If you're stuk in Roam all of the time, maybe you need to update things:

*228, Option 2 - Updates location
*22891 - Updates the Verizon tower listing.

I've never used those. I found them on another website and someone else said one (I forget which) worked for them.

Hello Tracfone customer my name is Elston and I am a Tracfone Employee and I am here to assist anyone that is having a problem with their phones. you can contact me at by email elombillo@tracfone.com.

do i need to get a straight talk phone to use the straight talk service card?

switched from at&t ported my number, used the corporate office in florida. they connected my service and ported my number on the spot, been fine so far.

Be very careful when purchasing this phone/plan... yes the price is great but the customer service is awful!!!! They have concerns and complaints when refilling your minutes whether on their site or from the pre paid card. After paying for the service your phone could sometimes take up to three days to activate. no money refunded, you do not even get compensated for the days you lost because of a glitch in their system. The technical support is not helpful at all (that's if you can even understand them) they transfer you from person to person only to tell you that they can not figure at the concern and will have to escalate it to corporate. they provide you with a ref # and tell you that you will be contacted... (not true) you have to call back and do it all over again! As I said the cost for the service is great but pray you don't ever have a issue. For 5.00 more you can upgrade to a boost for unlimited talk - text and web and if you have a concern you can visit any of their sprint locations or call their 800 number there technical support is great! Just be aware

Straight Talk's Yeah had 2 of them and now this is the 2nd month they have no way for us to have it go for another month they can not find our account and they show the number but said buy phone card I did and still it will not let us add the time they suck, NET TEN IS TEN TIMES BETTER>

Here is my experience with Straight Talk. I went on line last night with new phone and $30 card in hand. I completed the website activation. First thing this morning, I was able to activate the phone with my number ported in. However, it would not let me complete a call saying I had no minutes. I tried for several hours this morning to contact Customer Service with no luck. Then by noon, my account was magically activated and my $30 card recognized. I'm cookin now! No complaints from me. just a minor frustration. Just have a little patience!

After 6 years of letting Verizon abuse me as a customer, I have changed over to Straight Talk and I am glad I did! Verizon was always tacking on charges for services I didn't use and over billing me for data. Then I would have to talk and sit on hold with customer "service" for an hour to get the charges fixed. They never fixed them properly and kept over billing us. Now I am saving $100 a month and I don't have to panic about going over and getting an extra $100 tacked on to my bill.

Coverage has been great, and its saving me cash.

I've had my Straight Talk phone since January. I just bought my second prepaid contract. My phone is in Roam all the time. I also can't open my Browser menu. It says Check Data Restrictions everytime. I need help please. : )

there is a unigue boost account number, you can get it faster and with less trouble via their contact us on there web site. Straght Talk needs this. If you call, the way to get a live person is Wait until the menu goes to english and then press 5, then 0, then 1, sorry you will hear a terribly long and boring sales pitch for their new phone, but be patience. Also my experience with Straight Talk support was smooth and excellent

I am extremely interested in Straight Talk for my son. But I know he will want to play games on his phone. The Samsung R451C is the best phone they sell for my area. I've been trying to figure out if he can download/play games on this phone. Does anyone know about that?
Thanks!

Not owned by Verizon
Nublets - get info first before you speak. Tracfone and Net10 are owned by AT&T, which in turn makes Straight Talk ALSO owned by AT&T.
By anonymous @ 01/14/10 08:38:01 PM


You wrong look here.
TracFone was established in 1996 as Topp Telecom Inc., a prepaid cell phone company, in Miami, Florida. In February 1999, Topp received a major infusion of capital from Teléfonos de México or Telmex (NYSE: TMX), Mexico's largest telephone company. TelMex paid $57.5 million for a 55 percent controlling interest in the company.

I' made a mistake porting the wrong number and Customer Service Fixed it in 5min.

Great Customer Service.. Excellent and Simple Features, on phone NO Problem HERE , also Getting a Magic Jack too. SAVE $$$ SAVE $$$ CUT THE CONTRACTS BIG Phone Company

it sounds like a very good deal because right now i am paying roughly about $56 dollals a month

With Straight Talk helping me save more than $50 a month, I recommend it to everyone. Their $45 unlimited use plan is a steal and allows me to finally have affordable cell phone service without mountains of fees or contracts. Their Verizon network is solid and I have yet to drop a call. Best of all, Straight Talk allowed me to carry over my number so I can still easily keep in touch with friends and family. Straight Talk is really making it to save and have quailty.

I was able to transfer my number on my old Tracfone to my new SamsungR541C within 5 minutes! I live out in the boonies, so it's good that ST goes off of Verizon towers. I get a pretty good signal. With Tracfone and Net10(AT&T)I was lucky to get one bar. You can't beat $30 a month for 1000mins talk time and 1000 text messages. No contracts. That in itself is awesome :)

It's not worth an extra $40 or more a month (after the ridiculous taxes and fees traditional cell companies add in) to get a phone that can be "personalized."The good thing is that this sort of service will force the others to reduce prices if it starts taking market share. Tracphone is still a better deal for someone who spends under 350 minutes a month on the cellphone. It's $99 for 900 minutes that last a year and don't expire if you keep adding time/minutes to the phone. It's a great deal for casual users.

Can the phones be personalized? I heard they can't. I'm big on different ringtones for everyone and my pictures as the background

Ken
What about service? if the service isn't working in some way that you need [for example internet doesn't work] it can be useless to ya.
Are you switching to straight talk when your contract is up?

It appears by the comments and the company's map that Straight Talk uses Verizon's CDMA network. Straight Talk states that they use America's most reliable network. Before you draw any conclusions from Verizon's coverage maps or your experience with Verizon, please be aware that Straight Talk phones do not roam. Therefore your phone will only work on Verizon owned towers (see the coverage map at www.straighttalk.com). Much of Verizon's coverage is on the towers of other carriers (roaming)they contract with. Straight Talk will not work with these towers. Therefore Staight Talk covers a significantly smaller geographic area than Verizon.

