Text and Picture Messaging: Text and multimedia messages are included in Straight Talk's flat monthly rate.
Data Plans: 30 MB of data is included with the plan.
Downloadables: Ringtones, graphics, games, and more are available for download from Straight Talk.
International Calling: No information is currently available for Straight Talk international calling.
Roaming Charges: There are no roaming charges, because the phone will not work off-network.
Calling Features: Caller ID, voicemail.
Activation Fee: There is no fee to activate the Straight Talk service.
Nationwide Long Distance: Long distance service is included with anytime minutes.
411 Calls: Directory assistance is available at no extra charge with Straight Talk.
Earliest Minute Expiration: The 30 dollar plan expires after 30 days. If the minutes and/or messages are used up before expiration, customers can pay 30 dollars to refill.
911 Calls: 911 calls are available.
Phones: Straight Talk currently offers only three phones through Walmart.com. The company is owned by Tracfone, so more models may become available in the future. These includes two offerings from Motorola and a low-end phone from LG.
Some Available Cell Models:
MOTO W385 MOTORAZR V3a (shown) LG 200CM
Coverage Map: View the Straight Talk coverage map
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Straight Talk
Ported over our first phone (Samsung R451C) last night from Sprint.
5
Straight Talk
This wireless service is nothing but bad. The most exspensive
1
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Jason
2009/11/20 |
This wireless service is nothing but bad. The most exspensive phone (99$) is not too user friendly. It's hard to understand what people are saying. The customer service is horrible. You have to keep calling back for help if you have an issue. Straight Talk claims that it will transfer your number over from a different service. I lost my number in the process. I was told I will not get my number back because it was terminated. So I lost my phone number and the 33.00$ that I was told will not be refunded to me. There are no refunds for minutes even if your unsatisfied with service! Spend your money elsewhere! You get what you pay for!
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Straight Talk
My whole family moved over to this plan to save money over AT@T.
3
Straight Talk
I switched from Tracfone to Staight Talk. Everyone in my family
4
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Jason
2009/11/20 |
I switched from Tracfone to Staight Talk. Everyone in my family has been using Tracfone for about 4 years now and has been a good service. I found that ST is owned by Tracfone so I expected the same. I had the Tracfone Motorola W376g and bought the Straight Talk LG290C. Very nice features compared to my last phone! My daughter purchased the Samsung and besides having the keyboard, I was disappointed with the lack of features compared to my LG. She bought it just for the sake of the keybord, so she is happy with it. I had no issues transferring my Tracfone # to my ST phone. I like the ST plan better because I was paying $40.00 a month for 450 minutes with Tracfone, and now I'm getting Web, 1000 text's, and 1000 minutes with the $30.00 plan from ST. The only issue I am having is getting ringtones and graphics from the ST website. I can log on and buy the latter, but for some reason they do not come through. I have purchased them and my bank statement shows I have been charged, but ST cannot seem to figure out why I have not recieved the ringtones and graphics. I have read some of the other reviews and have noticed some asking about removing the pre recorded message about time remaining when you place a call. (you don't get this message with the unlimited plan). I called ST Corp @ 1-800-876-5753 and they removed it in 2 minutes. Also, someone was asking about the word "Home" on the main screen being removed. I also asked ST about this and they said it could not be removed because that is your status indicator that tells you if you are in "Home" or "Roam" mode. All in all, I am very pleased with ST and their customer service.
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Straight Talk
I'm intersted in purchasing this.. I just wish that I could keep
3
Straight Talk
I purchased the Samsung phone at the end of October 2009 and
3
Straight Talk
@Jeri. From their website I go to "check your balance",
5
Straight Talk
I have been a tracfone user for years...bought a ST and decided
4
Straight Talk
If you can't get good reseption in your area you lose the 35.00
1
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lil wolf
2009/11/19 |
If you can't get good reseption in your area you lose the 35.00 or 45.00 dollars spent to activate your phone. They don't tell you that until after you activate. They don't care that they rip you off.
