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Jun 08, 2009 -- Straight Talk's $30/month cell plan offers 1,000 minutes

If you're like most people, chances are you're overpaying for your cell phone service. So Clark has yet another idea to share if you're looking to trim that monthly bill.

Straight Talk offers a new cellular plan for $30/month. You get 1,000 minutes, 1,000 text messages and 30MB of data (web surfing) for that price. No bills. No overage charges. No activation fees.

Very few people use more than 1,000 minutes/month. The typical person clocks in at 790 minutes and pays an average monthly contract bill of $67, according to Nielsen Mobile studies of U.S. adults on individual cell phone contract plans.

What happens if you go over your limit with Straight Talk? They simply shut you off until next month, or you can start your billing cycle early.

Finally, they're owned by the same company that operates Net 10 and Tracfone.

Unfortunately, Clark won't be able to answer any questions submitted via commenting. If you have a question, please try posting it to our message boards.

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What others are saying

  • Re: PHONE AS MODEM
    No, the Samsung 451 can't be used as a modem. It doesn't handle DUN (dial up networking) via bluetooth. I hoped it would, too, so I could replace Cricket on my netbook. If you want to use the phone as a modem you need to get the $330 phone. At least, looking at online specs for that phone it appears to handle DUN just fine.
  • Re: Probems
    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.
  • Great for me
    I got this almost a month ago. I was annoyed by the constant update on how much time I had left. I called them and asked them to turn that off. It took less than 5 minutes and it's done. The only problem I've had is with the internet service, but that's probably because I'm not used to it. I keep getting told there's not enough memory to handle the page, then it handles it anyway. Also, I've had a couple of lockups, probably due to memory. I've been downloading free ringtones and sending them to the phone via bluetooth. I also managed to transfer a couple of ringtones from my old phone to this one with bluetooth. Still waiting to see if it will work where my mom lives because she's in a tiny podunk place in a valley. But Tracfone worked, so I expect it will. If so, this is my new service.
  • 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.
  • Ringtones
    I have the Samsung SCH-R451C. Decent phone but does no option for vibrate & ring at same time. The 5 options for tones are very low. Tried to purchase one from Straight Talk sight & it never went through - took forever on phone to get refund because the rep was reading a script. Decent free ringtone sites did not come through on this phone either so we purchased a mini sd card since we already have ringtones saved on old phone & pc.
  • hmmm...
    do i need to get a straight talk phone to use the straight talk service card?
  • straight talk
    I used this site to get info on 'straight talk'..http://tracfone-blog.fone-review.com/2009/10/straight-talk-samsung-r451c.html...I used TracPhone corp.. to activate two samsung 451 slider phones....the stuff on the site about doubling minutes is for TracPhone..not Straight Talk..

    Only drawback I ran into was having to manually uploadig 240 names to my address book...I you use Trac Phone folks to port the number get them to drop the annoying msg on the # of min remaining...No games, limited ring tones..(what ever that is), mine sounds like a phone ringing...great coverage in Gainesville, ga.
  • AT&T not 4 me
    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.
  • Poor Customer Service
    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
  • POOR SERVICE
    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
  • You get what you pay for
    The phone and the plan are great, but if your looking for great customer service you won't find it in India when you call Straight Talk. Horrible customer service, but love the phone service.
  • Straight Talk's
    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>
  • replacement battery
    Do any one know where I can get a replacement battery from for my LG290C prepaid phone fromm straighttalk?
  • activating new service & porting number
    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!
  • FINALLY
    Finally here is a phone that is a good deal. I only use my phone for emergencies I am not one of those people you see driving down the road with a phone stuck to my ear. Great phone Great service at a GREAT price. Well worth every penny. $30.00 a month or 1000 minutes. Thanks Clark
  • bye bye Verizion
    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.
  • re: personalize
    I just got the Samsung SCH-R451C. I can't comment on service yet because I'm waiting for my AT&T contract to expire this weekend to port my number over, but I can say the phone is completely customizable. You choose your background, ringtones, menu styles, everything. You can even install a microSD card. If customization is important to you, I recommend looking at the phone manufacturer, not the service provider. Samsung phones - and especially the sliders - are usually very easy to customize in terms of appearance and settings.
  • Problems
    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. : )
  • my phone
    if i want to get a new phone where can i go trade this one
  • Boost Mobile account number and Porting to Straight Talk
    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
  • Great Service
    Straight Talk's service has been exceptional for the 2 months now that I've had it. The plan offers unlimited talk/text/data for $45/mo and the Verizon network is great...no dropped calls and crystal clear conversations. Customer Service was also great despite some negative feedback. The representatives were friendly, helpful and got me off the phone in less than 10 minutes.
  • looking into this for teenage son
    I am extremely interested in Straight Talk for my son. But I know he will want to play games on his phone. The Samsung R451C is the best phone they sell for my area. I've been trying to figure out if he can download/play games on this phone. Does anyone know about that?
    Thanks!
  • Great idea
    My dad HATES cell phone plans of any kind(he always hears horror stories from his friends about their daughters costing them like 300$ because they went way over their texting) so the only kind of phone I've ever had was a tracfone, but I'd always wanted unlimited minutes and a better cell phone so I when I heard about these I flipped. Its such a great idea. I got the one with the qwerty keyboard and I LOVE it! I have the unlimited plan(45 dollars, but its actually 50 once they add tax and stuff. But, hey, just five extra bucks), and it is terrific! I was able to keep my old phone number(I had a little bit of trouble getting it, but my dad figured it out in the end) and it was soooo worth it! I have unlimited calling, texting, and internet, and its so affordable and my dad doesn't have to worry about surprise bills or me going over my minutes! I can even find cute cell phone covers for it(Yes, this is a teen girl speaking). And I've never had a dropped call or anything! I would recommend this to everyone! Good job tracfone.
  • 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.
  • Great service and value all round
    Finding the Straight Talk plan has been a huge money saver for me. I use my phone a lot for work each month and managed to port my number over (without problems) to their Unlimited Plan. It saves me roughly $50 a month, the signal coverage is great and my dealings with their customer service have been excellent. Whats not to like?!
  • Customer Service ...No Problem
    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
  • straight talk
    An absolute ripoff, They charged me $118.00 now have no record of who i am and the phone never arrived by mail. FRAUD
  • can i get a cell phone with this plan
    it sounds like a very good deal because right now i am paying roughly about $56 dollals a month
  • I will be changing over to Straight talk soon, I currently have Verizon, and just decided its not worth the extra $50. per month I pay to fund endless commercials.
    At best Verizon's service is mediocre and the cost is constantly increasing.
  • Better than I expected
    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.
  • A better deal than I expected
    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.
  • So far so good!
    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 :)
  • da phone
    oh dats goog.i gots 2 get me one
  • Personalize
    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.
  • Strait Talk
    you are bouncing off of all three signals at&t verizon and sprint so you always have service maybe one or two areas do not. but its much better than sprint.
  • personalize
    Can the phones be personalized? I heard they can't. I'm big on different ringtones for everyone and my pictures as the background
  • service
    can i use a merto pcs phone w/straight talk min?
  • Service
    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?
  • Good Comment worth repeating>>>
    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.
  • Straight Talk vs Verizon coverage.
    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.
  • problems activating new straight talk phone
    I purchased a straight talk phone and every time I attempt to activate my new straight talk phone it says that my serial number is incorrect.
  • No headaches
    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
  • Straight Talk phones
    This might be a good product if you can get it activiated. I bought the phone and 1000 minute plan at Walmart last month and still cannot get it activated.
    The company tells me that the activation codes don't match. I just spent 45 minutes on hold only to be told that they couldn't find any record of me faxing the information documentation that they had requested.
    I've faxed again and will fax and fax and fax until Monday when I will start calling again.
    Clark, I heard about this on your show and intend to use your name to throw out if I don't get my phone activated.
  • 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
  • straight talk
    i bought a straight talk phone, took a week to get my number switched over from verison. since then, every time i go to put minutes on my phone, it says my number isnt a straight talk phone number, it took 3 days go get service again, then the next time i went to get minutes add, same problem, took another 3 days!!!!! but AND CHECK THIS OUT.... THEY ADDED MY CARD TO A DIFFERENT NUMBER!!!!!!!!! TOLD ME I WOULD HAVE TO BUY ANOTHER CARD CAUSE THERE WAS NOTHING THEY COULD DO ABOUT IT!!!!! IM MAD ALL OVER AGAIN FROM JUST THINKING ABOUT IT!!!!! THEY RIPPED ME OFF FOR 30 DOLLARS... ONLY IN AMERICA!!!
  • Very satisfied, and saving a ton of money and hassle.
  • my straight talk phone
    At approximately 2:45 on January 28th 2010 my phone received a call from No ID but the details say I received the call on Jan 6th @ 12:00 and I can not delete it from my call history and when I delete all calls if I dial another number it comes back and so does my entire call history. This is a very strange glitch and I need to know how to fix it if you know how.
  • straight talk
    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
  • No Refund and Internet stoped working
    I purchased the ST phone in November '09. I sent the phone back to get a refund. I called them and gave them the tracking number. I have called 8 times. Each time I get put on hold forever. They keep asking the same questions over and over. Telling me they don't have my information. Even when I have given it atleast 6 times in only 2 calls. I have been told to wait 7-10 days three seperate times. Now I am on my fourth round and its the middle of January. I have called about my internet service not working. It's one error message after another. The talk time is great. I have no complaints there. The $50 a month is way less then what I was paying. I can live without the internet. But not getting my $133 refund. I am losing my patience. If anyone can tell me how to resolve this problem it would be greatly appreciated. I now have another phone number to call. 1-800-649-7570. Lets see if the NON American gave me the right number. There is not one american who works for Straight Talk.
  • bill
    what is total bill??
  • Highly Recomended.....
    Verizon and ATT charge an arm and a leg and they have have drop calls too.