A similar situation exists with Virgin Mobile and Sprint. Virgin Mobile only works on Sprint owned towers and will not roam while Sprint customers can roam on the towers of carriers that Sprint contracts with.

As always, be sure you read and understand the fine print.

I bought a straight talk phone three months ago. Verizon was always adding fees and extra charges etc. After fighting with them for months, I figured out it was my fault for letting them do it to me. Saving 100 a month. Thanks straight talk. I also suggest auto refill...pete

I'm using net 10 service but I was wondering if I switch to straight talk would I be able to switch my crurrent number to your service or would I need a new one

Very satisfied, and saving a ton of money and hassle.

I got straight talk about 2 months ago and yes i am still pitted against my nerves when i have to talk to those idiots on the customer service line. lets just say I've hung up numerous times, But before i had straight talk i had a contract with Verizon which i let slip because the customer service wasn't up to par plus when i agree to pay 120 a month for two phones and the bill each time is 40 bucks more after the nickles and dimes i had enough

see here's the deal when you sign a contract for two years you better know what you're getting into because that customer service is going to treat you like they are doing you a favor just letting you use the service instead of the other way around because they have you locked in and they could give a shit less about you, but with straight talk if you don't like the service to sign up next month your out 40 bucks instead of a big black stain on your credit report

what is total bill??

I got my son the $ 30.00 card and only gave him 1,000 minutes with no text.

I live in Mississippi ported my cellular south number to straight talk saturday morning with no problems the entire process happened in about 40 minutes including number port.I read this forum before I purchased there was a lot of negative about porting without the mention of the problem existing from the old phone company involved. I think that if you have all the info such as account number login and password and if you can remember your name I don't see a problem. ALSO for the cry babies that complains about 7 days porting it tells you that when you sign up for straight talk online it tells you this process may take 7 days and you have to agree before you go any further in the process. So for the ones who are thinking about buying that read this first take the negative with a grain of salt. Start and complete process online, if you don't have a computer go to the library. I ended up with Verizon service, unlimited internet, voce, texting, and the 411 service is answered by Verizon information humans. I have to recommend this product you can;t beat it in America for $45 a month.

Nublets - get info first before you speak. Tracfone and Net10 are owned by AT&T, which in turn makes Straight Talk ALSO owned by AT&T.

My husband got me the phone in December. Since then it has disconnected and the service has been cut at least 10 times! It is so frustrating. I gave them my credit card so they could automatically bill me monthly, but EACH time it gets disconnected I have to spend at least an hour on the phone with service people -- like I did two days ago and now today it's disconnected again! I would NEVER recommend this phone service to anyone! It's unreal! I could have never imagined this -- even in my worst nightmare!!!

I ported my Verizon number to a brand new Straight Talk phone. My Verizon phone showed the service had been terminated within 1/2 an hour. But still no service with the Straight Talk phone almost 24 hours later. The Straight Talk phone shows my ported number in the "my phone number" section. I've been with customer service three times and they still say it is not ported and to wait 7 days! How come I can't call on my old phone then and how come the number is on my new Straight Talk phone?

I JUST CANT BELIEVE IT. STRAIGHT TALK MAKES UP FOR ALL THE RAPING AND PILLAGING THE CELL COMPANIES HAVE RAVAGED ON US FOR SO LONG....AND IM SURE THEY CAN DO BETTER IN THE FUTURE....LIKE TO SEE WIDER SELECTION OF PHONES

Some of you guys are just ridiculous ……
Who cares if Metro PCS or Straight Talk have poor customer service, and who cares if they don't cover few rural areas? For the amount you are paying with their services you should feel guilty because it is a bargain of mega colossal. Some of you guys love to complain for any simple things, I find that you are too ungrateful and complicate life too much. It’s like going to the Local INN and expects to have Ritz Carlton treatments.


Look, I have a family plan with AT&T, it has 1400 Minutes, 200 texts for each phone + 10% discount – My monthly rate is $130, on the average I pay $150, I can barely talk on my phone for fear that I will go over my minutes, and when it is a holiday I am so scared because I will receive so many text messages from my friends and I will go over the 200...I had many drop calls, I found many dead zones, and if I am 1 second late with payment they start calling me.


If I add data and unlimited text to my plan my monthly rate will go up by another $60

Their unlimited plan is $199 for 1st line, and $99 for the 2nd line.


**Straight talk**
Straight talk will cover you through the major us cities @ $45 for unlimited talk, text and web.
[2 phones cost me $90 + tax]

**Metro PCS**
With Metro you can get the same deal.... @ $45 for unlimited talk, text and web. If you are a frequent traveler this is not for you because it is a regional.
[A family plan cost me $70 + tax]

So you do the math my complaining friends!!

For what Straight talk and Metro PCS are offering, I don’t mind waiting on hold for 2 hours, and I don’t mind speaking with someone who speaks broken English, Heck for what I am saving, I would even use freetranslation.com to speak with them if I have to.

Stop complaining my friends, Straight talk and Metro Pcs are not for everyone…..some of us were born to create rich CEOs. Go my Friend, go chase your Eye-Phones and your Droid devices……and for what you will be paying at the end of your 2 year contract, If you don’t have first class customer service, and accent-less customer service, 100% coverage, 1 second hold time….. I would be disapointed.

