Thoughts on StraightTalk wireless?

[jengod]

Any experience w or opinions on StraighTalk wireless? Husband is looking at it for a possible new phone service. Brother has it and likes it but we are wondering if the lack of customer service (no 800 #) has been an issue or if you have had other service problems. Thank you in advance for anything you can share.


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[Pigeon]

I have it for dh's phone.  I have Virgin Mobile for my phone, which I've had for longer.  What I like about it is that it was possible to buy a ST phone that uses the Verizon network in my area and the VM phones are strictly Sprint.  Verizon's coverage is much better than Sprint in these parts.  Most of my calls are done from places without wifi.  I'm grandfathered into a $25/VM plan with my present phone, so despite the lousy coverage will stick with it until the phone dies.  ST is more expensive for a similar plan.

I've never had a smartphone with a major carrier, so I can't really compare service, but I'm confident it's worse.  I will say that for both VM and ST, you are sort of on your own in terms of issues, and customer service isn't stellar.  As a matter of fact, yesterday, dh's phone started giving a weird error message about not connecting to Google play every 30 seconds or so.  Very annoying.  I was able to figure out the problem after researching for an hour on the internet.  I could have called customer service and sat on hold for an hour instead.

However, given how pricey it is to have a plan with Verizon, I could probably just buy a new phone every time I have an issue and still come out ahead.

[Daley]

There are reasons why I don't recommend StraightTalk, NET10, Tracfone, Page Plus, SIMple Mobile, Total Wireless, etc., in the guide. All of America Movil's brands has terrible support, a long standing history of handset/vendor lock-in, and their prices for the most part are not that competitive compared to the quality MVNOs that I do recommend.

If you're shopping for a new carrier, just start with the guide. That's what it's there for.

[norabird]

I have it, and no real issues. Some bumps but they've been resolvable. I got it because I bought a phone from a friend that wasn't compatible with Verizon (tear). What I strongly strongly recommend is Kitty wireless, which is based on Page Plus but is a direct provider. Their website is suspiciously outdated looking, but their customer service is WONDERFUL, and it was around $15 cheaper than my equivalent STW plan (which is almost $50 a month).

[akstarr]

I've had it for years with no problems. I get excellent coverage with no issues. The other options in the guide are not available in my area. The straight talk phones in my area use the at&t sim card so I have coverage everywhere, even when I traveled out of state.

[jengod]

Thank you, guys. Will run this by DH before we buy. This community is lovely.

[ChaseMcD]

The price is good.

Just pray that you NEVER need to use their customer service. Absolutely terrible every time.

[zolotiyeruki]

I had StraightTalk for about a year.  Didn't really have any complaints.  I switched to Airvoice, though--I looked at my actual usage, and figured that Airvoice's $10/mo plan would still fit my needs better than the $45/mo I was paying StraightTalk.  Airvoice's website looks dated, I'll admit, but their prices are quite good (I'm now on the $20/mo for unlimited talk/text and 100MB), and their Customer Service has been fantastic every time I've called.  Just make sure to get the SIM card for the carrier that's has the best coverage in your area.

[Melf]

I had StraightTalk for about a year on the Verizon network  believe.  Never had any problems with the service or a need to call customer service.  I just recently switched over to Total Wireless and was somewhat disappointed/scared when first dealing with their customer service.  They claimed to have software problems as I was trying to active two lines and port numbers over.  It took a couple days and a few calls but finally got done.  Still on the Verizon network and no issues after the first few months.

[csprof]

I recently switched from StraightTalk to Cricket - for my wife and my phones together it's a bit cheaper ($70 total including taxes and fees), and has worked quite well for us.   I was on the $45/mo ST plan before, and it also worked admirably;  I switched just because of the price difference.

The one problem I had with ST:  The first two numbers I got from them received seemingly *endless* calls from debt collectors/marketers/etc., for the previous owners of the phone #.  I had to switch a few times until I got one that wasn't horrible.  I don't know if that was just bad luck or a consequence of the brand, but know that you *can* change your number with them.  This isn't an issue if you port your own number.  The customer service kinda sucks, but you can get through it.

The only issue I've had with either is slightly more limited roaming.  There are some spots in the middle of nowhere where there's emergency service, but I couldn't roam on Cricket or ST (some of the tiny towns outside of Yosemite, for example).

If you decide to try cricket and click this link and sign up, we each get a $25 credit:  https://refer.cricketwireless.com/5Veafgr

(But if you have any friends that use Cricket already, ask them for a referral. ;-)

If you prefer the non-referral link, cricket is:  https://www.cricketwireless.com/

Thus far, I'd say that Cricket & ST are equivalent in most ways but Cricket is cheaper, and they're both a way better deal than our old AT&T contract.  (duh).  The even cheaper options on the MMM blog, like Republic, are interesting, but my wife and I are both so cell phone (&data) reliant that we didn't explore them much.

[medinaj2160]

I have it and it has been great. It takes a little bit to setup in the beginning but after that I haven't had a single issue