    Even with their recent unlimited talk plans they still can't beat what Straight-talk and MetroPCS are offering...

    I am really happy with my choice, unlimited talk, data, text.....
  • Straight talk
    I got my son the $ 30.00 card and only gave him 1,000 minutes with no text.
  • Poor Service
    I had one of these phones and the plan service is great for the price but the service is awful! I dropepd calls and when I went to renew online for the unlimited plan my phone did not work for three days having spent hours on the phone with customer service and technical support. I asked if I could be compensated for the days the phone was not working and was simply told sorry we dont compensate! So now I am with another carrier that offers unlimited plan for 50.00 a little more but the service area is great and the phone works!
  • No Problems
    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.
  • Re: Nublets
    Actually, you are wrong. TracFone and Net10 are not owned by AT&T. Both companies are owned by America Movil, a Mexican Telecom company largely controlled by Carlos Slim. Straight Talk uses Verizon's Prepaid Network w/o Roaming. I do not know whether this includes Altel.
  • 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.
  • Straight Talk data not working
    If your new straight talk phone is working except for web access and you have already tried customer service to no avail, then email the "Executive Resolution Team" as mentioned in another post. They fixed my web access within 48 hours as promised and so far so good. Here's the email address, ERDManagement@tracfone.com (yes they are part of tracphone and ride on the Verizon network from what I've read). I just cut my cell bill in half and have more features and a better phone to boot. Go Straight Talk. I highly recommend the auto-refill option after you 1st month if you like the service.
  • Straight Talk Phone Service
    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!!!
  • We got the $30 plan last month right before Christmas and it has proven to work VERY well! I would [and do] highly reccomend StraitTalk to anyone who needs a reasonable plan for a small percentage of what they are used to chucking out each month on a Verizon plan or AT+T...Love it!
  • Samsung r451c number ported but still no service
    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?
  • WALMART-STRAIGHT TALK
    IF WALMART CAN DO THIS WITH VERIZON, WHY NOT GET INTO THE GASOLINE BUSINESS FULL GUN...1.50 GAS SOUNDS GREAT TO ME...HINT HINT HINT
  • GREAT COVERAGE STRAIGHT TALK
    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
  • PHONE AS MODEM
    CAN I USE MY STRAIGHT TALK WIRELESS AS A MODEM.......I HAVE THE SAMSUNG R451.
  • Metro PCS and Straight Talk are the best,......Some of you are just too ungrateful
    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 am going to straight talk and i was just wondering about the service.
  • Great deal for Chatter Bug
    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!
  • straittalk's cell phone
    well i had trouble at first with them getting my activated but they took care of me an was so nice an help full an showed me an told me every thing that was wrong an even gave me a month free for having trouble so please i erg every one to rush out an grab a STRAIT TALK phone if u ant got one yet an if u do please if you are like me an the rest of the world that wants an needs to save money have your cell phone switched over to STRAIT TALK servis what do you got to lose as of matter of fact you wont lose any thing you will in up saving not losing P.S this is my sec. comment an agin i want to thank you STRAIT TALK for every thing an have a HAPPY NEWYEAR i no i will talking on my STRAIT TALK phone
  • straittalk's cell phone
    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
  • Easy to Use
    I don't understand these people who say they could not activate their phones easily. My husband and I got my mother-in-law a ST phone for Christmas, I called and had the phone activated in less than 5 minutes. Everything worked right away, including the browser. My father also got my mother a ST phone for Christmas, and I activated it for her on Christmas day. Again, I was able to activate it in less than 5 minutes and had everything working. I am planing on getting one tomorrow, switching from Verizon where I spent $70 a month.
  • no chip
    works like altel phone is program by serial #
  • love it
    had a att contract was paying 70 buck love straight talk. got got my phone 4 days before christmas. did take a couple of days to port. but after that works awesome. will be a customer for years to come. only thing is would like better phone op. only 4 or 5 phones to choose from would like a vue but all in all very happy with my phone.
  • ???
    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
  • roaming
    i live in whiteville nc and my question is do i have any roaming charges
  • THE REVOLUTION IS HERE!
    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.
  • 13th Month is free
    More good news... Use 'Auto Refill' for 12 consecutive months and receive a free month of service. Auto Refill your credit or debit card every 30 days to keep your service active.
  • Tech Support
    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.
  • Straight Talk
    I switched my tracfone for Straight Talk on November 2nd. It took a day for my phone to port and I have been delighted with my phone. Web browser not much to write about but it's good when you can't get to a computer. I will be a Straight Talk customer for years to come.
  • Service
    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.
  • service
    we bought a straight talk phone yesterday at walmart and the 1000 minutes for 30.00 came home and started the process of getting the service by 12.noon today everything was done.they got my old number from vireson and i love the phone. we were paying with taxes 46.00 a month for 450 min and unlimite nitews and week ends, and never used the 450. now well see how many minutes we use total before we select a monthy min play on the internet to auto pay,so when the 30 days we dont have to go out and buy min.great little phone,the only feature mine doesnt have the old one had was the camera,dont miss it.savings will be 150.00 a month or more.
  • Works great!
    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.
  • Best No Contract EVER
    I've had a lot of no contract phones over the years and was never happy. My husband and I decide to try StraightTalk and we love it. We even bought the cheapest phones they had to see how we liked it.