I guess I'm one of those few who use more than 1000 minutes a month so the StraightTalk deal of $45 for unlimited usage is perfect for me. I was able to activate the phone in less than 30 minutes and so far I have no complaints!

i got the LG cho. an man im a cell phone junky an iv ben threw alot i really mean a hole lot of cell phones an i got to say STRAIT TALK is the best so far an im hooked an im not going any where else i promis that an matter of fact im on my way to buy my son an daughter a cell phone an im choosing STRAIT TALK for them as well an iv told all my family an friends about u guys as well an a couple of them already baught one an they love it so thank u STRAIT TALK for giving me an my friends an family a reliable phone an saving us so much money we are all pleased an like i said i got one already an im buying my 2 kids one an im going to buy me another one also just because its a unbeleavable deal your phones are even cool an cheaper then the rest from what i see so from me an my friends an family thank u thank u thank u thank u

works like altel phone is program by serial #

I am thinking about purchasing a straight talk phone. Now is there a chip in it where I can put it in a different phone? Thanks

Back to basics! Ppl of the world, the big cell phone companies have tricked us into thinking we NEED all those superfluous bells and whistles of Smart Phones, etc. NO MORE. Those are just excuses to charge you up the WAZOO for BS. Think about it, you use your phone to talk. Remember those days? We just talked and that was it.

Straight Talk is an Awesome plan with phones that get the job done. I've had my Samsung full qwerty phone for 19 days and NO problems. It works great and I'm paying $45 a month for unlimited everything! Stop being an idiot follower and get this phone/plan. Your pocket book and sanity will thank you. Oh yeah, NO CONTRACT! Do it, do it today. I'm glad I did.

If you do have to call tech support... be prepared for long wait times then when you get a tech they'll be heavily scripted,slowly and repeatedly thanking you and apoligizing for your issue. Call from a landline and be prepared to wait and wait and wait... all this because the website won't let me download ringtones, 'problem authorizing your account'. Still I'm relieved I don't have to deal with $print. When I decided to go with straighttalk I bought the cheapo phone LG100c (29.95) thinking I'd upgrade later but this is the cutest phone about the size of a credit card, slips right into my pocket ... I don't worry about breaking and replacing as it's better than the ripoff replacement racket $print has going on! I ported my phone # and it was complete in less than 24 hours. I love voice command feature. The main screen is not configurable as I like 'Security' lock my phone.

Sprint was charging me $41 for 200 min, nights started at 9pm, so when I saw Straight Talk I thought about it for two weeks and now I'm a very satified customer. They even include some web access for my $33 (incl tax) month. And I get a solid signal all the time, unlike my 4 unhappy years with Sprint. Straight Talk is a good move. Thanks Clark.

I have had the phone for about a month and it has been great! I signed up via the web and things went smooth and very fast. I put in the info to switch my number from AT&T and it said it would probably take a few days no worries. Well 5 minutes later I went to use the old phone and was greeted with no-service tried the new one and it was on and working with my old number!!
I went with the 45 to start and see how much I used and if I don't run over the 1000 min then I will switch over to the $30 option.
From what I have read about networks and the likes the Straighttalk uses the Verizon network with Tracphone handling the billing aspect and Wal Mart is handling marketing.
When I dialed 611 one day I actually got a verizon person (oops!).
All in all I would recomend the phone to just about everyone but know this you cannot use the phone connected to your pc to get online (bummer) and there are no games for when you are bored but hey you can always surf the web.

I did have a little trouble with customer service porting my number and activating my device. It took a couple of hours. Once I was up and running, I have had no complaints. I bought the LG 200c. It only makes calls and sends text messages. I love that. I have had smartphones for four years and have become exhausted by them. I just wanted a regular phone. This device is well made and does the job. I have had a couple of dropped calls, but nothing more than what I had gotten from AT&T. The price is superb. I am saving $70 a month from my old bill. I am no longer a slave to my phone. I like the service. Thanks Straight Talk.

You need quite a bit of patience to activate this phone. I have phone and text but no browser. This first customer service rep didn't even tell me that although I had phone/text my phone wasn't completely ported and this is why my browser didn't work... "just wait 24 hours so we can research the problem". The next day the second customer rep said my phone wasn't working because it wasn't completely ported and that "in 24 hours it would work". Now at day 7 of waiting for porting, I called because this still isn't resolved. Customer rep #3 said that my case had been closed (what????), she had to reopen and that "in 24 hours my phone would work"....These individuals appear to be from Eastern Europe and can't get off their scripts and are difficult to hear clearly. Thank goodness I don't need my browser right now. If I didn't have the phone/text I would be screaming my head off...be aware that this is not an easy process and you will definitely have to work to start saving yourself money....24 hours is more like a week to 10 days

It is unfortunate that their customer service is in India, or where ever. But then, Americans don't really want to work anymore for a reasonable wage. That's why so many jobs are going overseas. Now, if you offered an average American worker $84 an hour (like you pay your mechanic), they might answer phones, if you threw in some benefits. But given our school standards these days, they might not know enough to help the customer much. And then, you see what paying those wages would do to the cost of service to the customer. It's a sad commentary on where this country has gone; and it might take a good depression to teach Americans, again, the value of a day's honest work, and the value of having a steady job. For now, though, we're doing pretty well - getting lots of gadgets and stuff - from people in other countries who still WANT to work.

the internet page where it said it can not work is because their computer system is having errors when every new cell phone company starts they have a few minor glitches. after like 2-5 days the internet will work and some of the error message are because some websites are not compatible with the phone. They still need to update their program. Every phone company starts off with bad programing but they improve in the future. like last night i tryed to activate my phone but their website was down i waited 20 mins and reloaded my cellphone with the $45 a month unlimited everything card. the Razors were never a good phone but it also is a good phone when you do not get a defective phone. they need to just have motorla make their own cell phones and get better programmers and hire new costumer reps because a lot of them are stupid idiots and don't know how to operate a computer. this is why you may have problems.

