Consumer Cellular?

[Indianrock]

I see some posts on this company here, but not many recently.

We're thinking of moving off of Verizon.   Mainly to save money.  Considering Consumer Cellular ( AARP ).

The current Verizon plan, which actually includes my wife, daughter-in-law and myself is about $160 a month for the 3 of us with unlimited talk/text and 4 GB of data shared between us.

Looks like consumer cellular has good coverage in this area and we could put  my wife and I on a shared plan for about $38 a month for enough talk/text and 3 GB data shared between us.    For now we'd just hang on to our Galaxy S5's which are still working.   We do a lot of texting, emailing and web searching on our phones, plus navigation, etc.

I'd really like to have an Iphone 6, simply because an audio-related app I could really use at church does not run on Android.

What are you using?

[DeborahT171977]

Try Spectrum cell phone services. I switched from Verizon to Spectrum. I have an I phone 6 , my phone bill decreased after phone was paid off but was still high (60$). I checked with spectrum.... they use Verizon towers. My cell phone bill went down to $45 a month. This was for unlimited use, text and talk! Verizon/Spectum actually has better coverage than Consumer Cellular ... dependent on where you live.

[viccccc]

We've been on Consumer Cellular for over a year now, switching from AT&T. It was a seemless transition and we've been really happy with it.

For 3 phones with unlimited talk, text and 15Gig Data shared, we pay around $81.00/mo, a huge savings from AT&T.

The only downside is we don't service of any kind in Canada or Mexico, no text, calling or internet.

[viccccc]

We've been on Consumer Cellular for over a year now, switching from AT&T.  It was a seemless transition and we've been really happy with it.

For 3 phones with unlimited talk, text and 15Gig Data shared, we pay around $81.00/mo, a huge savings from AT&T.  

The only downside is we don't service of any kind in Canada or Mexico, no text, calling or internet.

[MarcM193471]

I'm a new AARP member and recently switched to Consumer Cellular based largely on AARP's endorsement. It was one of the worst customer service experiences I've ever had. I strongly recommend avoiding Consumer Cellular. Yes it may save you a couple of dollars but in my opinion it is not worth the horrible customer service. Heaven forbid you have problems in the middle of the night because you will find out as I did they aren't available, "Please call back tomorrow morning."

[LindseyTN]

I just opened an account with them this week and really needed to save the money. I make very few calls but just like track phone ans straight talk they are a night mare. I work on the computer all day and was able to log into my account Consumer Cellular which stated it will just take a few minutes to activate. I have called consumer Cellular 3 times over 5 hours and I still do not have an activated sim card. The instructions specifically say you need a code to activate but non of the customer service ask for a code--they just state it will be connected in 20 minutes. Its over 5 hours and still no phone. I am only paying $40 with Tmobile and I am going back. Disappointed AARP is marketing this company

[jrculler18]

I may have come too late in my reply but if you have not yet changed over to Consumer Cellular, please reconsider or at least read my Post on our experience just trying to get the service activated on our new phones. We moved to them from AT&T to get better rates but at least we were getting what we paid for with AT&T.

Since I made that post we were finally activated but their charges go back to our sign up date even though we had no phone service for at least a week, not even the SIM cards to install. I have tried corresponding with them by email with limited response and no help for continuing problems. Their helpline number continually has a message that there is more than a 15 minute wait and that is certainly true. I left the phone off hook for over an hour one time with no answer until I finally hung up because the battery ran down. They supposedly offer an automated callback which will either keep your place in the queue or call you by appointment. Do not believe it! Neither option works.

The message here is that you get what you pay for with Consumer Cellular and maybe even less. Their marketing to seniors is truly a scam. I consider myself reasonably tech savvy and I know that we are not able to get the services that the smartphones they sell (i.e. iPhones) are able to deliver. I am very disappointed that AARP allows them to use their good name as part of their marketing. The small extra discount is definitely not worth the aggravation.

[jrculler18]

An addendum to my original post:
We are still using Consumer Cellular and I now have to say we are mostly satisfied with their service. The initial problems with call back had to do with us porting our number to new phones and better instructions on how that works would have been helpful from the get go. Once we finally made contact with an assistant we were able to resolve the issues. It did take another couple of contacts to get full functionality for our iPhones but that is now resolved. Ultimately the service is no worse than AT&T where we moved from (they actually use AT&T's network) and it is a whole lot cheaper for our needs. We did move to unlimited text and calls but are still on a limited data plan and are paying at least 35% less for exactly the same solo coverage that AT&T gives in our area.

[ac1203]

I was also thinking of switching to Consumer Cellular and in the past had seen reviews of their great service. Now I am reading horrible reviews. Is this still a reputable service?  Is AARP aware of the issues and if so, why do they continue to recommend it to members?

[johnf281869]

Based on the ads and more specifically, the association with AARP, we switched to Consumer Cellular to save some money. BIG MISTAKE. Getting the phones working was a problem with several texts and phone calls necessary. However the biggest issue was when I cancelled the service and returned the two phones we purchased. We had the phones less than a month and I examined them before I returned them since obviously they would not accept them if they were not in like new condition. Not a scratch anywhere. I even wiped down the screen so there would be no smudges. I followed the instructions and packaged the phones in the original boxes and returned them following the instructions from Consumer Cellular. When I checked the tracking number from USPS I found that the phones had been received on January 22. Today (January 29) when I was going through my bank account I found that Consumer Cellular had deducted $529.59 from my account. I thought that the departments had not communicated and they did not realize the phones had been received. When I called customer service I was told that one phone had "deep scratches" on the display and the other had scratches on the case. In the time between the 22nd and thee 29th I did not hear from Consumer Cellular that there were, allegedly, defects in the phones. I explained to the rep that the phones were placed in cases immediately upon receipt and that I wiped down the screens. When I asked for a picture of the defects I was told that it was not possible to send me pictures. The rep told me that they were returning the phones to me since they were not in new condition. When I said that I did not believe they would be sending the phones I sent to them, the rep said "that would be illegal". I said what they were doing is illegal and that I was going  to file a dispute with my credit card company. AARP needs to re-think its affiliation with Consumer Cellular. And for anyone considering using Consumer Cellular my advice is to stay away.