    I dont know why "Ken" had a problem because we live way out in the country, and had to use the zip code of the next town over, and we can still call from anywhere. All other phones at my house have one bar or none, ST has usually three bars here (and I'm serious... I live so far in the country we can't even get cable).

    I started with the $30 plan and even after using it all the time, even making excuses to use it more often, I'm still nowhere near my 1000 minute limit and even further from 1000 text limit.

    The web browser is just that: a browser. Of course its not going to look and feel like a full internet browser. Get a clue. Its a discount phone and cheap as cheap can get. If you want a full web browser, get a contract phone.

    But I can make calls, get calls, send texts, get texts, download, update my facebook, search on google, check my email, the weather, sports scores, and movie times all from my discount phone. Pretty perfect if you ask me.
  • Great device, great service
    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.
  • Do Your Research
    Before deciding on Straight Talk, I set aside several hours online to do research about the phones and the service. I strongly suggest you do the same. If you're expecting to get everything you got while you were paying $80 a month (Like I was with Verizon) then you're going to be let down.

    This phone is everything I wanted. It rings and I can pick it up and talk to people. Then if I want to call them I can do that too. I'm happy as can be. Wait, I can text too? Amazing.

    I encountered the web browser problem as well... but I really don't care. So I can't update my Facebook status that I'm eating a piece of pizza right now or "Tweet" to see who is going to the mall. I also can't slide my finger across the screen and show people pictures of my ingrown toe nail. I guess I'll just have to use it as a phone instead. Now what to do with the $600.00 a year I'm saving....
  • Straight Talk phones
    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
  • Straight Talk Phone
    DO NOT USE STRAIGHT TALK PHONES!!!!!!!!!! SCAM!! I tried to activate my phone online, got an error message, called straight talk right away,and was on the phone with them for over 2 hours and still NO phone service!!!
  • Outsourcing customer service
    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.
  • Straight Talk is Verizon Call Them not sales ask Tech Support
    Of course if you get a hold of Verizon sales, they act like they have no idea who Straight Talk is . I called Verizon
    today and asked for tech support. I asked the Tech Rep. if Straight Talk is owned by Verizon , she said yes they are. I know for a fact, as we were informed when it first started up. So I called back later and spoke with another Verizon Tech support person and that person right away said yes Straight Talk is owned by Verizon. So I'm going to try it . Thank You to the person who posted the phone no. for Straight Talk will for sure keep that.
    My friend called 611 from his phone with Straight Talk and Verizon answered.
    Many companies sell under one name for wholesale and another name for retail it's called selling on both sides of the fence. I worked for a company that did that years ago. Well best of luck to everyone , the prices these cell companies charges is a bunch of crap,
    so I hope this will work.
  • okay everyone listen to me
    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.
  • Do not use this service
    The worse customer service I've ever delt with. Could not get my phone activated after 7 days of phone calls. Then they told me it was because I was in an adjoining county were I work rather that at home. I live 10 miles away. The coverage map shows all of Indiana in their coverage area. The web site advertises nationwide coverage, but according to their customer service it only covers the zip code you activate it in and there is no roaming. They refused to rebate by monthly fee when I asked them to deactivate my account since I can never use the phone or get it to activate. The customer service people said they didn't care if I was upset
  • epic service
    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.
  • CS and droped calls
    I've had the service for less than a week. I have averaged 5 droped calls a day. Also took two days and seven hours of time to get the phone up and running. I guess I'll go back to AT&T. I guess Mr Slims might own all the cell service in Mexico but I have more expectations then they are providing.
  • Coverage
    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?
  • straight talk is crap
    i have had many different
    post paid phones so thought i would
    give this ST a try CRAP. there is
    many post on here about the plan
    is better then post pay, i have sprint
    450 any Mobil any time plus
    unlimited data, there is no comparison
    i would rather pay 69.00 per
    month and have everything.
    the web browser on my curve is
    like real web, ST web is like
    im back in the 90s again...
    DON'T WASTE YOUR MONEY
  • Straight Talk vs. Boost
    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.
  • Samsung/Straight Talk
    Love the service, 2 days in so far smooth activation over the phone, call corportate office, smooth web, UNLIMITED for $45, works great so far, HIGHLY recommend
  • Straighttalk wireless
    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.
  • Lost phone--how do i keep my number?
    Hi, I lost my straight talk phone. Does anyone know the process of replacing it with another straight talk phone but keeping your old number?
    Thanks
  • Finally - All is ported and working correctly..!
    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.
  • Phone is great!
    My 30 day unlimited service plan just ended today. For 26 of those days I had the best phone ever! I had some trouble in the beginning, but that was because I forgot to enter the *number to finish activating my phone. Other than that, this phone is great. About once every two weeks there is an error in my browser that says Error:101 bad Gateway. Usually, I close the browser and reload it, and it works. I love this phone. It is so cheap and great to have as I am a college student going for my Master's degree for 6 years.. I plan to keep this phone for that long. It is so cheap, and I get unlimited everything!! No hidden charges.. It is so great. I love it !!! <3
  • Will Microsoft mobile work on these phones?
    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??
  • Still trying to fix browser issue... now no phone service at all.
    I have been on the phone all day (7 phone calls over a 10+ hour period) trying to resolve my browser issue after porting my phone number from AT&T. The Strait Talk team simply isn't sophisticated enough to actually recognize that there is a chronic systematic issue with their account records (corrupt database entries perhaps?) when porting a number to a phone that has already had a number assigned by ST.