I have had this phone since Nov. 15th. It's perfect. I get service everywhere Verizon gets service so I get service everywhere. I had boost mobile and they were decent but not great. Also, the phones are amazing now and the r451c is amazing.

I was just wondering about the coverage. I know in a lot of circumstances the coverage map isn't always correct. So, I wanted to here from someone who has service with them and travels alot. How is the coverage?

I have noticed that the people who make posts regarding a bad experience with customer service seem to have problems communicating clearly. I'm not saying that about everyone that has posted, but most. I am switching to Straight Talk from Boost and couldn't be happier. The Boost Mobile service can go from 100% reception to no reception for 5 to 10 seconds at a time for no apparent reason. The towers are terrible as well and will leave you without service in most areas. I can make a 25 mile drive and lose and regain service 5 or 6 times with Boost, but with Straight Talk I have total coverage. It is definitely something to think about.

It is best to activate on-line. My activation went very smoothly, and that includes porting my old number.
If an awesome web experiance is what you are after then look elsewhere. 3 days left on my first month and I still have 25mb of the alloted 35mb of inet.
But if a solid, cheap and reliable phone is what you seek....you found it.

After porting my number and my phone browser not working, I made many frustrating phone calls to tech support...

I believe it was my call to the corporate office in Florida that actually resolved this common browser issue (after porting a phone number). The Corporate office is 1-800-876-5753 (Normal Business hours EST) They created an escalation ticket that goes to a team that works directly with Verizon to resolve these issues. A day or two of patience will go a long way in this case... So my suggestion is Call Corporate directly (don't wast your time with the basic Tech Support, as they simply cannot fix the Ported number Browser issue).

You will know you have this or similar issue if you also cannot pull up your account balance on the Straighttalk.com website...

I really like this service, now that the growing pains are finally over.

Thinking about switching to Straight Talk only if the phones you buy support Microsoft and can download to my PC. It sounds like I should wait until they get there customer service fiqured out??

Interesting, you are right... I could not find this information on their site either... but yes, the voice service is essentially what Verizon offers, including email, the data has some exceptions in that it is 1X (or I believe the slower but still quite functional 1XRTT CDMA Packet Data as opposed to 3G). I've read (but not verified) that ST has limited MMS messages to not receive attachments, to force you to buy their ringtones, etc.??


30 days of service
Unlimited for $45 OR 1000 any time/any where minutes for $30
Unlimited text or 1000 Text messages
30 Megabytes of Data usage
Unlimited roaming with NO extra fees within the Verizon Network.
Free calls to 411
Voice mail, caller id, call waiting included.
Same coverage as a typical Verizon contract plan

Caution: Minutes do not roll over from month to month, and any change or addition in minutes p wipes out existing minutes.

Straight Talk does not offer outbound international roaming or international long distance service at this time. International calling cards that utilize 1 800 numbers for access will work on your Straight Talk phone. You will not be able to make or receive calls on your Straight Talk phone if you are traveling outside of the United States. At this time, roaming is limited the Verizon network.

Update on the Moto Razr V3a.
It does Sync with Outlook using Motorola Phone Tools V5.

Regarding Contacts, Only 500 total entries including up to 5 phone numbers and one email address per person, not 500 persons with multiple entries. So realistically about 150 to 200 individual persons with multiple entries... But it's better than no sync at all.

The Calendar does sync as well.
Phone Tools software allows access to the internal memory (Pictures, Sounds, Video). No further memory can be added... Nor can internal memory be accessed directly by USB w/o Phone Tools software. MP3's will not play via Blue-tooth to stereo headset only internal speaker.

It's a terrific basic phone, with a very basic browser, But No Java support...!

I hope this info is helpful.

Firdt I will say I have not had 1 problem with my Straight Talk phone. I can send pics from my email to my phone. Its all in knowing a little about what your doing. If you can't handle a simple thing like a cell phone, just how do you expect to get through life? I am very pleased with mine. I called CS one time just to set it up. Smooth as silk. If your not happy, then go pay $100.00 a month and please yourself, then the rest of us wont have to put up with your whinning!

Okay, I got the cheap non browser enabled phone back in June when straight talk first came out. I loved it. Great phone service everywhere. For my birthday in October I treated myself to the Motorola razr model so I could get internet (since this was important to my new business). It was activated and everything worked ..EXCEPT the browser/internet. After getting case numbers and being told after endless calls that they were working on it, about a week later I saw the new slider phone had come out. So I wanted that instead and went and exchanged my phone at Walmart (since it was still within the exchange period). I figured I would get a slider which I love and maybe a working browser. So they activate this phone. Browser DOES NOT WORK! I keep getting error messages about not having access to the site. I am convinced its not the hardware but that my account or number is not authorized for internet access. I tell them this. I get transferred around to various 'technical support' until finally the rep says its a malfunctioning phone and wants to send me a replacement. She says the replacement will come directly from the factory and the browser will be tested so it should work. I get the phone a few days later. Its still in its plastic bubble. Its not been tested. I activate this one. The browser DOES NOT WORK! The rep says give it 24 to 48 hours to be fully activated. I wait 3 days and it still DOES NOT WORK! Same error..no access. I call tech support today and they dont even bother having me do any tests with the phone but say its a bad phone again! BULLSH*T!!! I tell them that its impossible since the last one didnt work. They say that they are having trouble with this Samsung model. I say then why didnt my Motorola work either. I tell them I believe its a backend/software issue. NOT THE PHONE/HARDWARE (Im a programmer and mess with hardware..I have a little knowledge of this stuff). They say the only thing they can do is send me ANOTHER PHONE! Number 4. I tell them that I want it actually tested there before they send it out. I even tell them they can activate it with my number before they send it to me. They dont think this is possible and I get the impression that what I will get is another prepackaged phone that wont work because THEY ARENT FIXING THE ISSUE! This has now been going on for over A MONTH! I told them this is the last chance. If it doesnt work this time I am asking for my money back for the phone and switching to another carrier. THIS IS RIDICULOUS! A service which I was absolutely impressed with has completely left me frustrated and fallen down in my opinion. So I CAN recommend the service for voice calls BUT NOT INTERNET USE.

