After the purchase of a cell phone, the next critical step is to choose the right kind of a plan. It can be quite confusing and tiresome due to the huge varieties of plans offered by different carriers, unless and until the consumer is very clear of his wants and needs.
First let us see what the plans offer the customer:
First let us look at the prepaid plan – these plans are for people who do not spend time talking over the cell phone all the time. Most of prepaid plans come with a cell phone having basic functions without any contract to be signed by the consumer. All the customer has to do is to buy the required minutes for talking over cell phone by paying a upfront fees to get started with. This plan gives the consumer the required freedom as he is not tied up with the cell phone carrier, but the only hassle is that this plan requires the customer to recharge the talk time (minutes) to avoid from getting expired. This also differs from plan to plan, if the customer does a little bit of research in this field can even eliminate this hassle.
The next is to have a look at the family plans available to consumer. The reason to choose a family plan is the benefit of getting shared minutes and the network calling facility within the family members, so that they are connected to each other despite their location of dwelling. There is no worry of spending too much on the cell phone plans to stay in connection with each member of the family. The purpose of the cell phone carriers and their plans are for communicating effectively and efficiently.
As no individual is the same as the other, so are their wants and needs, hence there are a number of individual cell phone plans to suit each and every one. Say for example a frequent traveler will look for no roaming charges and full coverage wherever he is and some others might be in need of wireless web connectivity, instant messaging option or any other advanced feature, which can be got with an extra payment.
Never ever sign a contract with a particular cell phone carrier unless you have seen the competitive rates offered by others too. Although one might like to be a loyal customer to a particular cell phone carrier and become used to it, it is not needed if one finds a competitive rate from a competitor. The main essence of communicating should not be lost in compromising with the rates though.
David Hensley
http://www.articlesbase.com/cell-phones-articles/different-kinds-of-cell-phone-plans-228506.html
If you switch plans, can you get a new phone even if you switch plans before the upgrade?
I’m with sprint, and am wanting to get a new phone and a different plan- however i haven’t even been with this plan for the full year yet before i am eligible for any kind of upgrade. I know we can change plans at any time, as long as you sign a new 2-year contract. My question is, can i get a new phone at the same time for the cheaper cell phone price listed.
No you must wait until your upgrade date, or the phone will cost you full retail price. Requiring a contract extension when you change your plan is an old practice, so I would be very surprised if that’s still the case…
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No, unfortunately they don’t allow you to do that. You can change/update your plan at any time, but to get the cheaper "update" price on the handset, you have to wait until your original plan expiration date. Another option is to watch places like ebay and see if you can purchase the handset you want for cheaper on there, and if you can simply buy it and then take it into a Sprint store and have them activate the new phone. You will usually still pay pretty good money to do it this way, but it’s almost always cheaper than paying the full "retail" price of the handset.
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