    I've gotten the run around since Friday, and now my phone reports that there is no balance so can no longer make or receive calls. Thanks ST team for *#$%ing up my communications..!

    The most ridiculous part is I provide tech support for a broad spectrum of technologies, and I can't even get through to these people that they have a systematic issue. Ugh..!
  • RE: Do they offer voice mail? YES
    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.
  • Do they offer voice mail?
    I have found nowhere online or on their site or ANYWHERE does either the 30/month or 45/month offer voice mail?
    Also, I read that if you dont enroll in the auto renew and you choose to renew by purchasing the cards, if I forget by one day is it true that your phone is turned off and you lose your number? How hard is that to get back.
    I am currently using Virgin Mobile no contract 20/month 200 minutes 10/month 1000 text, no web and the minutes expire after 30 days but you can keep your number up to 90 days.
    Thanks for your help
  • Straight Talk Moto Razr V3a
    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.
  • Straight Talk Moto Razr V3a
    Could all of you having browser issues please be very specific about your account setup conditions that lead to your browser not working
    In my case:
    I originally purchased the V3a phone from a WalMart Store in AZ on 11-24-09, and setup online using a credit card with a randomly assigned local WA number. (to use at home in SEA, WA)

    After testing and satisfied with the coverage, I called customer service who deactivated my phone, allowing me to activate it online porting my own AT&T (206) phone number to it.

    The porting process took only 5 minutes, my old ATT phone showed SIM not registered in 5 minutes, and my Straight Talk phone allowed me to activate it using *288.

    I could not make calls or send texts because the indications were that there was no credit on the account. But, within about 30 minutes this corrected itself w/o intervention from Tech Support. I retested the Browser which did not function with the following error.

    Error: Requested content 'tfdevice.home/' cannot be accessed. you do not have access to the site.

    I have reprogrammed using *288 a dozen times since.

    I found a corporate phone number in a blog. 1-800-876-5753. It was answered by a kind female in Florida, who I found helpful, even though she could not resolve my issue.

    She was not able to access my account by my phone number, she had to use my phone's ESN number.

    We found that the Verizon portion of my account is proper. this is why my phone works for the most part and is able to be programmed. But she discovered that the Straight Talk database still showed my original randomly assigned telephone number. She tried to reactivate my account with an unlimited card, but the system would not accept it. She then said in the phone number field that had my old randomly assigned number in it was now blank.

    This clearly is a Straight Talk software/database issue...

    I'm wondering if anyone ported their number directly to a ST phone w/o first activating a randomly assigned number... and has had no browser or other issues?

    So far, in spite of the browser issues, I'm very pleased with the actual phone service. I have not dropped a call since using the Straight Talk service for 6 days.

    While, I find the horror stories helpful, but I'm most curious to hear from those who have ported their phone number and are not having browser issues... This accurate info will prove to be most helpful.
  • LG290c Slider
    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!
  • straight talk with Lg290Cm phone
    Talk is cheap, and so is phone.Phone service is reliable and cheap enough. dont count on straightalk for wEb service. basically only good for ''ordering thier downloads"'' and maybe few others. NOt real web service. The other complaints are mostly same too. customer service was needed to turn on phone. Phone cost me $79.AlOT in my book , not to have video , or web service.and cannot connect to Pc.to download pics. So what the use of expensive phone? Use the cheapest phone and dont waste money.
  • Straight Talk Phone Browser DOES NOT WORK
    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.
  • Auto Renew Scam
    I was very happy at first, the phone is nice and the quality of the cell service is good. Once I spoke to customer service I was less than amused. WARNING: If you purchased a card for service, then sign up for Auto Refill, you best do it at the end of your thirty day, otherwise they charge you double. I understand the idea of the card and refills, but when a service says "Auto Renewal" you think as in when this ends it will renew. No so and the website doesn't say that anywhere. Outsourced Customer service basically said "To Bad, so sad" and I spoke to a supervisor as well. Not a good way to start. For this alone, I would say no.
  • Customer Service Sucks!!!!!
    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.
  • Unlocked phones
    If this service works on Verizon's network, can I use an unlocked Verizon phone on the service? Just like all the other prepaid services, they don't offer a phone with the features I'm looking for. I use a smartphone (currently Samsung Blackjack), and need to be able to sync my phone and keep detailed contact info. Anyone know?
  • Worst Advice...EVER!
    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.
  • wal mart is taking over the world
    Really what else is wal mart going to sale next. for everyone that thinks this is a good idea, than they have never lost a job because wal mart is taking over the world! give us a break, pretty soon there will only be wal marts! to me i say support other carriers! before you lose your job too!
  • Customer support is horrible
    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.
  • Great phone
    Got the straight talk phone a month ago. since its basically a tracphone i got caoverage all the way from melbourne, FL to a small town in AZ and back. For $45 dollars a month unlimited you can't go wrong and you get great reception everywhere. Looked at t-mobile, don't let them fool you its not unlimited everything pretty much only to other t-mobile customers. Verizon does the same thing if you wanna pay over $100. a month. At&t's prepaid is the same as t-mobiles. in my opinion straight talk is the cheapest and best service for the money. Unless you're a buisnessman and need a blackberry there is no reason why you should be paying up to $150 a month for talk/web/text. be smart and go with straight talk
  • straight talk
    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
  • straight phone
    we want to walmart the other day and we saw the straight talk phones so like we want back to walmart my sista got 1 and she loves the phone so my parents are thinking about geting me one of the phone so i hope they are worth it to get 1
  • Straight Talk Service
    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.
  • Phones do work
    I went on the site and it said that the phone did not work in my area. Major error on the website given that I live in Los Angeles (major city) and bought a phone and everything has been perfect. Great deal for 30 a month.
  • Straight Talk
    I ported my number from Net 10 and it took less than 1 hour
  • I was on the walmart web site and they said that some of the phones won't operate in Albany, Ga. Is that true. I need to know cause im planning on purchasing either the Samsung R451C or the LG290C
  • Important: Porting your number to StraightTalk
    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.
  • StraghtTalk vs PagePlusCellular
    My StraightTalk phone sounds funny. I don't know if it is the phone or the sound compression coming across the network.

