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US Cellular Talk Tracker Prepaid Service

Editor Rating

Overview

US Cellular is a big name cell phone carrier serving 26 states that also entered the prepaid cell phone market with the launch of Talk Tracker.

US Cellular was founded in 1983 and is based in Chicago Illinois.

Pros: Since Talk Tracker is provided by US Cellular, calls occur on their national network.  The service supports modern features and you can activate any compatible cell phone; you do not need to purchase their phones.

Cons: There are no pay per minute plans.  All Talk Tracker plans mimic traditional cell phone service plans offered via US Cellular except that they require no credit check or monthly contract to get service.

Detailed Provider Information

Plans: U.S. Cellular offers four basic monthly calling plans. They are sold as starter kits, which include the activation fee and first month of service, and all come with free incoming minutes and unlimited night and weekend minutes, starting at 9 p.m. The 45 dollar Wide Area plan comes with 350 anytime minutes, and additional minutes are billed at 15 cents each. The 60 dollar Wide Area plan comes with 600 anytime minutes, and additional minutes are billed at 10 cents each. The 80 dollar Wide Area plan comes with 1000 anytime minutes, and additional minutes are billed at 10 cents each. The 25 dollar Wide Area plan comes with 100 anytime minutes, and additional minutes are billed at 50 cents each. Unlimited incoming calls, nights, and weekends are not included with the 25 dollar Wide Area plan. Additionally, U.S. Cellular offers an unlimited text messaging monthly plan for the hearing impaired. This is 25 dollars per month, with any voice minutes billed at 50 cents each.


Customer Service: Customer care is available airtime free from your Talk Tracker cell phone, via email or by calling their toll free customer service number.


Credit Check: None


Contract: None


Payment Options: You can refill your account at US Cellular retail stores (there is a 5 dollar minimum on refills). You can also automatically refill your account from credit card, debit card or checking account by calling customer service. If you choose this option (Instant Refill), US Cellular give you 400 free minutes.  Refills can also be done via Western Union stores.


Text and Picture Messaging: Basic text messaging is free for incoming messages, and 20 cents for each outgoing message (except with the unlimited text messaging plan). Bundles of text messages can also be purchased. 250 text messages is $4.95 per month, 750 text messages is $9.95 per month, and unlimited messages is $14.95 per month. Picture messaging is not available.


Data Plans: US Cellular does not offer mobile web access at this time.



Downloadables: Downloadable ringtones available only on the Kyocera KX-9b phone.


International Calling: U.S. Cellular does offer international calling capabilities. Calls to Mexico and Canada are charged at 50 cents per minute. Calls to other international destinations start at $1.25 per minute. You'll want to call customer service to find out the rates to the destination country you plan to call before placing calls.


Roaming Charges: Calls made from outside your service plan area are charged at 69 cents per minute.


Calling Features: Voicemail, caller ID, 3 way calling and call waiting are offered with all of US Cellular's prepaid plans.


Activation Fee: There is a 30 dollar one time fee to activate your U.S. Cellular prepaid service.  This fee is included in their starter packages (which vary in price and depending on your area). You can also activate US Cellular service on any cell phone compatible with the US Cellular network for the 30 dollar activation fee.


Nationwide Long Distance: All US Cellular prepaid plans include nationwide long distance. Calls made to destinations within the United States are treated as regular calls.


411 Calls: Directory assistance is available for a cost of $1.50 per call.


Earliest Minute Expiration: There are no pay by the minute plans with US Cellular. All minutes expire at the end of the monthly billing cycle for your chosen plan. Unused minutes do not rollover.


911 Calls: Yes


Phones: It appears that U.S. Cellular has significantly cut down on its phone selection. Under their prepaid section, there are only two phones listed, and both are just one cent after instant rebates. They are very basic models which are best used for just talking and texting. They do have a number of higher end phones for their postpaid service, which can be purchased at full price and activated on a prepaid plan. However, full retail price can get very expensive, which may deter some cost-conscious shoppers.


Some Available Cell Models:

Samsung u340 (shown)
LG UX145


Coverage Map: US Cellular Talk Tracker Prepaid Coverage Map

Latest News: News about U.S. Cellular prepaid.

