Straight Talk adds $45 unlimited plan
It appears Tracfone is serious about their new Straight Talk service. A few weeks ago we first heard of the service and its $30 plan, which provides 1,000 minutes and 1,000 text messages, plus unlimited 411 and 30 MB of data. They have a new promotion, and it’s got the industry abuzz. For $45 per month, you can get unlimited minutes and text messages, plus 30 MB of data and unlimited 411 for $45. Like the 1,000 minute plan, the unlimited service option lasts 30 days. You can check out the offering at Straight Talk’s website.
Update: Commenter Peter points out that the unlimited plan is on a six-month trial. Understandably, Verizon doesn’t want Straight Talk stealing all its customers. So if Verizon doesn’t see a mass exodus, and doesn’t see a severe uptick in network traffic, we could see this stick around. For now, though, figure this has a six-month sunset clause. ]]>
This comes with a six month trial period which gives network provider Verizon the chance to opt out in the even the unlimited plan starts to overload and take away from their regular customers. (According to Barron’s online).
It is also there to guard against Straight Talk stealing business away from their the regular Verizon customer base probably. No information on whether the original $30 plan is a trial either, but considering it is not an potentially unlimited nightmare for Verizon and Tracfone would look really dumb to launch a brand only for six months, and major Verizon Mvno Page Plus was offered a very similar deal just four months ago, I’d say the 1000 minute plan will stay no matter what.
Honestly, Peter, I’m more a fan of the $30 plan. If that stays, I’d be more than happy.
finally – no more annoying contracts!!
If only I could use unlocked phones:(
Joe, I’d be happy if EITHER stays. They are BOTH killer deals. You can’t really go wrong on value with any one of the two. I’m sure they will add more handsets as the demand increases. A qwerty phone would be perfect for the unlimited plan.
Is the service have the 3g network
The problem with the service is that your minutes don’t carry over at the end of the month. So if you recharge when you have 800 minutes left, your minutes get set back at 0 and you lose those 800 minutes.
This Straight Talk service is wonderfully priced, though I don’ think Verizon has much to worry about. They offer smart phones with touch screens like the Droid. The Blackberry is also a huge seller. I used to have Verizon prepaid and they ripped you off by taking a dollar in addition for every day used to the time you talked. My Straight Talk Motorazr V3a is on order now :).
IT SU::X DO NOT BUY ONE IT DOESN”T GET ON INTERNET
Good luck getting your new Straight Talk Phone provisioned if you are moving a phone #. I have been waiting over a week now, and I just keep getting told, “Your number is not in our billing system, yet. However, this issue will be resolved in the next 24 hours.” Which – of course, it is not. My old provider released the number over a week ago…and Straight Talk took the 1st month’s charges out of my bank account a week ago…but here I am…no phone. I called the “Executive Complaint Line” (1-800-876-5753) this morning, and he read me the same script the other call center people have. So – if you need and/or expect a quick changeover of an existing number…don’t hold your breath.
I just bought a strait talk phone for my 15 year-old daughter. I have a lot of questions, especiallt after reading the negetive reviews. My biggest worries are not being able to get internet and not being able to carry over her old #. Is there ant truth to these comments?
I LOVE MY STRIGHT TALK PHONE I CAN AFFORED THE PLANE AND I HAVE TO HAVE MY PHONE. VERIZON STILL HAS MORE CUSTMERS THEY DO NOT HAVE TO WORRY. I WANT A SOCHSCREEN PHONE SO I AM LOOKING I MIGHT GO TO VERIZON
I love my straight talk phone i do the 45 doller plan its aforadble and love the service
I love the straight talk plans.. I think they could get cooler phones.. If mine dies or if I shut it off it resets all my ring tones which is a pain in the arse to have to redo.. Other than that LOVE the $45 a month deal !!! Two thumbs up 🙂
Straight talk is awful! After having to return four non working brand new phones within two days, now they have told me that they have lost my phone number! I run a taxi service in the small town where I live, and I’ve been without a phone for almost a week now because of straight talk. I’ve been transferred, put on hold, and I can’t seem to get ahold of anyone that knows anything! Btw- I didn’t run out of minutes or anything they just lost my phone number! I have thousands of dollars of advertising listing that phone number and now I don’t even know if I’ll be able to get it back. Don’t go to straight talk!!! Someone needs to report them to the BBB.
Okay first of all call their corporate office at (800) 876-5753 if you are having problems! Don’t ever use numbers inside a product manual they will always go to out of country.. HP, Sony, ETC.
Secondly if you read the small print it tells you have to go online and activate your phones internet through your computer on their website!!! No problems with internet for me..
Thirdly if you are having problem dropping calls dial *228 and select “Update my Roaming Capabilites” as when you buy a phone from verizon they do this for you in activation!!! Since you are doing activation you should also do this. You should also do this about every 3 months due to work on towers and the seasons changing(trees, weather, etc.)
This service is great.. I have NEVER Dropped a call I have decent speed internet for where I live in a small town in northern mn. When I go to Minneapolis my internet is much faster even though is not comparible to “Smart Phones on a 4G network” but hey its 30 bucks a month!
