A Tough Choice For Straight Talk Prepaid Customers
How much can an industry change in a year? Quite a bit, if we use the prepaid wireless industry as a barometer. Long a haven for cellular customers with poor credit ratings, prepaid wireless services have morphed over the past two years, with the major overhaul coming in 2009 when Boost Mobile launched its $50 unlimited everything plan. Many carriers followed suit, and now the market features many similar plans.
Another significant development occurred over the summer, when America Movil, parent company to Tracfone and Net10, launched Straight Talk prepaid. The service originally offered 1,500 minutes, 1,500 SMS and MMS, 30MB of Web data, and unlimited 411 calls for $30 per month. The trial run went well, and soon Straight Talk added an unlimited everything plan for $45 and gained distribution through Wal-Mart. Not only did this undercut Boost Mobile’s price, but it also brought better service. Boost runs on Nextel’s iDEN network, while Straight Talk runs on Verizon’s superior CDMA network.
Over the past six months, Straight Talk has become the most talked about service in prepaid, and perhaps the entire cellular industry. Part of the reason relates to price. Few, if any, other carriers even come close to the value Straight Talk offers — their $30 plan is more than sufficient for most users. The other part of the reason is standard fare for America Movil services: poor customer service. America Movil outsources their customer service, which frustrates many American callers. Many times, customer service cannot adequately solve a customer’s problem. Popular Straight Talk user reviews demonstrate this.
Perhaps the toughest problem facing new customers is number portability. Cell phones have become a highly personal device, and people do not want to lose their old phone number when they switch carriers. Straight Talk, like almost every cell phone carrier, offers number portability services. It can take up to a week, but customers can take their phone number to their new Straight Talk service. One major problem arose this autumn: customers who ported their numbers into Straight Talk could not access the Web from their phones. Presumably, Straight Talk will fix this issue, but for now it poses an important question.
What’s more important to you: Your phone number or data services? Most people, I imagine, would choose phone number. It’s almost like our own personal identification number. Since our phone numbers travel with us no matter what cell phone carrier we use, people can continue to contact us. Once we change our numbers, we have to follow through with the process of notifying all significant parties. Even then, we’re bound to forget someone or someones important. So, if most people value their phone number more, why is this even a question?
The data services issue has two factors. First, the data service itself. Some people truly want that data service, and feel gipped if they don’t get that service — and rightfully so. The $30 and $45 price points might be cheap, but if they advertise certain services the company should be obligated to provide them. The second factor involves people who don’t care for the data services. It might seem harmless, but that doesn’t absolve Straight Talk of its obligation to honor its advertised prices and services. Worse, Straight Talk doesn’t even make note of the issue on its sign-up form.
Straight Talk offers the best of both worlds: robust calling, messaging, and data plans for a low price. As the old saying goes, however, if something seems too good to be true, chances are it is. Straight Talk service, under most circumstances, works as advertised. But for those porting their numbers, or those who encounter technical problems, all things are not equal. Technical problems can take hours to fix, and even after that time there’s no guarantee of a solution. Those porting their numbers essentially pay more, since they cannot access the Web. Those are trade-offs consumers must consider before trying Straight Talk.