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Consumer Cellular NOT Necessarily the Best Choice

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Consumer Cellular NOT Necessarily the Best Choice

I don't know if there's some financial arrangement between Consumer Cellular and AARP, but we (folks over 50) are clearly targeted by Consumer Cellular.  I WAS one of those people whose monthly bill, as advertised on television, was just under $25...with very a limited data allowance.  Out of town at a hotel I attempted to connect to the hotel's free wi-fi.  Having difficulty (NOT a Consumer Cellular issue), I gave up after about 45 minutes.  I came to discover that I had used ALL of my allowed data trying to connect and I was bumped up to the next higher plan to cover this data usage.  That also was not really a problem for me.  So.....My Point:  I was paying just shy of $25 per month and it was pretty easy to use up my allowed data.  After my hotel experience I dumped Consumer Cellular and I am now with Cricket Wireless.  I pay a total of $30 a month, which includes all taxes and fees, and I have unlimited data...1GB at high speed.  Bottom Line=For only $60 more a year I will never have the hotel experience again. 

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Contributor

I received abysmal service from Consumer Cellular.  I decided to add my phone to my sonโ€™s plan. It turned out I could not get a data connection with my phone and CC refused to give me a refund, even though based on the incomplete and misleading information on their website I had every reason to believe my phone would work.

I have an unlocked Android GSM phone (Blackberry Priv) that I was using with Straighttalk with AT&T as the underlying carrier. According to the website that was all that was required.  I have used SIM cards with this phone on three continents. The website says:

โ€œWith our FREE SIM card, you can connect a device you already own to Consumer Cellular service. To be activated on our service, your phone must be unlocked by your previous carrier, and be compatible with GSM network technology. Our SIM card most commonly works with phones used on AT&T or T-Mobile service.โ€

When I discovered my data connection would not work (phone and text did, although not text with images) I called and the rep told me that her internal documentation said there was often a problem with data with Blackberries and another brand. Why is this information not on the site? I asked for a refund for the SIM card and the $15 monthly fee for an additional line. The rep told me that wasnโ€™t possible so I asked to speak with her supervisor who kept insisting I didnโ€™t warrant a refund because I had โ€œused the serviceโ€. I repeatedly told him I had โ€œused the serviceโ€ based on the incomplete and misleading information on the website.

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Contributor

I decided to leave CC because I was also given erroneous information. This happened in 2018

I was planning a trip to Europe and I  understood that they did not service outside the USA. My plan was to have them open my phone so I could use a SIM card that would allow calls in Europe. They refused because I had not been with CC long enough to allow that( I already owned my phone when I signed on with them). โ€œButโ€ said the customer service provider, โ€œif I switched from an AT&T SIM card to a T Mobile card SIM card I could get a plan that would work in Europe. Which I did. You know whatโ€™s coming. It didnโ€™t work. It was a HUGE inconvenience. If you like to travel outside the USA, CC is not the plan for you. 

Other carriers have wised up to the โ€œolder generationโ€ market and I HIGHLY recommend checking out whatโ€™s on offer out there. 

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Newbie

This is the worst service We have ever had. Talk about taking advantage of seniors. Trying to cancel was a real nightmare. Started back in June and hope that todays go round will be the last.

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Periodic Contributor

You are so right.  The company won't let you cancel.  It said on the CC web site you can cancel at any time.  Since when?  I was told by the CC representatives that I had to write a letter and send in a copy of my driver's license in order to cancel.  And, even those who told me didn't seem like it was a forgone conclusion i could cancel.  Well, we are going to see about these misleading promotions. 

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Periodic Contributor

Thank you for your post.  I am working on getting all these problems out in the open.  I am almost finished with my letter which will be sent out to the appropriate organizations and people.  I felt like i have been bullied.  The company records all phone conversations.  I had my doubts but everyone, including the little people and their supervisors, confirmed all phone conversations are recorded.  The recordings, I am told, are filed under the CC employee's name who took the call, person's shift, date, and time.  This, I will call it a gimmick, of telling me I had put a code on my account with one of their employees when I talked to a employee on the phone will be investigated a bit further.  The company's ads, web site, and on Wikipedia all say  the same thing.  You can cancel at anytime.  The company makes money be delaying a customer's cancellation.  In other words, the longer the company can hold onto you, the customer, the more money it brings in from your account.  

