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"10 year customer, great plans, average customer service, small selection of phones" on by bioguyva
Pros: Flexible plans (variety + anytime changes), MyCircle (unlimited calls to/from any 10 domestic #'s)
Cons: Small selection of phones, interoperability with Verizon while roaming can be buggy
Summary: I was a 360 communications customer in '96-'97 before they merged with Alltel in 1998. Over the last 10 years I've looked into switching carriers from time to time, but I've never found anything that would compel me to do so all things considered. Alltel's selection of CDMA phones isn't that great, but they usually add the more popular models within 3-6 months of Verizon. Alltel's plans are great though. There's a wide selection of plans and data options that can be changed at any time without impacting the length of your contract. There's also a hidden Total Freedom plan that costs more, but offers nationwide no-roaming. This plan is great if you're like me and frequently travel through areas that aren't covered by Alltel or Verizon towers (e.g. parts of WV and KY). Also, all Alltel plans that cost more than $59.99 per month include My Circle which allows you to select any 10 domestic phone numbers (cell or land line) to call/receive calls from without using any of your minutes. These numbers can be changed at any time via phone or internet but the changes don't go into effect until after midnight each day. The only real problems I've experienced with the service itself have been occasional dropped calls and problems with sending/receiving picture messages while roaming on Verizon's network.
I could probably be lured to a GSM carrier because of their awesome phone selection (even though their plans and contracts aren't that great) if only the coverage was better. With my travel habits, I have to use a CDMA carrier because GSM coverage is so spotty outside of urban areas. I might also consider switching to Verizon if they implemented a competitor option to My Circle and allowed anytime plan changes. As it stands right now though, Alltel is the best fit for me. -
"Best Service We Have EVER Had!" on by lordbrian1
Pros: Inexpensive, personal staff, and GREAT reception everywhere
Cons: Limited selection of the newest phone types
Summary: This is the third carrier we have had since 1999 and by far we have received not only the best service, but support as well... We originally had Cingular (which we didn't enjoy and switched after only 1 year of hell), then went to AT&T (before it was sold, which was an OK service), until we finally switched to Alltel. Between Cingular and Alltel there is no comparison in my mind as to which is better, Alltel by and far. Its staff was very kind and helpful, we have been able to switch plans and phones with almost no hassle, and we have NEVER had a dropped call or even poor reception (and we regularly travel around the country). All in all, Cingular's only better feature was its wide selection of phones, but when taken into account with its poor customer service and limited connectivity at the time (we haven't used them since 2000), there is no doubt in my mind that we made the right choice. I would and do continually recommend this to all of my friend's and co-workers and have yet to have heard of one regret from those who have switched!
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"More than just regional, Alltel is truly an international network." on by QiqJoe
Pros: Amazing coverage, My Circle, high quality phones, few dropped calls, EV-DO
Cons: Not everyone is on Alltel
Summary: This supposedly regional carrier is much more than that. Everywhere I have gone from Florida to Las Vegas to Maine and many places in between, I have always had an amazing signal. It is consistently a stronger signal than both Verizon and AT&T Wireless/Cingular. Recently I went to nearly all of eastern Canada (Ottawa, Montreal, Quebec City, Fredericton, PEI, Halifax, and Saint John), and I got signal nearly the entire time with the exception of the border between Quebec and New Brunswick that there is not a gas station or sign of civilization for hours. And in the cities, I almost always had a full signal. Alltel also has a pretty extensive EV-DO network. I often use my phone as a modem for my laptop, and it gives me wonderfully high speeds! My Circle is the original plan, and no other carrier can match it. It will save your bill and cause you to pay next to nothing. No more overages! The phone selection is really good. Not quite as big as AT&T Wireless/Cingular, but still very good with all the desirable and quality phones. I get very few dropped calls with Alltel. And because of all of these factors, I have dropped all of my land lines and my cell phone is now my only phone and serves as my primary number.
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"Alltel is greedy, incompetent, and should be avoided at all costs." on by blazer_bob
Pros: Good Service if nothing goes wrong
Cons: Alltel is greedy, incompetent, and should be avoided at all costs.
Summary: I am active duty Air Force, and I purchased my cell-phone in March of 2006 in Phoenix after returning from the Middle East. I had orders to Atlanta, and the representative assured me that it would work in Atlanta, otherwise I could return it. Alltel, when they work, work impeccably. Rates were reasonable, reception was never lacking, I traveled all over the United States, and their website is easy to navigate and understand.
In December of 2007, my cell-phone got wet, and the battery went bad, my fault, absolutely. I found out I was eligible for a new phone on December 13th. I was able to keep my cell phone working on one of those ridiculously weak $1 batteries off of eBay until January 14th, when I visited family celebrated a late Christmas in Arizona where I renewed my contract and got a new phone.
