Tablets & eReaders 2015

[BearMountainBooks]

Originally Posted by Purple Lady

Here's the one I saw: http://www.androidauthority.com/att-...yod-15-627736/

They have all kinds of fees. We have them for our phone and they just got permission to merge with Direct TV (we also have them). We have been refusing to let them merge the services because once you merge the services, you can't get some of the cheaper plans. They shove you in one with X services on each item (cell, tv and landline phone). I know a gal who wanted to cancel her landline, but she was "merged" so she couldn't drop any part of the service and save any money. Now that they completed the merging of the two companies we probably won't have any choice unless we move providers (which we will probably do because those merged plans are always more expensive.)

[booklover6]

Interesting. I was going to switch us from AT&T GoPhone to regular AT&T with a data plan. But we are just going to stick with GoPhone. I ordered a card cutter, all I have to do is cut the cards to fit in the Fire Phone. Same account, no activation fee for that.

AT&T is not the only company that charges activation fees. I was looking at some other companies (not the big 4) and lots of them charge to activate. Disgusting.

[BearMountainBooks]

Originally Posted by booklover6

Interesting. I was going to switch us from AT&T GoPhone to regular AT&T with a data plan. But we are just going to stick with GoPhone. I ordered a card cutter, all I have to do is cut the cards to fit in the Fire Phone. Same account, no activation fee for that.

AT&T is not the only company that charges activation fees. I was looking at some other companies (not the big 4) and lots of them charge to activate. Disgusting.

Some of them are also trying to charge to deactivate various services--so watch for that type of thing in small print when looking for new services or switching!

[Purple Lady]

Originally Posted by booklover6

Interesting. I was going to switch us from AT&T GoPhone to regular AT&T with a data plan. But we are just going to stick with GoPhone. I ordered a card cutter, all I have to do is cut the cards to fit in the Fire Phone. Same account, no activation fee for that.

AT&T is not the only company that charges activation fees. I was looking at some other companies (not the big 4) and lots of them charge to activate. Disgusting.

Let us know how the card cutter works.

[jj2me]

Originally Posted by booklover6

I ordered a card cutter, all I have to do is cut the cards to fit in the Fire Phone.

A tip, if you've never done this before:
A card inserted in a cutter has a little play, so to make sure the card is centered properly, look at the cut area by turning the cutter upside down, where you can see the part of the card that will be cut out. However, it's difficult to get leverage from that position, so you'll have to carefully turn it back to right-side up without disturbing the card's position. Then power through!

Save the left-over (perimeter) to use as a SIM adapter in case you ever have to go back up in size in another phone.

[Manabi]

Originally Posted by booklover6

Interesting. I was going to switch us from AT&T GoPhone to regular AT&T with a data plan. But we are just going to stick with GoPhone. I ordered a card cutter, all I have to do is cut the cards to fit in the Fire Phone. Same account, no activation fee for that.

AT&T is not the only company that charges activation fees. I was looking at some other companies (not the big 4) and lots of them charge to activate. Disgusting.

AT&T and Verizon together tend to lead the front on adding new fees though. They seem to be of the attitude they're just the best thing since sliced bread and and everyone will be happy to pay them more and more money for the privilege of having cellular service with them. One of these days they're going to go too far and lose customers in droves.

Have you looked into AT&T Virtual Network Operators (aka, resellers)? Some of them can save you money and have much better policies and customer services. They just resell AT&T's network, so you get the same network coverage you already have with AT&T direct, and you should be able to keep your phones.

I have US Cellular myself, and they used to be great. But in the past year they've started acting more like AT&T and killing everything even remotely nice. We got Dad a new phone a few months back and were told then we could only use our loyalty plan points to upgrade if we switched plans. To one with less data overall, for more money. (They wanted us to go from a plan with 5gb per line to one with 6gb total pooled.) And then the next month they announced they were killing the loyalty program entirely. Because nothing says "we care about our customers" like destroying the loyalty programs, right?

Originally Posted by Purple Lady

Let us know how the card cutter works.

I've not used one myself, but have some friends who have, including one who cut it out manually with scissors. They work well. Doing it manually is trickier, but still quite doable. Just be careful what parts of the card you cut!

[booklover6]

Originally Posted by Manabi

I've not used one myself, but have some friends who have, including one who cut it out manually with scissors. They work well. Doing it manually is trickier, but still quite doable. Just be careful what parts of the card you cut!

I ruined one trying the scissors technique in the past. That's why I ordered a cutter. I may have an old card around here that I can test first.

I guess these phone companies think that people can't live without their phones, so they have them in a strangle hold. Maybe that is the case for the younger generations.

I looked at a number of other companies (Consumer Cellular, Cricket, etc) but in the end, I decided to stay with AT&T GoPhone. (It is a prepaid plan with unlimited texting and no data).

[Catlady]

$15 is a lot to charge for switching phones. I had to bring my new phone in last year because it needed a smaller card, and I would've been fine paying a small fee (e.g., $5), but $15 seems excessive.

[BearMountainBooks]

Originally Posted by Catlady

$15 is a lot to charge for switching phones. I had to bring my new phone in last year because it needed a smaller card, and I would've been fine paying a small fee (e.g., $5), but $15 seems excessive.

Considering I can walk into walmart and buy a 15 dollar phone and get 20 minutes on it, yes, it's a lot. We will sometimes grab a 12 or 15 dollar phone to coordinate drop off/pick up at airports. We only have one cell and we aren't paying for two when the only time we need two is for airport runs.

[cromag]

I'll put in a plug for Consumer Cellular. They use AT&T's network, so the coverage is good. Service is way above Verizon -- I can tell some true horror stories about Verizon!

It has a reputation for being best suited to an "older" customer base -- and they do offer discounts to AARP members -- but I'm using them on a Moto G and it does everything I need, does it well, and does it cheaply.

[booklover6]

Originally Posted by Purple Lady

Let us know how the card cutter works.

The cutter worked just fine. I had an old card that I cut first, as a test. Then cut the Micro card into the Nano, no problems at all. The hardest part was getting into the Fire phone tray and sliding it into the slot.

[Purple Lady]

Originally Posted by booklover6

The cutter worked just fine. I had an old card that I cut first, as a test. Then cut the Micro card into the Nano, no problems at all. The hardest part was getting into the Fire phone tray and sliding it into the slot.

Thanks, good to know. What brand is the cutter?

[booklover6]

Originally Posted by Purple Lady

Thanks, good to know. What brand is the cutter?

This is the exact one I got.

[Purple Lady]

Originally Posted by booklover6

This is the exact one I got.

Thanks. Added to my wishlist in case I need one.

[tubemonkey]

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