Average User Rating:
See the rest of the 75 US Cellular Prepaid customer reviews
NCMTN
2009/06/17

U.S. Cellular service is good, but be sure you pay on time for your monthly prepaid service. My renewal date for the month was the 29th. I couldn't pay until the 23rd of the following month, and was making calls. Then, on the 29th, my service stopped. After already paying 60 bucks, I was told that because I didn't wait until my service date of the 29th, they had "pro-rated" my payment, and I would have to pay another 48 bucks. I don't think so!

none
2009/05/28

is very good wen u talk a alot but sumtimes dey do get over on you so its gud 2 pay attention 2 yo bills

syvella
2009/05/18

i think prepaid phones are good to because there easy to use and u wont have to pay that much for the bill.

shay
2009/05/18

i love my free incomin i can talk all dame day bout these lame azz bicth

me
2009/05/04

I just want my ringtones and picture mess...............

aleisha
2009/04/29

i love US cellulars pre paid monthly plans! and i always seem to have service in many places others dont! the only thing that sucks is US cellular doesnt have a alota phones!! they would be on the top if they had more phones to chose from!

sue
2009/04/19

i like the phone service but do not like i can not download ringtones or get pics text!!!!!!!

Guest
2009/04/08

This for people that don't have 100 bucks to spend on a phone each month,it dont allow you to go over and when someone calls you back you can talk forever with no fee,incoming calls are free.And if you do run out you can buy more minutes,like 240 for ten bucks.It does not allow you to roam when out of state or area

Pebbles
2009/02/24

I regards to the statement that says that US Cellular does not offer per minute packages they actually do. One is $10/mo. and 10 cents per minute and the second is $6/mo. and 15 cents per minute.

aleisha
2009/02/24

the monthly pre-paid deals are GREAT!!
u can get a plan w/out a contract deffinately a plus!
n for all yall that r complaning about not havin ringtones....thats what blue tooth is for!!!! just blue tooth ring tones from other phones to yours! thats what i do, its simple and free!

harry
2009/02/20

it sucks

Chrystyna H.
2009/01/12

Listen, I really like the service and all...but there are a hew changes that I would make. I would first allow the prepaid customers to have picture messaging and ringtones...because we pay more than contract customers for the amt. of minutes that we receive.. and i feel that since we are paing more for less, we should have the option to pay additional or have you guys add it to one of the plans so that we can get pic messaging.. you guys also need to provide better plans for the money we spend, because there are only 600 for like 60 bucks, and thats alot in comparison to what the contract holders get for like 40. I think it would be the wise thing to do considering that other companies will soon have plans developed that will be available all over the place, and that they will only be charging like 30 bucks a month for pretty much unlimited everything including text, with the option to add internet and pics for a low cost...and uless you guys do something about your current plans, youre going to lose a ton of customers.... just a suggestion...

Cordell
2009/01/07

I think every plan should Have free nights and weekends, and we should have picture mail. I used to love U. S. Cellular but now u all have turned your back on your customers and don't really care what we think. Its all about money now, huh? Don't forget thats the same way companies think before they fail! You need to lower your prices. Go ahead do what the other companies are scared to do..... Be fair to your customers. If your fair you'll get a lot more customers, and you don't have to be a afraid of losing profit over fair prices. If something doesn't change, You'll lose an Incredibly Massive amount of loyal customers!

bill
2008/11/09

Works great I think anyone that dislikes the features should have paid attension to what they paid for. I get free incomming calls and nights and weekends free... There are no roll over minutes but who cares... if u have roll over minutes u are paying for too many minutes or not using enough :)

sean
2008/11/03

u.s.cellular prepaid is the best now they got the 65dollor ulimited min plan and you get free incoming texting, and i got a motorola phone so i can bluetooth ringtones to my phone so i dont need the internet, love the service, never droped a call yet

amanda
2008/10/20

i just found out about he prepaid plan from us cellular. i will definitely be getting this plan. i left us cellular after 3 years for verizon because they offered a discount through my husbands work. big mistake! my bills have consistently been over 400 dollars! us cellular's customer service absolutely can't be beat.

