Best wireless carrier?

[Anonymous]

I have had Verizon for years and am thinking of switching. The normal service/service area is fine but their website and customer service are abysmal. Do any of the other carriers have comparable phone service area but with better customer service? I would even take comparable coverage, same customer service experience but cheaper. Thanks!

[Anonymous]

There is no company anywhere that has 100% perfect customer service. In the end is that really the most important thing? For example on my plan with my carrier:

Number of days I’ve called customer service in last two years: 0

Number of days I’ve logged into the customer service website in last two years: 3

Number of days reliable service or fast broadband was needed over last two years: Every single day.

In the end what matters the most?

[Anonymous]

Op here. Maybe I should clarify by what I mean by customer service. How about a functioning website so if you need to manage your account or upgrade your phone, you can easily.
And more generally, I am thinking of a change for cost savings (customer service aside). But I wouldn’t change if coverage is significantly different.

[Anonymous]

I moved from Verizon to Cricket Wireless back in March. DH broke my phone the night before we were to go out if town (this was just before the pandemic really hit) and the only phone we could get set up immediately for a reasonable price/least hassle was a Cricket pay as you go from Best Buy. It was so easy to set up and cheaper than Verizon so I just kept it. I had to work with their customer service to transfer my number, which was kind of a pain because I didn't do it at the time I initially set up the phone because I still thought I'd go back to Verizon, and they were really helpful and easy to reach. So, happy to recommend them as a carrier.

[Anonymous]

Verizon.

[Anonymous]

I love Google Fi. 3 of my family members have it. Not that we're traveling right now but used in Canada and Ireland very transparently.

[Anonymous]

Oddly, I have been quite happy with Sprint. It’s cheaper than Verizon, too. I also hear great things about T-Mobile, and their network just joined with Sprint.

[Anonymous]

They are all pretty crappy. I don’t know what it is about communications companies in general (wireless, tv, internet providers etc), but they seemed to be universally hopeless. I dumped AT&T wireless because they seemed untrustworthy regarding billing. I’m switched to t-mobile because that’s about the only place my phone would work. They are ok as long as you don’t go anywhere somewhat rural.

[Anonymous]

Verizon. I’ve had consistently good cell service in multiple areas of the US. While it can take forever to reach customer service by phone, once I’ve reached them I’ve consistently had excellent experiences with the CS representatives.

[Anonymous]

To save $ go to whistleout for example you can find prepaid plans that use Verizon network but are much cheaper.

[Anonymous]

My family uses Republic Wireless. Like google fi, they charge less by putting calls over wifi when possible. They use the Sprint network for cell which has pretty good coverage. tech support is only online, but responsive, helpful and customer friendly.

Unless you are a big data user, their prices are low, plans are flexible with no contracts (there is a discount where if you prepay for a year you get 12 months for the price of 12 though).

We've been with them, for 7+ years and and we've been pretty happy.

[Anonymous]

Two in our house have Sprint, two have Verizon. The Sprint is lousy for actual phone calls, so if you intend to use your phone for work, don't do it. Good for everything else, we got a great rate on unlimited data on the Sprint which is why our teenagers have it. They don't use their phones as phones so... The rest of us have Verizon, which has excellent coverage, but they price gouge you.

Customer service sucks for all of the big carriers, can't speak to the rest.