    With PagePlus you can buy one of their phones or put your own unlocked CDMA phone on there. Also, if you call PagePlus customer support be prepared for long hold times.
  • straight talk
    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 .
  • Straight Talk works for me
    From my personal experience, Straight Talk works great! Affordable and reliable. I'm so glad I made the switch :)
  • Straight Talk Info
    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
  • ST Phone and Browser finally working
    I ported my old number from Verizon to Straight Talk on 9/25 It took six days for my phone to start working. My Internet browser feature did not work and it took until 10/9 and many calls to India to get that working. Now all features finally working. The quality of calls are as good as my former Verizon voice calls. I travel from Chattanooga to ATL a lot and will post more later about how well it works along my travels. CS is hard to deal with. They are in India and work from scripts. You have to call over and over and tell them the same thing over and over. But once it starts working it is worth it to save the money over Verizon. I did not want to stay in a contract.
  • straight talk seems to work for me
    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!
  • Straighttalk does not work
    Straighttalk can't port my net10 phone # to ST phone, so I have spent over $140 for ST phone with no phone #, can't call in or out. Had to spen $30 more to resume Net10 service. Tracfone says wait 30 days for service to expire & try again.
  • thought of switching but not sure
    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?
  • MMS not working
    For the past 3 days, MMS isn't working here in NC. SMS is fine, but no pics can be sent. I've tried in multiple areas in eastern NC. Called them today to complain (tho I LOVE the coverage and service) about it. He tried a bunch of stuff, and was actually VERY helpful. He wasn't able to "fix" it, but referred my case to "corporate" and gave me a "case number". Should I be worried that I won't hear from them?
  • Great Phone
    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.
  • text messages
    the phone and plan are good, but i am not receiving my text updates from espn.com. also, the web browser has not yet worked. i called about the browser and they are working on that issue.
  • PagePlus
    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?
  • Time Remaining "Fix"
    Just call customer service. They turned mine off. I took about a 3 minute call.
  • Time Remaining Message--How to Remove
    I just started getting the same outgoing minutes message 2 days ago. Anyone know how to remove this? (I have unlimited minutes)
  • Time Remaining
    I'm also getting the same automated message before making a call. Could it be a reminder?