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Periodic Contributor

Hi everyone. I've already posted my complaint on this forum, but it's unclear to me how often or if ever anyone in power at AARP actually sees these comments. I filed a complaint via phone this afternoon to AARP at 1-888-687-2277. It took a little while, but I'm thinking that filing a direct complaint might get more attention from the higher-ups than this forum. I've not seen anyone from AARP itself comment here, unless I've missed it. 

My biggest point to them was their credibility. I spent my entire career in advertising and marketing. Associating an organization with a company that isn't being truthful and is promoting themselves as something they aren't, as CC is doing, blemishes the reputation of AARP. They need to be much more careful about who they allow to use their name, and to both monitor them and hold them accountable. If that means finding another phone company to endorse them, that's the job of their corporate accounts department. But those at the top need to insist upon holding their sponsors to a high standard and making sure that their corporate accounts department, or whoever is in charge of this follows through on this!  I've seen a lot of new complaints on here since I wrote mine. So, obviously, the problem is getting worse. Use your power, and complain directly to AARP. Let's see if anything changes.

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Regular Contributor

Thank you for your post. I too, filed a complaint against CC with AARP. After repeated attempts, I was finally able to speak to the AARP representative that responded to my initial request for assistance. The AARP representative essentially told me not to make a fuss and pay my Consume UR Jugular bill without delay so they phone predators wouldn't go after me. The shill of an AARP representative reminded me of a quote by Upton Sinclair, "It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends upon his not understanding it.โ€

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Regular Contributor

sounds a bit like comcast

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Newbie

That is what they are doing to us. At most we were getting one bar, sometimes none. That is why my phone has been out of service, and geek squad said nothing is wrong with my phone, just the service. We do not understand why aarp knows all this and does not help us senior citizens.
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Contributor

if anyone has a similar problem with a blackberry, it turns out I just needed to fix my APN settings but none of the 3 customer service people i spoke with told me that. Apparently it is somewhere in their FAQs. Consumer Cellular doesn't seem to train its staff too well despite bragging about customer service. they lost me as a customer.

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Read with interest the posts since we are having trouble with consumer also (through AT&T). A friend has cricket and likes it but I have no first hand knowledge. I'm commenting on an earlier post favoring tracphone. We bought one for an exchange student some years ago and it worked fine here in Portland. When it was time for her to go home we thought it would be nice to be able to use her phone during her travels and possibly at home. We loaded the phone at Radio Shack (they were still in business then) and ask the salesman if the service was good in Macedonia (the exchange student's home). He called tracphone to be sure and they assured him that she could use it ANY WHERE in Europe including Macedonia (I listened to the conversation on speaker). The student returned home and the service wasn't available. We went back to Radio Shack and the clerk again called tracphone to ask why. Tracphone refused to admit that they had given us misinformation and of course NO REFUND ever (again on speaker phone so I know what was said by both parties). Tracphones may work here in the states but don't leave country and don't expect customer service.

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Newbie

AARP should reconsider their sponsorship of Consumer Cellular. I had the same problem others describe: Voice service just stopped working. No voice calls in or out. Three contacts with CC Customer Service did not solve the problem. It was only by reading this forum that I realized the real problem was their network. Meanwhile, CC Customer Service sent me to a service appointment for my phone at Target where they told me the CC service tech position had not been filled for weeks. I ended up having to go with a different provider, including getting a new phone. Moral: Although CC is a communication company, both phone service and customer service from them fell apart spectacularly. I was without voice phone service for seven days while attempting to go through CC to resolve the issue. Finally switched to a different provider. Meanwhile, CC continues aggressive advertising in this market. AARP, are you listening? 

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Newbie

Sounds like you're not the only one with this problem. There are a number of alternatives depending on your needs (such as just calls vs. calls & Internet). You definitely want to shop around. 

