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Michael Lemm asked:


Before you run right out and buy the first cell phone you see …. get yourself an education first. Make sure you ARE getting the best deal.

For sake of discussion … let’s say you’re getting a new cell phone, and have already decided to get Verizon. You’ve settled on getting a BlackBerry, probably the Curve, so you will be needing a data package, etc.

 

The question is …. what is the best way to get a plan and phone? Online? The Store? Costco?

A better question is … what’s right for YOU.

 

If you are looking for the best price on the device, then online is the way to go. You can certainly buy from the Verizon site, but also have a look at Wirefly, as these places offer about the lowest equipment prices I’ve seen. Most of the time the phone and even some accessories are free.

One word of caution, though. When you shop from an agent (any company besides the carrier), read the terms carefully. There are sometimes restrictions on lowering your plan within the first six months, with significant penalties if you do. However, the easy way around this is, when you initially sign up, get the cheapest plan you can, within reason. Then, if that doesn’t meet your needs within the first few weeks to a month, move up to the next one. You’ll incur no penalty this way. Also, read the terms related to canceling your service before your contract ends. You will owe the carrier an Early Termination Fee (ETF), but you may also owe one to the dealer you purchased the phone from. This isn’t always the case, but just be aware of it. The items I’ve mentioned in this paragraph can apply anywhere other than the carrier’s Web site, stores, or telesales. You can encounter this at any third-party agent, so if you have any doubts, ask questions and read everything you’re given.

And I have to mention rebates. You’re going to encounter them all over the place. If you plan on making that a big part of your buying decision, you need to understand how tricky they can be. I’ve seen terms that state that you have to wait six months before you can file the paperwork, and you only have a one-month window to do it, or the rebate is void. These things sometimes appear designed to cause you to make a mistake and not be able to redeem them, so be warned.

You may consider looking at other carriers too….other than Verizon. So if you look at other options, and still like Verizon, nothing wrong with that. However, if you haven’t, then you should consider all your options. For example, AT&T offers about the same coverage as Verizon in many areas, but their 3G footprint is much smaller right now. However, they use GSM. So their devices work much better overseas, since GSM is the dominant wireless standard around the world. Verizon, Sprint, Alltel, and some local and regional carriers use CDMA, which works well in the U.S. and Canada but not so well (or not at all) in other countries. There are some CDMA devices that also have GSM for international roaming, but they are limited. If international usage is an issue I’d suggest looking into OneSim. 

As for Sprint and T-Mobile, my friend had Sprint back in 2001 and 2002 and found their network to be quite weak. Especially inside buildings, with enough dropped calls to almost drive him insane. That may have changed …. but they aren’t hitting any high marks in customer service right now, and my understanding is that they’re bleeding customers. There’s virtually no chance they’ll cease operations, but they seem to be in a state of disarray. So, unless you need a really cheap data plan, then I see no reason to choose them. T-Mobile seems to be a good carrier overall, but they don’t have much in the way of 3G service. And because of the frequency that their 3G network uses, only a few devices can access it. However, like AT&T, they use GSM, so your device will work well overseas.

One last thing. I’ve mentioned 3G a lot. Having it is very useful if you are going to be using lots of data, such as getting maps and transferring lots of files, but it really isn’t as critical if you only plan to check the occasional e-mail.

With everything I’ve just said …. I suggest finding a cell phone online. To make this as easy as possible use the resources for cell phone comparison and cheap cell phone deals available through Broadband Nation.

Peter Velikanov asked:


Many people are hesitant to purchase phone cards online because they think the process is complicated and may not be that secure. That seems to be reasonable given the number of reports on credit card fraud and scams that happen a little too often in the internet nowadays. But then again, most companies that are registered online have gone to great measures to make sure that security procedures are in place and that their customer’s information are safe and sound from the all too eager computer hackers. Perhaps it would help for these cautious consumers to know how the process works so that they may best understand and get comfortable into making purchases online. It is unfortunate that doubts and lack of information will deny them the convenience and the time saving features that purchasing online phone cards give as an advantage. Let us discuss the process and maybe get better informed ourselves.

Step number one involves choosing a good merchant to supply your phone card. You can simply go to any search engine, type in phone cards and get ready for a surge of supplier names offering a myriad of different phone cards for you to choose from. You may by all means explore each supplier’s site before settling on one. This will not only clear your mind but also give you confidence that you have selected a vendor that you think will best suit your needs. Should you have any doubts on your first supplier during the process, then at least you have a second one to fall back on. And research never hurt anybody. Better to be safe than sorry, right?

Online phone card merchants purchase processes generally following a pattern but may vary in some ways. The first phase is choosing your calling regions. Determining what locations or regions you plan on calling will allow the system to sort and break down the cards. The process works to give you an assortment of phone cards that would match your calling scheme. These cards will then be presented to you for selection. Typically, included in this collection list are the names and brands of the cards as well as the rates for each one. This is a good thing because you may not only scan through the advantages that a card may offer but you can also compare the costs if they are within your budget constraints.

Once you have settled on a card, you simply click on the button that says “add to cart”. If you decide on buying more than one card then continue by checking that item and adding it to the cart once again. Once you are done, go to checkout. Yes, this works just like in the supermarket. Now is the sensitive part. You give in the details of payment. Most online vendors make use of credit cards to process their transactions. Simply enter in your data. For your assurance, icons of security companies taking care of data protection may be posted on the page. You may check these companies to be sure of their capabilities of securing your personal data. After which, you wait for the email that should contain details of your phone card. The email will have detailed instructions to use the card that are simple to follow. In a few minutes, you may be surprised to find yourself a satisfied customer enjoying the benefits of online phone cards.