    My service end date is next monday
  • Straight Talk Problem
    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??
  • Page Plus vs Straight Talk
    I guess for $5 more than page plus, straight talk gives you free 411 service and 30mb of data, my mother just switched from tmobile and lives in the nyc area and hasn't had any problems whatsoever with straight talk, when she went to Verizon they asked her what service you have, she said 'straight talk' they were like who? Never heard of straight talk. she took the 45 unlimited plan, I'll go with the 30$ 1000 plan.
  • Page Plus
    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.
  • Coverage
    I am moving from OK to TX in about a month. I bought 2 Straight Talk phones while in TX on a visit. I brought the phones back to OK to activate, I went through the process and it didn't work because we are not in the service area. So I now have two phones at $100 ea and $30 to activate (one) that I can't use until I get to TX. Their WEB page says the phone uses Verizon system and will not Roam to other companys systems. Since their map states service activation area, I thought you could only activate in those areas and could make calls wherever you could with Verizon has coverage. If I go to Verizons page it shows coverage for my area in OK but I guess it must use other companies systems. So now I have $230 worth of paper weights until I move and then if I go on a trip they may turn into paperweights again. You can't get Straight Talk service in all places you can get Verizon service.
  • From TMO to Straight Talk
    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.
  • TRANSFERING T-MOBILE PREPAID NUMBER TO STRAIGHT TALK
    Hello
    I want to transfer my T-mobile prepaid number to Straight Talk, anybody done this with or without problems?
  • Web Browser now working??
    I had a broken browser and called tech support. they must have fixed it just was working one day...
  • All is Good!!!!
    Love the phone and the (Verizon cell towers) Service. Great deal. Highly recommended!!!
  • Great deal
    The $30/$45 plans are great deal but the selection of phones is not so good.
  • Straight talk- but a lot of hype--no thanks
    Howard must of been paid a good fee for promoting this service.
    Trak Phone owns this company, and Trak phone was a good company. I was with them for 8 years. No more.
    I lost my Trak Phone three months ago. I bought another Trak Phone. Then found my old phone, which I paid $50.00 for 3 months ago. I also had 3 hours of talk left. Trak Phone refused to let me transfer my time or minutes to the new Trak Phone. Worse, while I was talking to Trak Phone, they disconnected my SIM card to the old phone.
    I hung up, tossed both phones in a work vise, and slowly crushed them. I am now a new Verizon customer. Yes, it cost more with Verizon. But ultimately, well worth it.
  • Problems Solved
    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.
  • update from what a nightmare below
    What a joke. I just spent over a hour with customer no service to fix the web browser not working. Again, after the 10th day calling every day as they told me. I had to start over completely with the issue. There is no corporate number or higher up level. 18008765753 is the secret corporate number that actually reverts back to straight talk low level idiots. I demanded to speak to a supervisor and they can't do that. I don't even think there is a supervisor. The problem is if you port in a number from a previous phone I was told. I tried to get out of the 30 day auto renew and I can't until the last day of service where you have to call them to cancel it. I am told again that this issue is being given a higher level. I was told that 10 times already. I told them to have the supervisor personally call me within 24 hours as they said it should be fixed by then. I was told that 10 times also. If it is not fixed, I am going to boost. Beware of this company unless you like to spend hours talking to idiots that don't help and pass the buck because they don't know what they are doing.
  • strait talk
    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
  • Lost minutes
    I also set up my recurring bill about 5 days into my 30 days and it charged me for 2 phones X $30.00 each and started my minutes over! The website didn't say anything about this when I set it up. I called C/S and they said they would call me back because they couldn't access my account due to tech. difficulties. They haven't called me back of course. I think it will be a good service and my problem will probably be remedied. Just make sure to not set up your recurring service until your initial 30 days run out. Also avoid C/S. They are nice, but slow and not very helpful. The coverage has been great!
  • Straight Talk, Walmart, and Clark Howard suck
    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.
  • Love my Straight Talk service.
    I've had a great experience with my ST unlimited Razr. I've had my phone for over two weeks. I live at least 30 minute from any city here in Texas and I've never been dropped and get a great signal. I did call customer service twice before I got the phone to ask a couple of questions with no wait or problems. I activated my phone in mins online with no problem. My web browser works great. I ordered my phone from Wal-Mart online knowing that if I had a problem I could take the phone back to a local store with no problem ... Wal-Mart is great about taking returned product back. I was worried that I wouldn’t get any service here in the boonies so before I activated the phone I charged the phone and traveled around on these back roads with it to see how the signal was. I am going to use my phone to replace my landline now that I know it works well. I’m a very happy Straight Talk customer.
  • Direct Line to better service
    #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
  • straight talk
    What a nightmare. It's been a week, I call every day and they keep telling me they are working on the web problem as tons of people are having this issue. I purchased a card and activated it. Then went online and filled out the form to keep my minutes going after the 30 days and it charged me without waiting until my 30 day card was expired!! It's been a week and I am on them to refund my 30.52 back. Everyone tells me it was taken care of, but then when you call back, you start everything all over again. I am also told to call back each day for the web issue. Then they closed the ticket to fix it without fixing it and told me it was motorolla. I called them and they said, noooo it's their system. So, beware of a complete run around on any issue, they tell you it is being worked on and it's not. I would get my money back, but now I decided to stay with them and pressure them everyday for the principle of all of this. I will let you know if the web issue gets resolved. Each day they tell me it is moved to a higher level. How many levels do they have of importance??? At least the last guy I talked to finally said, "yeah, we are having a bunch of problems with everything".
  • Straight Talk, Day 4 and no web browser...
    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...
  • Straight Talk
    I just purchased two phones and called to activate and after answering a million questions I told her I needed to port my number. I was told I would need to buy another card. I asked for a supervisor and told none were available, I said I would hold and 10 minutes later, she came back on and told me no supervisor was available again. I took the phones back to WalMart. That is a customer's only recourse.
  • Straight TalkProblem???
    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.
  • still waiting...
    Okay, I'm on day #6 of trying to transfer my Metro PCS number to Straight Talk. I know the holiday caused a bit of a delay, and the fact that I initially gave them the incorrect acct # for my Metro account, but it should not take this long to transfer a number! I will give them credit, however, for their courtesy and for calling me to let me know what information they needed. So I'll reserve judgement for the moment as I wait...and wait...and wait...
  • Straight Talk
    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!!!!!
  • Which phone to get
    I went with the Razr because it has a bigger better display and longer battery life but some people like the way the W385 looks. I figure it would be easier to find accesories for the Razr too.
  • Straight Talk Phones
    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.
  • Straight Talk's $45 Unlimited Plan
    I ordered my ST Razr on the afternoon of July 1st from the Wal-Mart website and received it the morning of July 3rd. It was shipped out of Dallas and I live about 2 hours south of there so it didn’t take long even with standard shipping from Fed-Ex. I live in the boonies about 20 min west of highway 35 between Waco and Temple Texas and I’m getting good service. I bought the unlimited plan on the Straight Talk website when I activated my phone and had no problems. I didn't port a number so I was up and running in minutes. When I had to complete my activation by calling *228 it said that it was the Verizon network. I paid 45.00 for the plan … 3.49 in state tax and .78 cents for Federal Universal Service Charge for a total of $49.27 for 30 days of service. I have called customer service twice to ask questions with no problem. I have not had any dropped calls. I have taken to phone to Oklahoma and did not lose service. So far so good! I am going to replace my landline with this phone at the end of the month.
  • AT&T
    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.
  • Straight Talk Unlimited
    ST talk has just launched a $45 a month unlimited plan. A bunch of Wall St analysts have written about this changing the game and being easily the best deal in the country, and Sprint/Boost and Metro PCS stock dropped a bunch on the news. I think there are some good reasons for this. Boost and Metro have poor coverage; now you have the coverage rated best by Consumer Reports i.e. Verizon suddenly available for under $50 bucks a month.
    The way I read the the Straight Talk site is that they have no roaming charges, not that their phones don't roam. You're getting the Verizon network and that's pretty hot. The StraightTalk phones are not fabulous but adequate. Both their $79 and $99 Moto have phones have camera, web, picture messaging etc. Now they have unlimited minutes and texting nationwide vs no nationwide coverage with Metro, extra charges for texting with Virgin etc. The phones on the other services are also more expensive. I think this service is a serious contender to trade in your contract because it gives you everything an unlimited contract plan does for a whole lot less. Of course the service has voicemail, three way calling, chargers etc. If you're a heavy data user and need a smart phone, this isn't for you, but if you're a big talker I can't see any reason why you would submit to a contract from now on. Say what you will about Walmart, the fact that both they and Verizon are supporting this smells like a very serious play.
  • Straight Talk vs Verizon coverage.
    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.
  • T MOBILE=additional comment
    I reviewed several comments about Straight Talk after my previous posting regarding T MOBILE"S unlimited talking deal for $49.00 (note that this may not be available for all customers). I want to point out that dirt cheap companies like Straight Talk make the customer suffer due to typically poor customer service. T MOB. is a major company and I have instant access to reps from the USA, great deals on Blackberry cell phones, and prompt returns if the phones break. Also I have quick links to specialists in blackberry through T mobile rather than having to call them separately. There is no substitute for quick, easy, and effective customer service when you're depending on the cell phone for your communication needs. Sometimes cheaper is not better.
  • T MOBILE
    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.
  • do you buy the phone first?
    trying to activate and it wants the serial #/MEID DEC? i haven't bought a phone yet, thought i could do it all online at once....
  • Unlimited
    Straight Talk now has an unlimited talk and txt option for $45. This is insanely cheap for Verizon service.
  • BoostMobile
    I took Clark's advice and switched to BoostMobile. I could not be happier! $50.00 per month for UNLIMITED EVERYTHING! No hidden costs. No guessing what my bill will be. Stress free!
  • ATT sux
    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.
  • cell
    wich compc have$ 30 for 1000min
  • cell phone plan
    how much does clark get for advertising this mess?
  • Porting Ripoff!!
    I used the phone for a few calls and today, three days after activating the phone I decided I would port my number from T-Mobile. A call to the other side of the world and techs that speak some dialect of English I am not familiar with and I’m told that if I port the number today, I’ll lose the remaining 27 days of the prepaid service. I couldn’t believe it. Their explantion is that the phone number is "attached" to the current monthly card. New number...new card. So you either wait until most of your 30 days are used and continue to pay your present carrier or purchase a new 30 day card.
    Also....NO call forwarding feature on any of their phones.
  • Straight Talk and Roaming Question
    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.
  • Got StraightTalk service
    Overall, I am very happy with this service, but I want to give you a "heads up" on a couple of issues. The web site says it will take hours to one week to port your old number. It took 6 full days to transfer. A land line transfer takes 30 days,so be aware. Not all the customer service reps are foreign; it varies. I didn't have any problem with their customer service.
  • straight talk
    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
  • straight talk cell phone
    so far not impressed, reps can't speak clear english and when I tried to port my old cell phone number over to a new straight talk phone they said it could be up to week, that was last week and when i called this morning the Indian rep said my request for portability had been canceled at my request! WTF? I've been waiting for this to get done.....and they keep asking for a service card to activate even though their website, which is slow and freezes up so you can't do anything through it, says you can pay via credit card. If they can't get a simple activation and port done, maybe we shouldn't buy their service....just think if you have an issue down the road, will they have similar customer diss-service?
  • Straight Talk
    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.
  • seems a good deal but
    I like a Palm OS phone with PDA. Would be nice to see a Centro option. Would consider if they had that. Plus with centro I can PAM my phone besides keep my schedule.
  • 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?
  • cant get them easily - have to order from walmarnt!
    i called straight-talk (based in Miami?)
    and they said yes, they are in walmarts in orlando - i thought i could go to the walmarts and buy them - when i called, none of the walmarts had them with the other prepaid phones, IE trek and net10. i called ST the next day to inform them, the broken english speaking person did her best to be professional - and agreed - they arent there, you need to order them from walmart .. then upon asking about the simple charging accessory, she is adiment that it is included as are all phones because 'how else are you to use it or start the service' - again and again, even after i indicate that an Instruction manual is textually listed as in the spec section but NO CHARGER -