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Newbie

Same problem here with Consumer Cellular at 0630AM Arizona time, 06-DEC-2018. I've tried rebooting, turning the phone off for five minutes and restarting. Same message when I try to make a call. It's my understanding that my phone, too, uses the T-Mobile SIM. I sent CC an email, no reply yet. Stangely, the texting function on the phone is working. Just can't make a phone call because, as the recording states, "Your account balance is too low to complete this call...." I've been on Autopay with CC for several years and have never experienced this message. My account shows plenty of minutes for phone calls and, besides, it auto-upgrades if one nears the upper limit. I may try to turn on the WiFi calling and try to reach CC that way, or try online Chat once they get someone into their office on the west coast this morning. I believe it's past time to quit this outfit; this is not the first, second or third problem encountered with them this year.

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Contributor

I am experiencing the same problem. Cannot make outgoing calls and can no longer log onto the website. Text still works. You would think they would post something about having difficulty. 
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Social Butterfly

For those that may want to go the Wal-Mart, Straight Talk way. This is thru Tracfone.

 

I have this, have had it for several years now and I am happy with it. My plan is unlimited talk, text and data, first 5GB of data at high speed and then at 2G. I pay $50 every 30 days. I have my own phone Samsung Galaxy S6. So far this month I have only used 94 MB of data. Calls etc. are thru Verizon. I can watch the NFL games on my phone without any problem.

 

See a couple of example images below.

 

Click on, tap or activate images to enlarge them.

StraightTalkA17.png

 

 

StraighTalkB17.png

 

 

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Contributor

I think the Straight Talk plans are for 1 phone, so for 2 phones, you have to double the monthly rate. I am currently with Verizon and they have a plan called the Verizon small plan, unlimited talk, and text with 2 GB of data for $ 80.00 a month for 2 phones. I am considering Consumer Celluar, $52.25 a month for 2 phones with unlimited talk and text and 3 GB of data. Their coverage in my area is about the same as Verizon.
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Periodic Contributor

Right on daviscave.  I chose to go with Great Call and their 5 star program.  I get emergeny service 24/7 and 200 minutes for less than I was getting from Consumer Cellular for the same minutes.  The last two phones I got had problems and I got nothing from Consumer Cellular customer service.  I could never get anyone to answer the phone.  After trying for two months to get my phone replaced or repaired while it was still under warranty I was told that I was out of luck.  This was backed up by AARP and they told me that I would get my last bill returned but  no phone replacement.  I have cancelled all the services that I got through AARP's recommondation. Consumer Cellular, Hartford Insurance, and United Healthcare.  Hartford raised their auto insurance by 46% this year and my driving status has been the same for fifty years.  United Healthcare the same and I found that I saved over $2000 a year with HealthNet and of course Consumer sucks.  I am waiting now to hear from the FCC because knowing that AARP wouldn't be any help.  Thank for letting me vent.

CrankyOne
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Honored Social Butterfly

I don't doubt that consumer cellular is not for everyone. I have found out that no cell company is good for everyone either.

So, I guess that it depends on your own expectations.

For us, is great. we don't use Smartphones, at all. we only use our cell phones to call each other when we need to or have our out of state family contact us. and they usually do it on our land line.
I am very computer savvy, and I have in my home several computers in a network so is not a matter of lack of technology.
Have also tablets for when I need to use them. 
Don't want to be constantly connected thru my phone and that is my choice.

so, I guess that people need to think about what are their needs and then choose the company that can supply those needs.

no name
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Contributor

WHY are you even replying...which then clutters my email inbox with notices?  In the original posting, reference was clearly made to data usage and that CLEARLY entails smartphone usage.  The original comment obviously does not apply to everyone, and does not apply to those using phone only.  Please reply to postings...as relevant.

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Honored Social Butterfly


@southcoastCR wrote:

WHY are you even replying...which then clutters my email inbox with notices?  In the original posting, reference was clearly made to data usage and that CLEARLY entails smartphone usage.  The original comment obviously does not apply to everyone, and does not apply to those using phone only.  Please reply to postings...as relevant.