Stay away from StraightTalk! CS could not be any worse and obviously outsourced to another country. Beware of signing up for autorefill as the initial refill is immediate instead of refilling at the end of the current service term.

I ported my phone, no problem. However, it has been a nightmare getting my wife's phone ported. She has been given the runaround for a week now. Finally, the number is ported over, but they are saying the phone can't be used due to 'a system error' and that it should be remedied in '24 hours' like everything else we've been told over this week! I don't care how much it saves! This has been a nightmare, and I'm sorry I ever listened to the advice Clark gave on this one.

I bought a QWERTY slider phone and ported my number to it in minutes. Great! I then bought a phone for my wife and ported number to it in minutes. Great! I then tried it with my sons number. Big mistake. I have to call customer service 800 number. They answer pretty fast so just hang up and try again if their accent is unintelligible. When you finally get someone who you can understand you will be asked for some numbers and then there will be 5 or 10 minutes of "okay" and "alright." "I am updating our system." "Can I put you on hold?" and round and round until you finally hang up because all they are doing is practicing their english by repaeting the same thing. Then they will transfer you to another person who asks all the same information and parrots the previous rep. You will hang up in frustration after 45 minutes or so of their ineptitude.

I would recommend this. But if there is any glitch requiring you to call them, you are in for a ride.

Sounds like a great deal to me. I used to work for the nation's largest wireless carrier, and i know that straight talk operated on their network, so the service will be excellent! I say go for it, for most people it's the bottom line that matters = "how much is it gonna cost me?" 1000 mins, 1000 texts, 30mb, and you get to operate on America's best cell network - sign me up!! Its true the minutes dont roll over, but if you have minutes left over at the end of the month that means only one thing: YOU DON'T NEED THEM

Okay I was very skeptical about Straight Talk and it's so awesome service and so forth as I believe most people are/were. I will be the first to tell you I left Sprint when my contract ended about 3 weeks ago and I couldn't be happier. I get better service than when I was with Sprint and the calls are more clear. I went from paying $103/month (unlimited everything) to now $45/month (unlimited everything). The phones are pretty cool too. I have the $100 Samsung phone with the keyboard and it works awesome. The only thing the phone lacks that I like is bluetooth but I'm sure Straight Talk will come out with a new phone with bluetooth and I will gladly buy that one as well. Plus they send you reminders to let you know when you need to renew you account to continue your service. This is going to make all other companies compete with Wal-Mart and it shows again how Wal-Mart is out smarting the compatition.

I ported my number from Net 10 and it took less than 1 hour

If you plan on porting your number to StraightTalk you must port it at the same time you activate your card. If you don't they will make you wait until you activate another card.

well i did a mistake when i switched from boost mobile to straight talk, i did activate my phone online , something happened with the net and my phone was activated, i wanted to port my old number so when i called customer service first of all there was lot of noise , like they were playing cricket in the call center, it looks like tey are using google voice to route the calls, i was advised in order to port my number to buy another prepaid card, i spoke to the supervisor it took me like 15 minutes to speak to a supervisor they were dogging me every minutes , the supervisor will be with u in a minutes , she is coming , hold she will be wih u noe, she is taking ur call now, i was so pissed off that i hang out and i took back my phone to walmart for refund, i lost 30 dollars but i was lucky my boost mobile still working, is better to pay a 50 dollars for good service than deal with a call center that does not know what they do.
good bye straight talk .

A few points you forgot to mention. Straight Talk is only available in CDMA zip codes through the Verizon network. Also, the minutes do not rollover month to month. Unfortunately, this plan won't be available for everyone. To see if it's available in your area, you can test your zip code below:


http://www.saveonprepaidphones.com/straight_talk_availability_check

I did some research and found ST to be best for me. I talk a lot and text a lot but didn't want to pay a lot for them. It's basically a bare bones service, but it does have what I need from voice mail and I could talk and text all I want. I got the unlimited plan each month that has to be renewed every 30 days. I don't care. So if you just want the basics and don't want those awful locked in contracts this might be for you. I'm not into the fancy phones so I just got the basic LG that was popular a decade ago! But I like and man it's so much cheaper than the AT&T service I was with!

I have a pda with AT&T and a Razr with Verizon. Get great coverage and customer service....BUT...both are expensive for prepay which is what I stick with....have been researching and thinking of switching my Verizon to ST, but after reading all these posts, am not so sure anymore. Don't want to apend $100 on another Razr and not have the good coverage I have now....I live in fairly big city, but travel through countryside/small towns when I go visit my sister's family and my best friends. If I break down will I be able to call out? I don't want to give up my Palm on AT&T as I get get web most anywhere on it and it's mostly used as pda/web for me. Verizon is just for talking with best friend who has Vz and we talk as long as we want m2m. CAn anyone offer me real advice?

Great inexpensive cell phone service. Verizon towers offer excellent service in the boonies south of rochester ny. These phones dont roam, but virgin mobile phones dont either. They are the cheapest prepaid phone plans out there. Highly recommend.

Well I got The PagePlus Plan Razr V3c. The Phone functions are limited and totally different than any Razr I have seen and I have seen them all. The web is just about useless can't bookmark or go to url. How is the Straight Talk RAZR etc.? Are there phones limited?

I just started getting the same outgoing minutes message 2 days ago. Anyone know how to remove this? (I have unlimited minutes)

Currently using ST $30 plan. Whenever making an outgoing call with my cell, I always get this message, "The time available for this call is XX hours and XX minutes." Is there any way I get rid of this because it is annoying??