    I know when i'm getting taken -- you get the verbal 'good' and when the rubber meets the road, after waiting a week to receive the item, guess what, you get to pay extra for stupid things like a charger that should have been included and would have been if Walmart would have included it in the description - this place is deceptive like any other damn cell phone company -
    metropcs may give u unlimited, but it sucks quality wise and service wise and , if you perchance pause the service cause u lost yourphone, they WILL NOT Pro-rate the days your service was off ! every cell phone company has an ace up it's sleeve to keep the cash flowing !
  • mobile phones
    boost has pretty good options if they cover the area you need.
    Do you know how good the service is?
  • Mobel Phones
    I like my Verizon serice plan for two phones costing about $83 a month.
  • Virgin Mobile
    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.
  • Virgin Mobile /Unbeatable Price
    I have using Virgin Mobile USA for years and cannot beat the price of adding $20.00 to your account each 90 days. I am not a talker so this suits me just fine. Great customer Service when you call. Go Virgin Mobile Usa...
  • Good Value EXCEPT for no roaming
    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
  • Not good for us in the boonies
    Someone mentioned it earlier but those of us in more rural areas miss out on all these choices for wireless service.

    I surf the internet more than anything, and it seems like these carriers either a) don't cover me or b) don't offer mobile web for prepaid or c) offer it but on a very limited basis.

    That pretty much leaves me with ATT's awful expensive service.

    BTW, it appears the Straight Talk coverage map on that terrible website shows Verizon's digital-only network. That's why it looks smaller than what VZW shows themselves, since they include digital and analog roaming areas. Straight Talk's coverage map is also apparently out of date. VZW has just begun serving all of north Mississippi for example, which is not reflected on their website.
  • Virgin Mobile
    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!
  • QUESTIONS
    LOL. Sorry for the typo.
  • 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
  • Yes I prefer Virgin Mobile and it is less than $30 a month for me.
    by chris O.
  • Tracfone
    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!
  • Cell service
    What is you have a family plan with 4 phones... 30 x 4 is $120 per month. thats not very cheap!
  • Virgin Mobile
    I haven't seen any posts about Virgin Mobile, we are very satisfied with them.
  • recommendations vs. ads in sidebar
    Google controls those ads, not the web person. CH has nothing to do with that.
  • Phone reception
    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.
  • Straight Talk
    I really like Clark, but why is it that the article on this web page about how he says straight Talk is such a great phone company has an ad for Sprint cell phones right above it. Clark appears to be singing praises to one and selling out to the other.
  • Straight Talk
    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 have a














    I have a Virgin Mobil, that I buy minutes, at least every 3 months.
    I have been really pleased, and there is no other fees. Great service.
  • coverage
    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.
  • Straight Talk
    If this is the same company as Tracphone it's a winner all the way. Best coverage of any provider is with tracphone. Great for seniors.
  • cell phone coverage area
    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
  • cell phone
    Clark, I am a senior citizen, pay $15 a month for my cell phone, and am completely satisfied with it. I do very little texting.
  • Straight Talk
    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.
  • Coverage not as good as Verizon
    One comment states: "Straighttalk uses Verizon network." I went to both companies web sites and looked at their coverage maps. Verizon shows way more coverage than Straight Talk shows. I get coverage with Verizon that is unbeatable as my family and friends with other carriers will attest! I would switch for the money but that coverage map on ST scares me.
  • Straight talk
    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.
  • tracfone
    no hassle at all. lou it!
  • Straight Talk
    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.
  • Straight Talk "roaming", quoted from terms of service
    From their "terms of service"...