SHaN
2008/10/15

I like every thing about my phone, but what i don't like is not having any ringtones. we should be alould to ge ringtones just like every one elaes...

Mechelle
2008/10/13

I like the fact that i can have a cell phone with my credit! and i see a lot of people are complaining about not being able to have a better phone. As long as you have a us cellular phone you can use it on ur talk tracker. I bought a razor and they hooked it right up for me with my talk tracker! I wish they offered an unlimited plan, cause the minutes just dont last long enough for me. The service area sucks where i live though. I live in southern Vermont and as soon as i hit the Mass. border (which is 45 minutes away) i loose service. So i cant go anywhere far with my phone, which totally sucks. But it has its benefits. I cant get a normal plan due to my credit, so this works for me. I have had my talk tracker for 4 or 5 years now (since they first came out). So all in all it has its benefits and worthlessness about it.

Bunny
2008/09/23

I just picked up a prepay phone from my local U.S. Cellular, and my phone -does- have the option of getting ringtones with easyedge. I probably won't ever use them, but the LG UX145 now gives you the option, and is one of the cheaper models.

I am also on a pay per minute plan, that comes with a small monthly fee, and I was told my minutes will continue to the next month.

someone
2008/08/22

Just cuz we have pre paid phones doesnt mean we shouldnt be allowed to get ringtones... the ringtines that come on the phone are stupid. sorry. but besides that i like the phone.

Amy
2008/05/22

I think U.S. Cellular rocks it's the best service I've seen yet and I usually to contracts but I prefer this. If I miss payment for one month I don't get late charges, sent to collections or even loose my number. The only dislike I have is that my phone doesn't get service when I travel out of town.

Matt
2008/04/07

This really is a good service! I have had it for a while so I still have the benefits of being grandfathered into the old plan rates. I pay $45 for 500 minutes with free nights and weekends, and pay $10 for 750 outgoing text messages. I always keep a positive balance of $25 in case I have to make a roaming call. Phone selection is a bit limited for TT, but if you really want that Razor, or Blackberry... You can still have one with TT, but you will pay full price for those phones as they are not part of the TT Plan phone selection. Coverage area is great, Minimal dropped calls, Better than most other non-contract/pre-paid plans.

US Cellular does need to allow for use of the easy edge feature on TT, even if it means paying from the phones balance as you do for roaming. People like to change their wallpapers and ringtones every now and then. C'mon US cellular. You fix that one fault, and this will be a perfect plan!

dee
2008/03/12

The ux3300 LGi s a nice phone I like the voice dialing, but I wish I could download ringtone for it because I don't like the ringtones it has.

scott
2008/03/05

would be nice to roll over minutes and have them offer something where you can pay 20 dollars cash and when thats gone add more to it

cynt
2008/03/03

i've been on the talktracker plan for over five years.because my credit was too bad for a contract phone.well i haven't miss a payment,so why can't us celluar trust me with a contract phone due to the fact that i'm keeping my bill paid.

reymund
2008/03/02

i love my blackberry 8703e.i believe it's one of the best phones but as you know u.s cellular is the best company with the best plans

shana
2008/02/18

i love the but we needs some ringtones im bout to die without it

Cassandra
2008/02/16

Best Pre-Paid Ever!

anonymous
2008/02/05

i need ring tones, i don't like the fact that we can only record ring tones, and by the way if you don't know how 2 do that, all u have 2 do is record a song and then when u finish, go 2 OPTIONS and the SET AS

rico washington
2008/01/20

i think that the prepaid wireess plan is great for kids but it is kind of a rip off but kids that talk alot and want a phone this is the right service to go to thank you forbeinga great wireless plan us cellular

izzy
2008/01/16

i hate that u cant get ringtones n how u dnt have picture messaging for prepaid camera phones

Tye
2008/01/09

I've had Talk Tracker for a year and a half, i like the free incoming calls, nights and weekends, and national calling. But they really need to add rollover minutes (i'm paying for them, let me keep them!), easyedge or ringtone downloads, cuz i hate that i can't download them. And they need better phones. i'm thinking of switching to unicel.

Deonna
2007/12/01

I think the concept of the prepaid service is good. No contract no problems. Wrong! The min. suck they dont roll over so to me you loose out. you dont get easyedge so u cant download ringtones and the free nights and weekends start to late.