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Straight Talk
i cant wait im getting the phone this december and i am pretty
5
Straight Talk
Wow! I just got off the phone with CS in Sri Lanka or Egypt.
3
Straight Talk
The support people with their dilect and saying ok after every
1
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dale3
2009/11/19 |
The support people with their dilect and saying ok after every sentence is horrible. Three phone calls later and aI am still not activated. I am taking this phone back for a refund!
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Straight Talk
Re: texts incoming. I have my Samsung 451 set with pictures
5
Straight Talk
no problem with excelent customer service. nice connection and
5
Straight Talk
excelent service its use varaizon line so nice connection and
5
Straight Talk
Still contemplating switching to ST. Can I use a currently unlocked
3
Straight Talk
Ordered the R451 at their website because the Walmart site said
3
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gsan
2009/11/19 |
Ordered the R451 at their website because the Walmart site said it wasn't sold in stores. Of course the next day I actually went to a store and there it was, grrr! It showed up 3 days later and I did the activation thing including asking for my old number to be ported over from Virgin Mobile. That didn't go very smoothly and required 2 calls to CS. So 2 days later everything was working fine and I was happy as a clam, finally I had a cell that worked everywhere I went! Then suddenly 4 days later I stop recieving text messages from anyone outside the verizon network. I was able to send them fine but not recieve (I tryed from Sprint, ATT, and VM phones). So I contacted CS and they of course blamed it on the "other phone", I courteously asked them not to be ridiculous since I was certain that they couldn't all be busted. They "escalated it to corporate" and gave me a contact number. Well after 3 more calls , the last one 2 hours long, I gave up and got a new number. I have a funny feeling that the problem liesin Verizon's system. The number I was using had started as a regular Verizon phone about 8 years ago, it was switched to Verizon's pre-Paid service 2 years later and then switched to Virgin Mobile a year or so after that. It makes me wonder if there wasn't some remnant of my old verizon info getting in the way. Any way they re-activated my phone with teh new number, including resetting my end of service and minutes back to as if it were a brand new account. Everything is working fine now , hopefully it stays that way!
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Straight Talk
My patience has run out. I just ported my number to Page Plus
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Matt
2009/11/18 |
My patience has run out. I just ported my number to Page Plus and I took my ST phone and gleefuly smashed it with a hammer: actually quite relieving. Nothing but problems in 5 months. Use Page Plus or PlatinumTel as they employ CS in the US. They give back to the economy.
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Straight Talk
It works great! After you learn about the plan and how it all
5
Straight Talk
I wish I would have never ported my # to Straight-Talk. They
1
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franny
2009/11/18 |
I wish I would have never ported my # to Straight-Talk. They not only gave me a new# , but I have been on the phone for 8 hours with them trying to retrieve my old # i had for 5 years. If I am ever able to get old # back , I am done with them for good, they suck.
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Straight Talk
walmart exchanged phone, charged it up, tried to activate SAME
1
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humnbird
2009/11/18 |
walmart exchanged phone, charged it up, tried to activate SAME PROBLEM. called CS..said they were having problems getting the Samsung to work in my areas???? So..they are sending me a razor...thinking about just giving up. ARGGGGGHHHH
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Straight Talk
I love my cell but how in the hell do u get a promo code to download?!
3
Straight Talk
Bought and activated phone on 11/13/09. Took about 1/2 hour to
5
Straight Talk
i ported my number a few days ago and they billed my credit card
3
Straight Talk
Hi Joanna! not 100% sure but I don't think it's capable of multi-text
5
Straight Talk
I bought the SAMSUNG R451C, I activated the phone online. I choose
1
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Trin
2009/11/18 |
I bought the SAMSUNG R451C, I activated the phone online. I choose to use my current cell phone number and I was given a five digit number to enter into my phone for activation. I enter the number and was prompted to contact the phone provider. I was connected to someone who could not speak English clearly and could not understand my problem. The only thing I could understand that she said is they will call me when they are able to activate my phone. ummmmm.
