PagePlus, the Prepaid Service Few People Know About even though theyare usually the cheapest option with the best coverage

SMS <scharf.steven@geemail.com> wrote:
>You'll get no argument from me that their web site is very weak and
>uninformative, and that it's strange that you have to buy activation
>kits from eBay if you have no resellers in your area.
>It may be that Pageplus doesn't seem to want to compete with their
>resellers, so their web site is very limited, I don't know.

Received this about a month ago - same thing they've been saying for
the past year or so...


From: customerservice@pagepluscellular.com

Our entire website is undergoing a major renovation which is nearing
completion - you should be enjoying a much more user-friendly process
within the next few months.



--

A government that robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul.

....George Bernard Shaw

In article <46f71359$0$27197$742ec2ed@news.sonic.net>,
SMS <scharf.steven@geemail.com> wrote:

> > OK, so do you want to point to actual documentation, say on their web
> > site, where they say any of this?
>
> http://www.telecomservices.net/cgi-b...tam?tcon=21130

That's not PagePlus's web site, that's on a reseller's web site.

No phones, no documentation about the rollover thing, nada. Just
minutes for sale.

BTW, this particular reseller has a funny on this page: "Your IP
Address and Physical Address have been recorded." hehehehehehe Yeah,
my physical address. Ummmmm...guess what. Not mine. And a cellular
reseller of all people should understand that concept...



> The big advantage of PagePlus, besides the low rates, is that you get
> coverage that is unavailable with most other MVNOs, most of which are
> GSM on AT&T, or CDMA on Sprint. In the west anyway, Verizon coverage is
> far, far better than Sprint or any of the GSM carriers. Check Consumer
> Reports for coverage surveys for your area.

What happens when Verizon dumps analog?




T-Mob has increased their prepaid coverage area, and has some
interesting plans. And I just saw a Virgin Mobile commercial last night
that will force me to investigate them as well.

In article <YoEJi.1387$6p6.719@newssvr25.news.prodigy.net>,
"Kevin Weaver" <kevinkeithweaver@sbcglobal.net> wrote:

> You cant buy from Page Plus direct. You have to go thru there sellers.
> Unless this changed in the past 6 months or so.
>
> That's why you see so many on eBay selling Page Plus time.

I saw 7 auctions and no storefront items. That's not many at all.

The whole thing smacks of Fiddy Cent selling me a phone on the street
corner.

SMS wrote:
> Elmo P. Shagnasty wrote:
>> In article <46f6f23c$0$27170$742ec2ed@news.sonic.net>,
>> SMS <scharf.steven@geemail.com> wrote:
>>
>>> Besides the parent's suggestions of saving electricity by eliminating
>>> all video games, and the scouts suggestion of cutting showers back to
>>> once a month to save water and natural gas
>>
>> Obviously the latter is a joke, but the way you put those together,
>> you seem to think "elminating all video games" is a joke?
>>
>> It's a perfectly rational thing to do. Of course, today's "I'm too
>> busy" parents just love the video games as an electronic babysitter...
>
> Except that the video games use very little electricity. Other than
> that, I agree with you that many kids spend way too much time on video
> games.

So does taking the dog for a walk or playing ball or all that normal
non-electronic stuff.

Elmo P. Shagnasty wrote:
> In article <46f71359$0$27197$742ec2ed@news.sonic.net>,
> SMS <scharf.steven@geemail.com> wrote:
>
>>> OK, so do you want to point to actual documentation, say on their web
>>> site, where they say any of this?
>> http://www.telecomservices.net/cgi-b...tam?tcon=21130
>
> That's not PagePlus's web site, that's on a reseller's web site.
>
> No phones, no documentation about the rollover thing, nada. Just
> minutes for sale.
>
> BTW, this particular reseller has a funny on this page: "Your IP
> Address and Physical Address have been recorded." hehehehehehe Yeah,
> my physical address. Ummmmm...guess what. Not mine. And a cellular
> reseller of all people should understand that concept...
>
>
>
>> The big advantage of PagePlus, besides the low rates, is that you get
>> coverage that is unavailable with most other MVNOs, most of which are
>> GSM on AT&T, or CDMA on Sprint. In the west anyway, Verizon coverage is
>> far, far better than Sprint or any of the GSM carriers. Check Consumer
>> Reports for coverage surveys for your area.
>
> What happens when Verizon dumps analog?

Very little. First of all, most of the AMPS that isn't coincident with
CDMA is in rural areas where Verizon is not the carrier, and where AMPS
will not be turned off. Second, CDMA coverage, even without AMPS is
still much better than GSM coverage.

I will miss coverage in some places that will lose coverage if AMPS is
turned off even in areas where there is no digital coverage. These
include areas of the San Mateo Coast and the Santa Cruz mountains. But
many of the areas with no CDMA or GSM coverage are covered by rural
carriers that have no incentive to turn off AMPS.

And I also added that maybe that changed. But not to long ago you had to buy
from a dealer.

