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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


http://www.saveonprepaidphones.com/straight_talk_availability_check

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

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

the iphone is by far, the biggest fad... its pathetic... people pay hundreds a month just to use a high tech device that they only have to be cool anyways! sooner or later their wallets will catch up to them and they'll realize that it's better to stay out of debt and have a phone for what it's made for... FOR CALLING! I'm 19 so you'd think i'm a big texter, i am, but if i can get a cheaper cell phone plan then i would rather loose texting, as long as i get a better deal! people are starting to come around and realize that fads are gay and those popular companies aren't worth it... I'm ordering a ST phone to be shipped to my wal mart... the only thing is that they don't carry ST stuff... so if i want minutes i'll have to order it in every time.... and i don't have a credit card... oh well, the shipping is free!

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.

Just call customer service. They turned mine off. I took about a 3 minute call.

I'm also getting the same automated message before making a call. Could it be a reminder?

My service end date is next monday

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.

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.

Hello
I want to transfer my T-mobile prepaid number to Straight Talk, anybody done this with or without problems?

Love the phone and the (Verizon cell towers) Service. Great deal. Highly recommended!!!

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.

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.

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!

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.

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".

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.

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...

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.

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.

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.

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.

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....

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!

wich compc have$ 30 for 1000min

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.

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.

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?

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.

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 !

I like my Verizon serice plan for two phones costing about $83 a month.

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...

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.

LOL. Sorry for the typo.

Yes I prefer Virgin Mobile and it is less than $30 a month for me.
by chris O.

What is you have a family plan with 4 phones... 30 x 4 is $120 per month. thats not very cheap!

Google controls those ads, not the web person. CH has nothing to do with that.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

no hassle at all. lou it!

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.

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!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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

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!

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!!!!

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.

is there such a thing as shared phones-e.g. 2 or more people sharing the 1000 minutes?

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!!!

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.

This is on VERIZONS towers, very reliable

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.

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.

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.

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.

Thanks Clark! Cellphone service that everyone can afford...and still have all the features.