This new phone was scratched on the plexiglass on the front cover, but because I am hard on cell-phones, I didn't mind one scratch because I figured there would be many more, soon. I should have looked deeper into this.
I instantly noticed the battery only lasted about 11-hours per charge when I wasn't speaking on it. I chalked it up to a weak battery, but 11 hours isn't terrible. I returned to Atlanta after a few days and the battery life kept declining. I noticed I also didn't have reception where I used to have reception. At 6-hours of battery life, I called Alltel to see how they would help me. This was on the 25th of January, 11 days after I took receipt of the phone, well within the 15-day return policy.
I was informed that I had several options, I could take it to a local store, of which there are none in Atlanta, or they might be able to do a mail replacement. My best bet, they said was to take the phone to a store 64 miles away, about two-hours with traffic. For some reason, I expected a call-back, I can't remember if I was told to expect this or not, I'll assume I was in the wrong, and after a week, I called back. At this point the battery lasted about 5-hours off the charger.
I was given the number for the store 64 miles away and told to call them. This is where I started to get frustrated with Alltel, no-one works together in the their customer service. Whoever heard of customer-service telling a customer to call someone to work on the phone? What is customer service's job if they are merely to tell you who to call for customer service?
I called the retail store, and they said they would replace the battery and/or phone if I brought it in, but they understood my frustration at driving so far, and recommended I try a replacement by mail.
So I called customer service again. They informed me that they could send me a new phone, but it wouldn't come with a battery. How worthless is that? They said the problem probably was that I had an Arizona number in Georgia, a problem I never had with my last phone. They offered me a new number, but I didn't need a new number, I needed a new battery, which they couldn't arrange. I told the girl that I would drive to the store and they would replace my battery. She said, "The note here only says they'll look at the phone." There is no way I was going to drive four hours round trip for them to look at my phone, which only needed a battery.
She recommended I call the store that I bought the phone from. Here is the worst part about Alltel. I was informed that I did not get my phone at an Alltel store, despite the great-big Alltel sign hanging on the store and the Alltel logos on the employee's shirts. Because I did not get the phone from Alltel, I should contact the store, and see what they could do. Alltel is incompetent when it comes to intercompany communication. She gave me the number.
I called the store, and the phone was hooked to a fax machine. I gave the store and the customer service girl the benefit of the doubt, we all make mistakes and maybe the phone wasn't hooked to a fax machine, but that she's accidentally given me the wrong number. I looked it up on Alltel's website, and indeed, their only number listed is hooked to a fax machine.
At this point I wanted to have my ducks in a row, so I compiled the list of reps I had talked to, both with happy faces and frowny faces based on their level of helpfulness, and I flipped through my phone to see my call history of when I had called "Customer Service". At this point I noticed that there were calls from the 12th of January, two days before I got the phone. There were about two dozen calls from the 5th of January to the 12th, and also a dozen text messages. It was a used phone. Probably returned for the exact same problems I was now having.
I called and explained what I had just found, and that if the problem could not be resolved, I was leaving Alltel. At this point, my battery was dying at 4-hours without use, and with the calling into Alltel, it was dead. I work part-time in ministry and cannot go without a cell-phone. It can literally be the difference between life and death. (visit www.needgod.com
February 5th, I signed a new contract with a different cell-phone company, got a new (actually new) phone, and canceled my service with Alltel.
I called to find out what we were going to do about the cancellation fee of $200, since their incompetent representatives were unable to resolve my issues. I got bounced around the company again, talked to a customer service rep, a billing agent, a customer service rep, and finally got the third rep to transfer me to a supervisor. He told me to call the store I bought my phone at.
So here I am, happily rid of Alltel for the cost of $200, and in possession of a dead used "new" cell phone that is less than four weeks old, but happily with a new company with a new non-Alltel/non-Alltel affiliate cell-phone.
Not once during my calls with Alltel did they offer me a new battery, assurance that if I drove four-hours, they would replace my phone, or any sort of monetary discount. When I first started service with my first cell-phone company in 2000, I had a cell-phone self destruct under warrantee, and it took me three days to get an opportunity to replace it, they gave me a brand new cell-phone and my money back for those three days. What's so hard about that for Alltel to understand?
Alltel is greedy, incompetent, and should be avoided at all costs. -
"When They Cover You, They COVER You." on by jerrette
Pros: Where native coverage is available, it by FAR surpasses everybody. Great CS. Good phone selection. Good plans. Good Prices
Cons: Not quite national. No music download service. Not network wide EV-DO.
Summary: Alltel, when available, surpasses every other carrier in coverage. I'm pleased to tell you that in my 10 years with Alltel I've NEVER dropped a call. Alltel offers a very decent selection of phones, good services, and always helpful customer service. The only things that would make the service better would be national coverage (using native network without roaming), network-wide EV-DO, and the launch of a VCAST-esque service along side. Alltel is great, and I don't plan on leaving it anytime soon!
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