I found out Page Plus has a better Razr and better CS. $39.95 unlimited plan with 20mb web. Check it out. Anybody got it? I think I'm going to get as soon as I use up more of my T-mobile prepaid minutes.

I was on the TMO loyalty plan and ported my number to Straight Talk anyway. My bill is cut in 1/2. The port took about 3 hours. I have used this service for about 3 weeks now...all over Atlanta..up to Braselton, to Montgomery AL and Calloway Gardens. NO problems with reception. My wife's TMO phone had spotty service. If you want a lot of web apps..then this is not for you. But if you are a talker and texter, this is a no-brainer. Caveat--their service is for 30 days..not 31..but you will save a ton anyway.

I had a broken browser and called tech support. they must have fixed it just was working one day...

The $30/$45 plans are great deal but the selection of phones is not so good.

After almost a month, I seemed to have all the problems solved.
The browser is finally working (Razr V3).
Regarding the automatic renewal problem:
I bought a card from Walmart.com for $29.95 + sales tax. No extra phone taxes added. I was concerned as to when I should activate the new card. If I wait until the 31st day, will they have de-activated my account and phone number? After calling the corporate office I was assured that my account would NOT be de-activated for at least another 30 days. Of course the phone won't work after 30 days until you activate your card online. You save a couple of dollars with the card and also have the control. Coverage is great and I'm told that minutes don't count if you call other Verizon customers.

I love strait talk.I wanted a cheaper plan and did my research before purchasing the phone.At the checkout counter at walmart I asked if there is a return on the phone and yes within 15 days. Activated the service. We live in Atlanta metro area and needed a cell service to work from Jasper GA and this strait talk phone works great. Very clear reception. I'm now going to get all our family phones over to strait talk.I even had my sister call it from CA to make sure it worked across the country and it does. I'm so happy with the price and service.
Thanks Clark

I bought a 100 dollar phone straight talk (motorola) phone from Walmart due to Clark's reco of the plan. Stuppedest thing I've ever done.

Three weeks later, Straight talk cannot activate the phone. Worse, since I signed up for the monthly auto renew, they can't cancel it until they figure out how to activate the phone.

One solution was to exchange the phone back at Walmart, but since I didn't retain the box, they won't exchange it, refund my money, or do Jack.

Good news is I now know a lot of folks from India - who pass the buck to Straight Talk Corporate, who are supposed to fix the problem and get back to me in 24 hours, have yet to do so after three weeks.

No one outside of India is going to help you if you run into problems with Straight Talk. Walmart isn't going to help you. Clark Howard isn't going to help you. I say stay away from all three...as they suck... none of them stand by their product.

#1 if you call the 800 number on the card to activate a new phone and want to port your old number. Tell the 1st thing. Make it clear or they will activate your phone with some other number and want to charge you a 2nd activation fee. If you need good service call the home office 800-876-5753 m-f.. they will work with you along with Trac Phone the provider network customer service.. much better service. It took me 10 days to get my phone number ported without having to pay another $30 to reactivate the phone. My problem currently is the W385 phone $79 has a very short battery life.. less than a day if you talk for over 25-30 minutes. A employee at walmart hold me to call Motorola for a replacement battery (all of their phones have a 1 year warranty) if not return the phone, but I will be starting over with activation and loading the phone # etc.... PS Now that the phone works I get better service than my old T mobile at $31.50 verse $69 per month.. I will keep working to solve this problem

Called support and they elevated it. Service is great for cell phone. Hope they can fix it or may need to get phone back to Walmart...

Here's a problem. If you go on an automatic renewal plan,they will renew your 30 days on the 31 day. No Problem with that......But you can buy a refill card and save the additional phone taxes. The problem with it is that your next 30 day period begins as soon as you activate the card. You will lose at least one day of service. If you wait until the 31st day, your account will have been DE-ACTIVATED automatically. The refill cards can NEVER save you any money.
You must go with the automatic renewal plan.
I spent 20 minutes with the service people regarding this issue. Makes no sense to me if in fact what they told me is accurate.

I recently left Verizon and am trying the prepaid Straight Talk phone. I transferred the number from my old phone and thought things were good until I had no luck activating my web browser. The phone will not let me access the browser at all. It has been over 2 weeks and I have talked with the C/S people 5 or 6 times and they will not fix the phone. I am so frustrated. The calling works fine and the text messaging is fine, but I am just so frustrated with the c/s about the browser, that I don't think I will stay with them long. Thank God I am not in a contract. I did spend $100.00 dollars on the phone. I am beginning to believe there is no such thing as this department that is suppossed to be working on my browser. I am VERY DISAPPOINTED!!!!!

Does anybody have an opinion which of the two web-enabled Straight Talk phones is better? They only have two to choose from: Moto W385 ($79) versus MotoRazr v3a ($99) which is apparently a Motorola Razor phone. Thank you.

The novelty wore off my iPhone and the reality of 24 months of bills at around 100.00 months set in I ditched AT&Ts bad service and went to Virgin Mobile.I like having a regular, cheap phone I can drop and not worry if it gets scratched etc. I get 300 anytime, 1000 N/W and 1000 texts for 34.99 a month. I think I will switch to Straight Talk once my minutes are up though. Maybe Virgin will match this deal soon? I do like the service with Virgin though.

There really is no reason to pay 100.00 for cell service anymore. The big cell companies need a reality check and if people start switching their prices WILL eventually come down.