I did get annoyed with the message abou t how many minutes i had left but with one short call to the number above they were able to cancel that and I haven’t had it for a good 6 months now.
My only concerns are these:
NO VIDEO– i liked having video on my phone
NO JAVA– Means no games no cool apps no watching youtube or any video on the internet!
NO TETHERING– Although the phone will connect and file share through your computer it will NOT allow you to utilize internet from you computer through your phone.. (helps control straighttalks costs)
Dorky old phones that are pricey– Look at the model numbers on the phones then go to ebay and look how much they are going for and when they were originally released for verizon or sprint. Most of these phones were released in 2006 Its sick how much their getting for the phones!! (cost of plans override it though with long use)
This ONE i am not sure of but from my understanding if you have the $30 plan and run out of minutes OR Texts early the phone is not active until you get another card.. i have not tried this.. it would be cool if they allowed to use up texts if your out of minutes.. but it was probably easier to program the phone to just completely deactivate… Lazy Programmers.
I have had a Straight Talk phone for almost a month now, The pricing is incredible if all you need is to talk/text… But if you need to use the internet, their phones will not properly work for that… You can go to certain sites but not others. All-in-all, I would rate Straight Talk a B for poor customer service but incredible pricing, quality of service(Thanks goes to Verizon for building America’s largest and most dependable wireless network.) For a professional, this service would not be recommended, but for a kid just getting to know his/her way around mobile technology or for someone who needs cheap, reliable communication who does not need to rely on it for business purposes, this service would be acceptable.
I have had Straight Talk for six months. They assigned me a number and all was good until it was time to recharge minutes on the phone. I bought a recharge card and went through the procedure and when the service was renewed, the phone number changed to a totally different number. After a two and a half hour call to the service department, they said my original number had been deactivated. They had to retrieve the number and reassign it to my phone. This has happened every month. I thought that changing the payment option to the auto-pay would correct the problem, but now the number gets deactivated five days before the due date. Dealing with the service department in Indonesia is frustrating and time-consuming. The service reps are deceptive and incompetent. I am not putting up with the inconvenience and frustration another month. I am taking my business to another service provider today.
i hate your plan
The corporate office # was still answered by someone in the Phillipines
My decision NOT to go with Straight Talk was on again / off again until I saw that customer service as well as tech support was outsourced. That alone turns me off as UNACCEPTIBLE!!! No Thanks!!! I’ll stick with my HP Mini-Netbook and Skype!!!
Their customer service reps are truly incompetent. After a frustrating conversation with a rep who was incapable of answering simple questions, I asked for a supervisor and got a lady who didn’t know what a Mac was.
Perhaps this carrier might be an option if your kid needs a phone that never requires customer assistance, but I doubt it. I would avoid Straight Talk. Got much better service from Metro PCS store.
I have had StraightTalk for several months now with minimal problems requiring a call to CS. I have found much faster service, more articulate reps, and knowledgeable people on thier facebook page. these folks work for StraightTalk and seem to be Americans who truly care about helping you.
I only use my phone for calling and texting…that’s it. I choose to spend less time with technology AND I think most unnecessary spending is really, really stupid. So that brings me to Straight Talk. I am saving over 75.00 a month for two phones -one for me and one for my daughter. She’s going online with hers all the time and loving it! I had to call customer service because of a mistake I made, and I was shocked at how great it was (I had read some bad reviews). I think they must have made improvements. I’m telling everyone I know to can Verizon and save their hard-earned money. I’m glad I did because they robbed me blind as far as I can see. I’d be willing to pay a bit more to a wireless company employing only Americans, but only if the company gives me a fair offer – their contracts are highway robbery as are their excess fees, etc. And then when you want to go, knowing and willing to pay the penalty because you’ll save it back in NO TIME and you’re glad to be rid of them, they stick it to you even more. I could give you all the bloody details, but I won’t. I hope it doesn’t happen to you. I’m thrilled with having moved to Straight Talk.
I have had straight talk for almost 2 years and i love it. My huxband travels for work and we can go anywhere and do not have roaming fees and we never lose a call. We usually get the $45.00 plan but when we cant afford it we just go to the $30.00 plan. Straight talk is awesome.
I bought a straiagh talk phone(Verizon) carrier, and had the verzion # transferred without any problems. However, when I bought a new straight talk phone (AT&T) and had the # transferred that is when the problem began. for some strange reason my deactivated phone would receive text messages from verizon network phones. However, my new phone could receive text from other networks? I tried for 3 days to resolve this issue with a straight talk customer service, sadly it was never resolved. I transferred the # back to my old phone. (maybe I should have opted for a new #) either way, I like the no contract $30. plan
I have been fairly satisfied with my Verizon Straight Talk until now. I have always used the $45.00 Unlimited Plan. Tonite using a Pre Paid card I bought at Walmart I Recharged my Phone the phone said it accepted it, 10 minutes later I found out that my phone had Shut Down I attempted to call Staight Talk and all I got was Voice Automation stating there was NO ONE to Help me until tommorrow. As this occured I found out that I had lost a $200.00 call out because No One could get hold of me. Thanks Alot Verizon Straight Talk !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!