Goodbye AT&T; Hello Verizon

It finally happened. After searching for the “best deal” for our mobile phones, we decided to finally switch to Verizon. I’ve been an AT&T customer since I can remember, but have lately been frustrated by international calling plans and thinking I could get a better contract if it’s bundled. I checked in to it when we had Xfinity/Comcast and am thankful we didn’t go that route. Comcast isn’t even offered in northern Virginia. So when we moved to Virginia from DC we went with Fios for internet, cable and phone (which we don’t even use.) I asked at that time if there were any combination mobile phone/internet/cable deals, and was told no. Last night I saw an add on TV about “pairing” services - Fios with Verizon. When we drove by the Verizon store after lunch we decided to stop in and see what break we would get. I’m sure it ends up being all hog wash. We were told we would get $10.00 off on Fios and $10.00 off Verizon for having both services for as long as we have them; $150 prepaid MasterCard for each of us for starting the service; unlimited data; and a potential for a senior discount if I check back again in six months - one year. I forgot about having a personal hotspot, but see that it is available too. And I need to keep my eyes open for deals if and when we need to upgrade our iPhones. Supposedly the Verizon coverage is better, but we will wait and see on that. There have been many instances of lousy AT&T connectivity, and if we use our google maps on trips we always run out of data and get charged. I have a feeling we will end up paying more, which wasn’t the idea to begin with. So I’ll just keep my fingers crossed and hope it at least comes out even. 

Two Hundred Dollar International Phone Call to France

When we moved to Virginia from Capitol Hill three months ago we left our “land line” behind. It was a Comcast Xfinity bundled service. Now we have Verizon Fios and still have the “land line” option, but no longer have a phone to connect to it. We used to have a real land line through Verizon for the sole purpose of making international calls, and it was also the condo “door bell,” but we discontinued that a long time ago. So what we have left are our mobile phones with AT&T. We don’t make a lot of international phone calls anymore and didn’t think about our phone plan when my husband called his friend in France last week - and it’s been a while since he made any overseas calls. We got a notice the next day from AT&T that we had a $200 plus bill for that phone call! So I got on chat and asked how we could eliminate that bill. When you have pay per use, it is $3.00/minute! He said if we signed up for the $15/month advantage plan, he would eliminate the bill. I’m sure they want to keep us as customers after many years. With the advantage plan you get all the calls for free, but pay $15/month. If we made a lot of phone calls that might be a good option, but not for us. The value plan is $5/month with a much lower charge per minute based on land line or moble access. That is more tolerable, but not necessary either. I also wanted to explore the cost of Verizon - the service that we already have - but we would need to buy a phone. I didn’t like that either. So I asked if he could also eliminate the other $30 charge to France, I would sign up for the $15/month plan - but only if I could eliminate the service by the next billing cycle. He said I could. So, rather than pay $200+ for two pay per use calls to France, we will pay $15 this month for the advantage plan. This nonsense has given me a major headache. I know there are apps out there that I need to explore, but our friends aren’t really tech savvy or don’t have the same phones we do. So either email or  texts need to do the trick, or we need to remember to sign up for an international plan before we make any more calls. Or, we just wait for our friends to call us - which isn’t practical. I wish I had kept one of our land line phones. That would have solved our problem - sort of. Do you have any better ideas?

ATT International Calling

When I got our phone bill this month it was more than the usual ridiculous amount we already pay. After checking the line items, there was an almost $15 charge for a single few minute call to England. The only reason we even used the mobile phone was because our desk phone through Xfinity cuts off mid conversation. It never happens to me, but always happens to my husband. When I got on chat and asked about this obnoxious charge, they could only say they would make a note of it, even though I requested a discount for being such a loyal customer all these many years. What they did offer were two international calling my packages - one for $15 per month or another one for $5 per month with additional charges by the minute - except if you call to Canada - which we never do. I really didn’t spend a lot of time looking at the details because we rarely make international calls. I have been toying with the idea of switching our cell phones to Xfinity because we have internet, cable, and phone through them and it’s a lot cheaper. But I am not convinced the service would be any better. I just don’t understand how people can afford these huge bills every month. What makes it even more upsetting is that the devices you pay for don’t work. And it hardly matters how many service calls you make. 

