BusyMom chooses Net10

by Mrs J.
(Philadelphia)

We left Nextel just as they were merging with Sprint. After more than 4 years as happy Nextel customers who had used cell phones in lieu of a landline, we had become frustrated with soaring prices, constant changes, policy inconsistencies, and bad customer service. The final straw was when we moved from VA to PA. Our new home was in an area where Sprint's coverage was truly abysmal. Luckily, our contract was within 2 months of its end date.

Shortly after our move, we purchased two Net10 phones with the thought that they would work just until we could research and find a "real" cell provider. (Like a lot of other folks, we used to turn our nose up at prepaid. Back then, prepaid was mostly known as being for people with no credit or bad credit.)

Fast forward... Three years later, we are still with Net10!

I think the main attraction for us, after the bad experience with Sprint is Net10's no-nonsense fee scale. No hard-to-understand price structure or randomly added fees. No smoke and mirrors. No bait and switch. And of course, NO contract.

Granted, we are not heavy users. We make a few, daily short calls to family members and our kids' schools. I'd estimate hubby and I average less than 500 minutes per month each. In our case, Net10 has been an excellent option.

Net10 has a wide variety of options for purchasing minutes. Some of our handsets are set to refill automatically at $15/month. Other times we purchase a $100/1000 mins which lasts for 6 months. Being a real penny-pincher, I most often buy refill cards via a few trusted eBay sellers. Or I use Callingmart.com (so far with good service/no issues). By using these options I often pay LESS than the retail $.10/min rate because of cash back and coupon codes, and I avoid paying taxes (as with the Net10 site or the Airtime on Demand feature).

Net10 offers a host of options to let me know when my expiration date is nearing. It's always shown on the phone display, of course. Additionally, I signed up at Net10.com to receive emails and set my account so they text me. I also requested to get a recorded call to my landline before my due date. (Hey, I'm busy! I need a lot of reminders).

From the beginning, I was really surprised at the clarity and how rarely we experienced dropped calls or ran into dead zones. In our experience, coverage is excellent! Hubby travels for work so thus far, we have talked between PA, MD, NJ, DE, VA, NC, TN, MS, TX and CA with great success. No roaming charges, ever.

I think we have tried just about every facet of their service by this point. Twice I have ported a number. Once it required help from CS and took some time. I did hate the delay, but CS was very kind and worked it out. My next port was snag-free.

Over the years we have owned 4-5 different phones. Some I bought used on eBay at reduced rates (afterwords simply request a SIM card free from Net10). Other handsets we bought new. They're easy to find at local retailers or via the Net10 site.

Über fancy smart-phones are NOT available (so far) via Net10. That doesn't bother me, but some people may find it a big issue. They have camera phones, flip phones, some with blue tooth features, and sliders too.

Overall I have been an extremely happy customer! I love knowing that I can walk away anytime I want - not tied to a contract. We still average less than $100/month with 3 people in our house talking and texting, which is better than most post-paid family plan options I found. So, yes, I would recommend it to a friend. If you are a light to moderate user and want to be in control of your spending, on a solid network with great coverage, Net10 is worth checking out!

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