Marquis
2007/11/22

i hate the fact we only have three phones to choose from can we atleast get a flip phone with the caller id on the front. we don't have blue tooth, we can't download ringtones, everytime i dial out it tells me my account balance no one wants to hear that. and for $48.48 (the 45 dollar plan) we can't get free weekends i could go buy a ez link prepaid and get free nights and weekends. but if you look into this maybe you would attract more customers it just a thought

jessica
2007/11/20

I love it!!! It's the first phone that i have go service like everywhere even at my house and its great!!! i've only not had service in one place and thats inside a hospital but outside it was full!!!! I think that it would be a great choice for anyone looking for a new and diffrent phone with great prices!!!

Schardi Beasley
2007/11/12

I love US Cellular service. I must agree it would be nice to have ringtones,and some rollover minutes. I went to Boston Mass. I traveled by train and talked and my service was never interrupted.It was just roaming and you could expect that traveling from state to state.Overall you can't beat the service.

Glenna
2007/11/09

I have USCellular on the regular plan did not even know there was a pay as you go plan BUT I will say that this service has been great, sprint and other services I tried sucked and most of the time could not get a signal, had dropped calls USC has been GREAT

rhonda
2007/10/29

my point is that i like the plan long as i can talk on it is fine wit me

Aleia
2007/10/12

These are some good plans, but they have some rip off parts. I would advise you to go with Cingulat (AT&T)

queen
2007/10/05

we need to be able to add ring tones thats the only thing i hate

Ebony
2007/09/19

It's cool i got free nights at 7pm but the only thing i dont like is the no ringtones bs

patricia
2007/09/10

I love my us cellular talk tracker phone i just wish that you had a phone that i can get ringtone and e-mail and free texting.

MGCARROLL
2007/09/06

I LIKE MY PLAN ...IM ON SS AND IT MAKES IT EASY TO PAY AND NOT HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT A HIGH PHONE BILL....I HAVE UNLIMITED TEXT WHICH IS GOOD FOR ME...BUT ROLL OVER MIN WOULD BE GREAT OR ATLEAST ROLL HALF UR LEFTOVER MIN. OVER ...BUT I MUST SAY I HAVE FRIENDS COME TO MY HOUSE WITH OTHER PLANS THREW NEXTEL,VERIZON, AND THEY NEVER WORK IN MY HOUSE OR IN MY TOWN...MY WORST THING ABOUT US CELLULAR IF I GO 2 HAVANA ILL MY PHONE DONT WORK THERE OR IT STARTS ROAMING AND THATS JUST ABOUT 15 MILES FROM MY TOWN.. BUT I WOULD'NT CHANGE UNLESS THEY GET MET A BETTER DEAL.........................


SO GET ON THE BALL US CELLULAR

TOYA
2007/09/03

MAN WE NEED RINGTONES ON THESE PHONES~~~~!!!!!!!!!!~~~~~~~~~~

Erica U
2007/08/26

Hate that i cant get ringtones the ones i have are killing me!!!

marie
2007/08/22

Like the service but need to allow minutes to rollover since we pay for them,also would be nice to have more choice of phones.

A MAC
2007/08/17

I like your prepaid plan but there are no features available for talk tracker customers. We get no ringtones, no wallpapers NOTHING. That sucks.......

marie wyatt
2007/08/12

Like the service but need to allow minutes to rollover since we pay for them,also would be nice to have more choice of phones. Kind of taking advantage of people who do not qualify for contract deals.....is that really fair?

ncoutlaw
2007/07/27

great sevice, free incoming which really saves the minutes, out of home area kinda sucks, 69 cens a moin but but overll its the best deal going

Marquis
2007/07/16

I don't like the fact that we don't have a wide varity of phones to choose from. and the fact that sometimes when i dail out i get charged for roaming and i be calling my house. the $45 plan doesn't get free weekends thats dumb i could go get a Ez Link prepaid and pay $30 a month and get free nights and free weekends. and the fact that everytime i dail out on my phone it tells me my balance what if it's an emergency i have to wait a whole 12 seconds someone could die by then.

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July 04, 2009
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