Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Straight Talk Prepaid Wireless from Wal-Mart My Experience

Earlier this month, I switched to Straight Talk Prepaid Wireless from Wal-Mart. The phone service uses towers from Verizon Wireless and is administered through TracPhone. For only $45 per month ($51 plus change with taxes) you can enjoy unlimited talk, text, picture messages and mobile web - without a contract. A deal this good had to be worth a try!

I picked up an inexpensive phone for about $30 at my favorite Wal-Mart. A little while later I was happily activating the phone. The rep for Straight Talk Prepaid Wireless from Wal-Mart was friendly. The English wasn't great but it was workable. You could definitely tell that she was using a script. It was frustrating that she kept repeating "Welcome to Straight Talk" and a few other things. Hiring another script writer would have helped. The call did the trick but took 40 minutes.

There was a half day down time with the port. Another call to Straight Talk Prepaid Wireless cleared up the problem. Calls are sent and received just fine. The mobile web works well. Twitter is fine. Texts to and from friends and family on my old network do not come through. I am told that at the end of the month the problem  will be cleared up. Right now it's wait and see.

Coverage with Straight Talk Prepaid Wireless has been excellent. Their website displays a huge gap right over my daughter's college. When we visited I maintained 4/5 bars of coverage, used the phone extensively and had no dropped calls. The phone has worked in both the city and in rural areas.

I'm concerned over the text message issue but am a happy customer otherwise.

Straight Talk Prepaid Wireless has to be refilled every 30 days. You can set it up to either come off of your checking account or you can buy a refill card at Wal-Mart.  With a flat $45 card there are no worries about exceeding your rate plan.

Resources:
Wal-Mart Partners to Provide Cell Phone Service

9 comments:

  1. Hey, Ms. Gayle!!! I have a question??? Do you have to pay extra for texting and for using the internet, or is that included in the $51+?

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  2. Hi Deb,

    Thanks for asking. There is no extra charge for texting or mobile web. It's all included. :)

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  3. I have Straight Talk unlimited. My phone has the slide-out keyboard, which is great for texting. And I agree with you. The coverage is excellent. I'm really happy I made this decision. Feels good not to be bound by a contract.

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  4. I like Straight Talk. I had Verizon then switched to AT&T but the bills were CRAZY!.

    When I heard about Straight Talk I couldn't believe it but got it from Walmart and have had it now for 2 months and it is just sick! I'd heard that it was on Verizon and the coverage is rock steady, so yeah!

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  5. I also have Straight Talk and love it so much I want everyone to switch to it. Please watch these testimonials on Straight Talk:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pxqowQLwhck

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  6. Great piece! I also have Straight Talk and I am really enjoying their service. Their $45 unlimited use plan is such a money saver for me since I was paying over a $100 a month and overage fees with my previous carrier. I love being on the Verizon network as well - its way more dependable and far reaching than my previous carrier dreamed of. I was even able to finally purchase an affordable Smart Phone with Straight Talk. Walmart and Straight Talk are really getting it right for the consumer.

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  7. Great post. I love Straight Talk wireless. Best prepaid plan around, if you ask me. You get great coverage with it being the Verizon network and buy it for a low price at Walmart where it's sold exclusively nationwide. On top of it all, I'm saving over $500 a year with this plan. Straight Talk gets TWO THUMBS UP!

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  8. Straight Talk has been a real gift to me. I haven't had to use CS although I heard that it's a real problem. But only 45 bucks a month on a huge nationwide network is pretty astonishing considering that it comes with unlimited email and web as well.

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  9. Great article, just what I wanted to find.

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