AT&T Data Plan Change a Good Idea?

A couple of months ago I switched our AT&T unlimited data plan to a reduced plan for a lower cost every month. The main reasons were to have Mifi, and after evaluating the amount of data we traditionally use, we never really used a lot - until recently. I needed to Mifi because whenever we travel, and I have digital art work to do and need to communicate with my customers. Using an iPhone is too small and I need access to everything on my iPad. My iPad is only Wifi enabled and does not have a cellular option. However, whenever we travel, and I use google maps, the data usage spikes. AT&T is very good about warning us about the per cent data that has been used, and we do everything we can to minimize using any more. But it just doesn't seem to help. So I was a bit surprised when we received a notice that we would get a $30 credit related to the overage charges last month. After all, we have been their customers forever, and I also have an automatic data plan set up on my mom's iPad because she has no wifi in her house. I'm beginning to wonder if changing the plan was a good idea. It is a lot less per month, and these occasional overages are tolerable - but certainly not appreciated one bit. I'll take the credit for last month but I have a feeling we'll never see it again. 

AT&T IPhone Update

I don't even remember what number iPhones we have. I just know that between my husband and I, he has two, and I have three. Three of them are no longer used as phones, but as photo storage. One of them has a very worn sticker of a Viking ship on it from a trip we took in Copenhagen about five years ago. They still work for things, and are connected to wifi. My husband usually uses them to play solitaire. I have the latest iPhone 6S Plus, and love it because it serves as a mini computer for all my art and social media needs when I am not using my iPad. When I upgraded to this phone last November, my 5S was put to bed, and my husband kept plugging away with his 4. I mentioned he may want to swap out his SIM card and use my phone, because it was a newer version, but he didn't want to - until this week. For whatever reason, the reception on his phone was getting really bad. Since I don't know enough about SIM cards and swapping them, we decided to go to the AT&T store and get some help. Lucky we did because the SIM card in my phone doesn't fit in his as it is a different model - or so we were told. After a couple tries, it was successfully updated and my husband has a "new" iPhone. Now he may need a new safety bumper for it because I kept it in a little leather pocket that I used at work. He much prefers a single protective cover to this. There was no charge for the update, but I am always worried something will show up on the bill. Can I tell you about our recent Comcast Xfinity debacle? Check the other blogs for details! 

AT&T and a Personal Hotspot

I've had an unlimited data plan with AT&T since I had a cell phone - and that's a very long time. But neither my husband nor I use a whole lot of data every month. The peak times come whenever we travel by auto and run google maps, which has been quite a routine this year. But whenever we travel, it is very frustrating that I am unable to use my iPad when we are in Florida, or on the road. Sometimes it's hard to see things on the tiny iphone screen. I stay at my mom's house, and she does not have Internet. Her iPad has a monthly data plan set up, so I can't piggy back on her wifi. Ever since the personal hot spot came out a few years back, I couldn't access it because my unlimited data plan doesn't allow for it. I would have to change my plan to get it. On top of that, a few months ago, we got my husband an iPad mini with cellular capability so we would have Internet available on those rare occasions. But that required a SIM card and I got lost after that. Anyway, we decided to change our data plan last week to a share plan with so many GB per month and free text messages. As soon as I did that, the personal hotspot became available not only on my iPhone, but my husband's iPhone, and his iPad mini. But his iPad mini was running on the AT&T personal hotspot rather than the Comcast Wifi, which I changed as soon as I noticed it. I am hoping this was a wise decision because I can never go back to my unlimited data plan. But having Internet access while traveling is more important - especially when I need to keep in contact with my customers and their pet portraits! I guess time will tell, but for now I'm glad we did it.