The Cell Phone Downside

Please don't call us.

Hubby-Eric and I went exclusively to cell phones a couple of years ago. I can't remember when exactly, but we worked out the numbers and realized that it was cheaper for both of us to have a cell phone with no landline than for us to have a landline and one cell phone for me. I needed a cell phone due to car troubles at the time (which continued on for quite awhile).

We got a 500 minutes plan after figuring out our usual usage patterns, and weren't surprised that we NEVER used even half of that. We just don't talk on the phone all that much.

Until this month.

Our plan resets on the 16th, and we've currently used 502 minutes of it. Whoops. We're now getting charged 45 cents a minute, and have no recourse except to move "up" to a "better" plan that charges $20 more a month... or just make sure nobody calls us who doesn't have to.

We're going for the latter option, as this month was an aberration for us. I ended up talking with Microsoft tech support entirely too much (and spending a LOT of time on hold with them). We don't expect it to happen ever again.

But it certainly does make me inclined to move to a different cell phone provider if I can find one with the options I need. I don't like Verizon. But then, are any of the others truly any better?

Btw: I looked into Credo, and they seem ok except you MUST buy their phones to get their service (and they aren't very good phones), and I'm very happy with the phone I own now. They also don't offer the "no answer/forward" that Verizon does, which allows Eric to take his phone to work with him and let me get all his calls while he's working, so they are kind of out of the running for us.