It appears by the comments and the company's map that Straight Talk uses Verizon's CDMA network. Straight Talk states that they use America's most reliable network. Before you draw any conclusions from Verizon's coverage maps or your experience with Verizon, please be aware that Straight Talk phones do not roam. Therefore your phone will only work on Verizon owned towers (see the coverage map at www.straighttalk.com). Much of Verizon's coverage is on the towers of other carriers (roaming)they contract with. Straight Talk will not work with these towers. Therefore Staight Talk covers a significantly smaller geographic area than Verizon.

A similar situation exists with Virgin Mobile and Sprint. Virgin Mobile only works on Sprint owned towers and will not roam while Sprint customers can roam on the towers of carriers that Sprint contracts with.

As always, be sure you read and understand the fine print.

Clark's idea for this company is an excellent one, HOWEVER...for those of us who use many more minutes, no one, and I repeat no one, to my knowledge, can beat T MOBILE's unlimited cell phone any time anywhere in the USA plan for $49.00 per month. I pay an additional $5 for 400 text messages, so the total bill plus tax is about $60.00.

Straight Talk now has an unlimited talk and txt option for $45. This is insanely cheap for Verizon service.

I do not need another phone-I need cheaper service. Right now ATT's 29.99 plan is more like $50 with fees and tax. They also harass you if you do not pay your bill on time.

Straighttalk has no mention of roaming; If you can use your existing phone;-is that plan $30 said and done, or do we factor in another $20 for fees and taxes?? Their FAQ is useless...

I'm skeptical.

how much does clark get for advertising this mess?

It says on the Straight Talk website that there is no roaming with Straight talk (the phone won't work where there is roaming) and they define roaming as whenever you are outside your home calling area. Does that mean the phone won't work if you are outside your home calling area even if the area is on the coverage map? Does anyone know? Thanks.

Just switched it's fantastic. 30.00 bucks and you get verizon and who uses 1000 minutes I have not had one dropped call. First month I used 600 minutes 199 text messages. Downdise there phones but I just talk so I need no bells my ipod takes care of that. Get it if you can its getting diffucult from what O have hearf

I just activated my Straight Talk account. I ported my number from Verizon hassle free. I travel through rural central GA and had good signal strength almost constantly.

True, WalMart is having trouble keeping stocked, specially the $30 phone. I did buy the $79 phone for the extra features. Still a good deal.

It does not seem to have all the "bells and whistles" that I had from Verizon, but I can whistle a whole lot for the $35 I save each month.

This deal is not for everyone. Prepaid is a niche market, but quite large. I doubt it would be a wise choice for someone on a family plan, or a group that all have the same carrier and get free M2M minutes. But for those of us who don't need that, it is close to perfect.

To answer a couple of comments:
Yes it comes with a charger
No you can't use an existing Verizon phone.
Yes it has voice mail.
Yes you can use it if you travel, but only in an area serviced by Verizon.

To recap, it is a very good option for people like me who are best served by a prepaid plan.

where is the message board? and i read the straight talk was using verizon's netwok, does that mean you can use verizon's cell phones?

boost has pretty good options if they cover the area you need.
Do you know how good the service is?

We have been able to get coverage with Virgin Mobile on both coasts and both borders. It's great for people that use cell phones for emergencies, while on vacations or shopping with a group of people. We love it.

This appears to be a great value it's MAJOR minus is lack of roaming which I read to mean you can't use it if you travel. If you never travel though it's probably the best value for local

Virgin Mobile, $6.99 a month, 10 cents a minute, $20 every three months. That's my choice of many services they offer. I can go days without a call, so I don't get charged. Voicemail, speaker-phone, etc. I'm using an older phone but there are many to choose from with more amenities. Coverage is SOLID; worked well even last year on vacation in New Hampshire.

It was my first cellphone company when I was dragged kicking and screaming into the cellphone age years ago, and the only change I ever make is to get a phone upgrade once in a while. You can top up from the phone, automatically or online, and the top-up cards are available EVERYWHERE if that's the way you want to pay. In at least 5 years I've never had a problem, so I see no reason to change with a service as accomodating as their's. Good customer service as well.

And I'll beam up anyone who wants me to!

May I respond to a few qurstions?

Straight Talk is indeed from TracFone and uses Verizon's network.

So far, it's available from select Walmart retail stores and from the website. If you order from the website, it can be shipped at no additrional chharge to your local Walmart.

The $30/30 days plan expires after 30 days, so there's no rollover. And if you exceed the alloted 1,000 minutes or 1,000 texts simply purchase another 30-day card.

The features vary according to phone but they do include voicemail (as one commenter wondered.

The deal is per phone and there are no family plans at this point.

More information is on the website: http://www.straighttalk.com and if you want to purchase, here's a direct link: http://tinyurl.com/talkstraight

I have had Tracfone for about five years and have been very pleased. The coverage is good and it is great for someone like me who does not use the cell phone as their primary phone. I buy 1,000 minutes at a time for about $100 and it lasts me for about a year. That’s $8.33/mo!

I haven't seen any posts about Virgin Mobile, we are very satisfied with them.

I ware hearing aids and clear loud reception is most important. I use a cordless Vtech land line phone modified by Audex and it works great but Audex doesn't modify cell phones. Does anyone out there know of a good phone and cell plan for me.

What happens if your out of your area, and also where is the coverage area ?
We live in the thumb of Michigan and its very hard to get any cell phones to work here.

I live in a rural area in southcentral Virginia and tracphone is the only one that is consistant with coverage. I use is all the way to Maine and down to Orlando with no breaks in coverage. Can't get any better.

The problem with cell phone companies other than Verizon and AT & T is coverage in rural areas. If you stay on an interstate, or in a city you are OK. If not, that coverage may be lacking at a bad time

I agree that this is a good deal. It is similar to Page Plus, which is what I currently use. My wife and I switched out AT&T postpaid service to Page Plus in January. My monthly cost with AT&T was $81. Our average monthly cost, including the cost of a Magic Jack, which we use while at home, dropped to $40/month. I loved AT&T and I miss it, but like many of us, I need to cut costs where ever I can.