 

 

I am extremely sorry to have offended you. but I felt that my opinion was relevant. and I do believe that I have the right to express my opinion. You can also use the ignore button or simply schrol to messages that you don't wish to read.



no name
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Periodic Contributor

Well said, rker321. Your opinion is relevant and you have the right to express it.
KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK.
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Contributor

Agreed. I use Tracfone with an Andriod Smart phone. My cost is about $7/month for 90 minutes. My phone came with triple minutes for life voice and data.My phone was $89 for a Samsung Galaxy 3G. That phone can now be purchased for around $50.

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Periodic Contributor

Of course there's a great financial arrangement between AARP and consumer cellular or any other advertiser for that matter. Consumer Cellular is not the least expensive phone service nor as good as others. I've been using Tracfone for years now and would not give it up. I pay $11 a month and get more minutes, data and voice than I can use in a month. What I don't use rolls over to the next month and so on ad infinitum. Service and coverage are great just about everywhere and sometimes better than the big companies. I'm in business for myself and use the phone quite a bit.
Don't be fulled by AARP's questionable alliances. I had to investigate insurance companies also. Do your due diligence before signing up with anybody they recommend. Remember AARP is deeply entrenched in the Washington bureaucracy, also.
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Periodic Contributor

I totally agree with Alvaro16 about Consumer Cellular. I switched to Tracfone two months ago after wasting a lot of time and money. I hope my Tracfone service works better than Consumer Cellular. It is already a better price even without the AARP discount. As you stated, the minutes rollover so I can use them later.
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Periodic Contributor

My issue with Consumer Cellular is that periodically, we have issues with texting when not on wifi. I've called about this a few times. They "reboot" on their end and it works a little better, then gets worse. Currently, both my fiance and I can't send texts, emails, or even access the internet when not on wifi. The last 3 weeks have gotten progressively worse, even after talking with them about it. When I went to the Apple Store about it, and this makes sense, if all these things work on wifi but not on CELLULAR network, it's the carrier, meaning CC. The manager there told me that these discounters don't update their connections as quickly as the main brands, like Verizon and AT&T and that's what causes the problem. That makes sense to me. If this next call to CC doesn't resolve the problem, they leave me no choice but to change carriers. Anyone else having this issue? I can perhaps correlate to IOS update to 14.6 version, but not sure. After 3 weeks, shouldn't a carrier have updated their systems???

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Periodic Contributor

Update:  We gave them AMPLE opportunity to resolve our issues. A manager was supposed to call us after my 3rd call, never did. I tried their Twitter customer support, which was just a collassal waste of time and energy. No matter what proof I sent her, they disputed it. Big runaround and waste of time. Here's the bottom line:

Consumer Cellular only gets access to some AT&T towers, and, when those towers are busy, they bounce these smaller companies and even their own prepaid customers, off. And, now that AT&T is upgrading to 5G, other signals are being degraded. So, we bit the bullet yesterday and switched to ACTUAL AT&T.  CC didn't make it easy, though. When I changed addresses, apparently, they switched my number's address, but not my fiance's, to the new address, so when we tried to migrate, it kept coming up with errors. Even when I figured out the problem (on THEIR end), it still didn't port over. We finally got it resolved this morning. I lost approximately 6 hours on this, but at least we are through with CC!  If you need to communicate with the outside world in a reliable fashion, stay away from CC or any other prepaid or service that uses another carrier's towers. Even if you only use a cell phone for emergencies, you'd better hope that your service works!  Today was the first day in over 2 months that I was able to text away from wifi!! On actual AT&T! HURRAY!

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Contributor

I thought that consumer cellular would be good for my parents.   What a mistake.  Their phone had an easy simplistic interface, but thatโ€™s about it.  The phone will not work with their Wi-Fi network (by design) and so everything goes through the cell network.  Because of that their biils got large quite quickly because they were over their plans data limits.  They advertise low rates, but because they donโ€™t allow wi-fi, rates end up being excessive.   Finally moved them to T-Mobileโ€™s Senior rate plan, and saving $โ€™s

 

 

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Periodic Contributor

When Consumer Cellular switched carriers from T-Moble to AT&T I went from 3 bars in my house to 1. Most phone calls are dropped with AT&T. I'm told it's an AT&T cell tower issue. Simple solution - switch to Mint Moble to get back to T-Moble and useable service.

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