    ROAMING. “Roaming” occurs when a subscriber of one wireless service provider uses the facilities of another wireless service provider. Roaming most often occurs when you make and receive calls outside the home calling area. Your Straight Talk phone will not roam. An indicator light on your phone may display the word “Roam,” “RM” or NO SERVICE on the screen while the phone is not in its home calling area.

    Based on their coverage map, it is fairly extensive, especially in the larger urban areas. There are holes in the coverage for sure, but no worse than most cell services. I think my current contract is up, so I think I'll switch over.
  • Straight Talk
    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??
  • Metro PCS stinks
    I have Metro PCS and the coverage is awful. We live in the Atlanta metro area and half of it isn't covered. We live 1.5 miles from the end of our coverage zone. When I started with them back in December I aked where it was and it was about 5 miels from us NOT. Sometimes I can't even make a call in my subdivision. IT SUCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
  • It sounded good until...
    ...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.
  • Prepaid comparisons
    The best site I've found for comparing Prepaid plans is here:

    http://www.cellguru.net/prepaid_compare.htm

    Low-minute users will really appreciate the "lowest monthly cost" information which factors in everything: minimum purchase, expiration, fees, etc.

    For years the best one has been PAGE PLUS. Page Plus uses the Verizon network, has the (2nd) lowest monthly cost (which includes about 16 minutes), and (my favorite part) allows you to use a CDMA phone you already have, so it doesn't cost much to try out. Page Plus has been around for years with the same deal. Can't beat it. I have no connection with the website or Page Plus (other than as a satisfied customer); Just trying to share a good site and a good company.
    Tom
  • Metropcs
    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.
  • Metro PCS
    Sure Metro prices are good but their customer service is the worst I have ever encountered. You can forget about getting someone on the phone it WON'T happen if you have billing problems etc... They also overbill me every month by $20 be aware!
  • BoostMobile Unlimited $50 Month
    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
  • AT&T Ripoff
    Don't get AT&T unless you want to keep it for life. You pay $175.00 to get out of contract! No exceptions! You just call them on the phone with a question & they use it as an excuse to renew the contract so you never know when the contract is over!!!!
  • ST uses Verizon network
    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!
  • tracfone
    my husband and I are senior citizens and have been using tracfone for about 2 years now for an average cost of about $10 month. We only use phone for emergencies, calling kids, etc. Do not talk for hours on end and no desire to. Have recommended Tracfone to several friends and they love it too. No monthly fees and no hassle..I buy double minutes and a yearly card.
  • watch out!
    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!
  • Straight Talk
    is there such a thing as shared phones-e.g. 2 or more people sharing the 1000 minutes?
  • BoostMobile
    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!
  • metro or boost mobile
    well like someone else stated theres metro pcs..but if you dont want to chance losing service for going out of area if you can even get metro..theres also boost mobile unlimited for like $50 a month..no contract needed...if i wasnt on contract with nextel id go onto boost in a heartbeat
  • Roaming & Voice mail
    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.
  • cell phone
    I use Comsumer Cellular and have been happy with their service. Uses ATT and others towers so have very good coverage. Check them out online.
  • Cell Phone bills
    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!
  • Will Verizon phones work on StraightTalk
    Our family canceled Verizon last year to save money. We still have our 4 phones. Can we activate our 4 phones with Straight Talk since they are the same model phones and same CDMA Verizon network? Seems like its obviously yes, they get 4 new customers, we get cheap service and we don't have to shell out another $400 for 4 new phone models.
  • Voice Mail
    I looked over the Straight Talk web site and did not see any reference to voice mail. Does this service have voice mail?
  • if you find a better deal, get it
    i use tmobile pay per minute plan. nationwide with no roaming. if you get a signal you can use it. 97% coverage of the postpaid tmobile plan.
    I use 75-100 minutes a month. I buy a 1000 minute card for about $90 on ebay. Minutes are good for one year and rollover with any additional loading of more minutes. cost per month for me is about $7.50/month.
    For low volume users, clearly the best deal out there.
  • Limited service or network
    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.
  • devil is in the details
    i have t-mobile unlimited min for loyal customers @ 50.00bucks(completed 1yr contract-internet deal), text is .20 per text, and data plan i rarely use and cancelled was 30.00.
    price isn't everything-area coverage and customer service is vital. do your own research.
  • Straight talk
    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.
  • Att rollover person
    hmmmm att rollover $550 a year 5400 minutes no txt no web
    Straight talk $360 a year 12000 minutes
    12000 txt 360 mn web a year...

    So ST is about $200 cheaper more than double the minutes and includes web.....You can keep your ATT. and remember ST is on VERIZONS towers!!!
  • I knew it...
    ... I should have bought stock in Tracfone!
  • cell phone
    Only Verizon has service in my area-spo there is no competition! I can't use any of the cheaper options like this one. Please be sure to include info on where these options work. Not all of us live/work/travel in cell tower density areas.
  • Other price plans
    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 .
  • This is on VERIZONS towers, very reliable
  • cell phone
    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.
  • These prepaid services might offer great deals in regards to money, but when it comes to reception in rural areas, good luck, your phone will not work.
  • The old SERO beats this...
    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).
  • CRICKET cell service is the best deal.
    I switched to Cricket 4 months ago andd love it! Great plans, text and LD is also cheap. Also, they're very customer service if you want to deal with a human is great. Best deals for Mexico and Canada too.
  • TOS for Straight Talk Pre-Paid
    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.
  • good plan, decent coverage, bad phones though
    would be great if you could unlock a smart phone (from say att) and use it with this company, i would sign up in a heart beat if they allowed this.
  • Straight Talk
    Under who's network does this company operates? Only because some of this companies have lousy and unreliable coverage. Thanks. Will. in CA
  • Straight Talk
    It sounds fantastic, except that is is run by the Tracfone company. We have been fighting with them for a month to send us a new sim card for our Tracfone that doesn't work where we live.
  • Phone charges
    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.
  • This is what I needed!
    Thanks Clark! Cellphone service that everyone can afford...and still have all the features.
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