To Jenny: I too saw the coverage map, and I agree that it is not nearly as good as you get with Verizon. My Page Plus coverage is much better than that, as it includes everything that is in the prepaid coverage map on the Verizon website. When I get outside of that coverage, which is rare, I can roam at 59cents/minute. From what I see on the Straight Talk website, roaming is not available at all.

It puzzles me that the Straight Talk coverage does not include the former Alltel area as home coverage, like my Page Plus service does. Maybe it will improve. We will see.

My cell phone is business critical. I live in a rural area and travel around 6 large counties on the road daily. The *only* provider I can trust to get my calls through is Verizon. Out of the huge area I pass through daily, there's only one "dead spot" and it is quite small. Verizon is certainly not the cheapest, but definitely the most reliable, so I'll stay with them, thank you. I can't afford to lose business. Do I fight with them occasionally? Yes. But it is all about what guaranteed connectivity is worth to you. To me it is worth a lot!

But this is just about me and where I am. What we all need to remember is that there is no "blanket coverage" and each person's situation is going to be very different depending upon where they are.

Unfortunately, it appears you can only purchase a Straight Talk plan at Walmart, and since I won't support an unethical company I quess I'm out of luck.

alright, sounds good, but what if you don't use 1000 in a th. Will they roll over or do you not have a choice but to have to do it over every 30days. The website makes it sound like you do, to me you should not have to til you need the minutes??

...that last sentence. If they are owned by teh same company as Net10, I'd do without before doing business with them. Feeding quarters to a pay phone is a much more customer positive experience.

Love MetroPCS for my daughter and I if your on a budget and still want reliable service metropcs is the way to go. Since they just added national wide coverage if you travel out there metropcs home area. Note they also on verizon towers for this national wide coverage.

Here in San Diego works great, Motorola i335 phone is ok, great speakerphone, tethers to pc very easy. Unlimited everything, no contract. Left Verizon to go to Boost. Very happy

Straighttalk uses Verizon network. I see many people have commented about the service, etc without even bothering to check out the details.

Thanks Clark for saving us a ton over ATT!

Go with carrier with best coverage to where you travel, then look at the deals. Without coverage, the phone is a weight on your car seat. Worthless!! No roaming mean can't roam with that particular service/plan. Many pay as you go services don't allow roaming and if do it's very costly. Read all the small print as reps can sway you to make their commissions. Good luck!

One definition of "boost" is "to rob, steal." How well named this company is! Lousy service, terrible reception with bars going from full to zero in a second flat, with no movement of the phone. Lengthy holds, suspicious answers ("You're on conditional activation... It'll be better tomorrow" - it wasn't) and a billing department that hangs up on you. My one month charge lasted 2 days and is now in dispute with my CC company. Avoid them!

Called and spoke to rep. Roaming charges are deducted off your balance at 2 minutes for every 1 miute used.
There is voice mail availble and acccess is deducted off your balance too.
Too much info out there. Scotty beam me up.

Why does everyone talk about T Mobile, Verizon, Straight Talk and all these other companies yet no one mentions Metro PCS. This service is amazing and for $55.00 max, including tax and service charge, you have unlimited texting, phone calls, local and long distance, and emails. It also has voice mail. NO CONTRACTS! I am just a loyal customer, not trying to sell anyone but let you all know it is a wonderful and amazing service. The absolute only drawback is if you travel then you do have to pay roaming charges but if you are the average person, you don't travel that often and then you can pay the minimal fees for roaming and still save a boatload of money every month!

I looked over the Straight Talk web site and did not see any reference to voice mail. Does this service have voice mail?

Did not check network for ST but lemme tell ya one thing - my Dad using PCSMetro. He has good network as long as he is in / around his home or big cities in California.. but when he is in Yucca Valley (in California) he can't receive call or can't make a call... His cell is useless in case of emergency.

Sounded good until I read the terms.It said the phone will not roam.What does this mean? The way I read it, it will not work if you are out of your home area. I currently use Tracfone that works almost anywhere in the country using the Verizon network.

... I should have bought stock in Tracfone!

I have 3 sprint lines and 3 at&t lines .Sprint 89 bucks a month 3 lines with everything 2000 anytime between them .Att 3 lines only one with everything the iphone that I don't use the everything but have to pay 20 bucks for it .550 min between all there 105 month .Both plains are total cost with tax .You do the math .This is great if it works .I don't get good sprint or att single and att is just to much and they don't fix anything when wrong .Sprint will now after losing 5 million people in one year but it goes to show that if you treat people wrong it well cost you .None of them have leard this yet .

Boost Mobile & Sprint is now the best value for the service you get period. 1000 minute straight talk plan has limits Boost is unlimited everything for 20 bucks more. there is a diffrence in being cheap and insane.

Sprint back in the day had a better deal through SERO (Sprint Employee Referral Offer). For $30 you get 500 anytime minutes, unlimited nights and weekends starting at 7pm, unlimited data and unlimited SMS text. Unfortunately that plan has increased in cost to about $70, but the benefits still remain the same (mostly).

If you read the fine print it says. "You may refill your balance to 1000 minutes....and begin a new 30 day service period at any time. When you refill with this new Service Card, you will LOSE any of the remaining balance of minutes, text or multimedia messages or MB data that you previously had in your account."
Lose my data and TXT messages!? Why would I want to use a service like this!
Thanks but no thanks, Howard.

Under who's network does this company operates? Only because some of this companies have lousy and unreliable coverage. Thanks. Will. in CA

All this talk about cheap talk. I'm paying ATT $45.86 a month including junk fees for 450 roll-over minutes with reliable service.