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Straight Talk
I just received the Motorola Razr today and the ST people can't
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Mom from Forest Lake
2009/11/17 |
I just received the Motorola Razr today and the ST people can't seem to activate it. I agree with the CS complaints, I first called from another cell phone and got tons of static and couldn't understand the rep. I asked her to call me back on my landline and she said she could not do it. I called again from the landline, still the language barrier (different rep) and my phone still isn't activated. I also tried to switch from a 612 to a 651 number and they said they have no 651 numbers available. I was so excited, now I am just frustrated.
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Straight Talk
Has anyone had any luck downloading ringtones to there phone.
4
Straight Talk
So far it is great, the only issue I have is the Bluetooth doesn't
4
Straight Talk
@Matt.... sorry I can't be more help. Did you get a text sent
5
Straight Talk
Stars should be minus (-) 100ST is horrible, horrible; I have
1
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Madm mad Panther
2009/11/16 |
Stars should be minus (-) 100 ST is horrible, horrible; I have had two in the last 4 weeks still have no service;now I think it is because CS activated phone both times, I have talked to ST no less than 50 times the phone is going back to WM today, everybody will know how I hate ST
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Straight Talk
I wish there was something lower than one star here. I think
1
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Audrey
2009/11/16 |
I wish there was something lower than one star here. I think that this is a sham service, set up to get more people to use TracPhone. I do not like the customer service. I had to call several times to get someone I could actually understand. And to get a refund of the air time card you have to send in the card, receipt, serial number of the phone, and a letter explaining why you want a refund. That is completely stupid in my opinion.
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Straight Talk
I don't understand the Data counter/txts messages. The $30 plan
3
Straight Talk
To Bob Devon..the straighttalk service will not let you do international
3
Straight Talk
Ordered the Samsung, activated the phone no problem thru straight
5
Straight Talk
@Matt... look at two entries below yours. I have the samsung
5
Straight Talk
Does anyone know how to use mytinyphone.com with the Straight
3
Straight Talk
@La Isla Bonita... any luck with the multi-text message yet??
5
Straight Talk
I just got the lg phone the one that slides up i forgot the name
3
Straight Talk
Want to ABSOLUTELY avoid hassles on Straight Talk? 1)Buy only
1
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Mobile Mike
2009/11/16 |
Want to ABSOLUTELY avoid hassles on Straight Talk? 1)Buy only the LG200c which has no browser. Guaranteed way to avoid no web working hassles. 2)Buy from Walmart at a real store or have them send the phone you want to one from their website to a local store, NOT Straight Talk website. Walmart will usually give you a return option if it is withing a reasonable amount of time. 3)DO NOT call standard customer service. Call either Tracfone Executive Resolutions during business hours or Elston ST/Trac super rep.Google them. 4)DO NOT PORT. Just get a new number. Porting can really screw things up. 5)If nothing works, port over to Page Plus which has a better plan then the ST $30 plan (Page Plus gives you 1200 minutes/1200 mms/texts/50 megs) and a $40 plan that has unlimited talk/text/20 megs web and use your Straight Talk phone there. It will work in at least talk/text. See suggestion number one.
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Straight Talk
Okay, these guys block attachments on SMS messages and you cannot
1
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Matt
2009/11/15 |
Okay, these guys block attachments on SMS messages and you cannot save mp3 content to your phone. So, they lock it out so that you have to buy their ring tones which don't work. Scam!!!
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Straight Talk
I purchased a Samsung R451C at Walmart along with a $30 Straight
5
Straight Talk
I bought the Motorazor and I am sorry that I did. The browser
3
Straight Talk
Just wanted to add a little information that I think some ppl
4
Straight Talk
called yesterday, somehow the order for my replacement phone
3
Straight Talk
Hi Joanna!In sending and receiving pic msgs, it also uses data.
5
Straight Talk
get full bars in my house samsung 451 pretty good phone got voice
5
Straight Talk
Hi humnbird!Yes u can download real tones. www.straighttalk.com
5
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