Amusement and Question...

[ht_murray]

First, the amusement... according to my super secret tracking device, someone is reading The Second Man through a University of Wisconsin server. I don't know why that amuses me, but it's almost as amusing to me as those hits from Richardson, Texas. LOL.

Anyway, my question. Anyone on my list use or know anyone else who uses a Tracfone? Here's the thing: I HATE phones. If you call me, I probably won't answer. I definitely won't be calling you. That's why I have email. (And the 'you' in this case is just everyone, in general, nothing personal. I sometimes pick up for family. LOL.) I am sick to death of people ON cell phones, driving like morons and hiding their phones under their paper work at work so it looks like they're not texting people instead of working. I have no love for the wireless phone.

But I need one. I need one so I can call work and work can call me. I need one for when I'm running and realize I'm not going to get home in time to get ready for work. "Please come get me! I fail!" And for when I break down on the side of the road, or just for emergencies, in general. And lately, our home phone, which is wireless, has just gone dead. It was only working for ten minutes at a time anyway, and they no longer make a battery that fits it, and I'm sick of paying seventy bucks a month when we don't call anyone and no one calls us.

I'm thinking prepaid is the way to go.

I mean, I know that the options are pretty limited and the quality and function of these type of phones tends to be lower and limited as well, but all I need is to have it when I need it. I will probably almost never use it. I don't plan on surfing the web, emailing, texting, playing games, or any of the other blah, blah that I have a computer for. I rather think I need time offline to stay sane, ya know?

So, does anybody use this type of service? Any noteable problems? Things you wish you'd known before you tried it? Reasons I should definitely NOT take the plunge?

Erm, halp?

Comments

[captcrashsc.livejournal.com]

I started out with a Tracfone and absolutely hated it because once I was 30 miles outside it's registered zip code, I was roaming no matter what. I was not happy that it charged me extra minutes because it was dumb.

I switched to a Virgin Mobile Pay As You Go phone and had much better success because it uses Sprint cell towers to pull service. Which meant that if there was a Sprint tower in my area, no roaming. Awesome sauce! I never had a problem with that phone service and as long as I added a certain number of minutes at least every 90 days, I was golden. I haven't been with Virgin Mobile for almost two years though, so their policies may have changed a bit.

I have an actual plan through Verizon now, but Verizon also offers a Pay As You Go option with the added bonus of not charging you time/ minutes if the person calling you is also a Verizon customer. We're actually trying to get my parents to ditch their Tracfones and take up the Verizon prepaid phone option to try to save money all around.

[tru-faith-lost.livejournal.com]

Hmm, good advice. Definitely something to consider, however, I never seem to go more than ten or twenty miles from home. *i r lame* So, roaming wouldn't be much of an issue.

I'm kinda trying to avoid Verizon altogether. I wonder if there's an AT&T version? Will have to look that up.

Wow. I'm glad I asked. So much input. LOL.