"Elmo P. Shagnasty" <elmop@nastydesigns.com> wrote in message
news:elmop-2FA16D.06171024092007@nntp1.usenetserver.com...
> In article <YoEJi.1387$6p6.719@newssvr25.news.prodigy.net>,
> "Kevin Weaver" <kevinkeithweaver@sbcglobal.net> wrote:
>
>> You cant buy from Page Plus direct. You have to go thru there sellers.
>
> Just go to their web site, you'll see that indeed you can buy from Page
> Plus. Although their web site SUCKS.
>

"SMS" <scharf.steven@geemail.com> wrote in message
news:46f6f23c$0$27170$742ec2ed@news.sonic.net...
> Today I was doing the den meeting for my son's Cub Scout den, and part of
> the program was about family budgeting and reducing recurring monthly
> expenditures.
>
> Besides the parent's suggestions of saving electricity by eliminating all
> video games, and the scouts suggestion of cutting showers back to once a
> month to save water and natural gas, one of the topics was saving money on
> items like internet access, long distance, and cellular.
>
> I mentioned that I paid only about $2.50/month each for cell phone service
> for my kid's phones, and after the meeting I was surrounded by parents
> wanting to know how to sign up.
>
> PagePlus must be about the worst in terms of getting the word out about
> their service. They'll be getting about six new accounts in the next week
> thanks to me. Since Verizon is the predominant carrier in my area, almost
> everyone at the meeting had at least one spare Verizon phone to use
> (though the kids of course want a fancy camera phone--tough luck!).
>
> I had to go into explaining how to sign up (having to buy activation on
> eBay is kind of strange), and which phones to use (any phone that was ever
> on Verizon CDMA), and explain the rollover, the re-upping every four
> months, etc. All these parents were thinking of prepaid in terms of the
> horrible deals with high minimums from Verizon, AT&T, Virgin, Tracfone,
> Net10, etc. (T-Mobile doesn't work in my area, so they are not a
> consideration).
>
> PagePlus costs:
> --------------
> $76/1400 minutes = 5.4¢/min
> $47.50/700 minutes = 6.8¢/min
> $10/83 minutes = 12¢/min
>
> Add a minimum of $10 every 4 months to keep account active and roll-over
> existing minutes. 50¢/month service charge.

Yes indeed. PP is the best prepaid service out there for anyone in native
Verizon territory. An old and reliable company. You can use any Verizon,
Alltel and some Amp'd phones or buy a shiny new INpulse phone at Walmart or
Target. The other good alternative for folks in the central US where native
Verizon coverage is often lacking is Tmo2go. Check out the people who know
instead of posting speculative crap.

http://www.howardforums.com/

GP

At 24 Sep 2007 06:18:02 -0400 Elmo P. Shagnasty wrote:

> The whole thing smacks of Fiddy Cent selling me a phone on the
> street corner.

Except 50 cent is much better financed than Page Plus!

PagePlus is probaby the longest lasting of the "smally fry" MVNOs,
and offers
a much better deal than most. If the shoestring operation scares
you, don't buy it! It's a risk/rewards thing- what's at risk? A
$20 eBay phone and $2.50/month airtime? The reward is a cheap
prepaid system with outstanding coverage. For (almost) the same
coverage, Verizon InPulse is less risk at $15/month, and certainly a
contract plan is virtually risk free at $40+/month.

PagePlus is intended to be sold through small independent brick and
mortar cellular dealers, and unlike some MVNOs like Beyond Wireless
who undercut their dealers' MSRP on their website, PP seems to want
to let their dealers make the sales and deal with the "headaches"
(activations, ESN changes, etc.) rather than try to be a web-based
business. If I were still a cellular dealer, I'd be selling them.
(Why represent a company who actively "steals" your business?)


--

"I don't need my cell phone to play video games or take pictures
or double as a Walkie-Talkie; I just need it to work. Thanks for
all the bells and whistles, but I could communicate better with
ACTUAL bells and whistles." -Bill Maher 9/25/2003

SMS has been hard-selling PagePlus on another group, claiming it is
the only prepaid plan worth squat...and that other plans are never any
good.

I say that given the variety of ways the prepaid plans charge for
their service (connection fees, daily use fees, minute fees, monthly
charges, and expiration of minutes), the best plan depends on a
person's usage pattern.

But SMS can't see that. Kinda a black-and-white view of a colorful
world.
--
Anyone who says he can see through women is missing a lot.
Groucho Marx

Todd Allcock wrote:
> At 24 Sep 2007 06:18:02 -0400 Elmo P. Shagnasty wrote:
>
>> The whole thing smacks of Fiddy Cent selling me a phone on the
>> street corner.
>
> Except 50 cent is much better financed than Page Plus!
>
> PagePlus is probaby the longest lasting of the "smally fry" MVNOs,
> and offers a much better deal than most.

It's rather telling, that many "big fry" MVNO's have come and gone
during the time PagePlus has been around. Their low-overhead business
model seems to be working for them.

They know they can't compete head-on with the carrier's own prepaid
services, which are usually terrible deals but heavily advertised and
promoted. Nor can they compete with the large MVNO's like Virgin,
TracFone, and Net10, which sell phones through big box stores at loss
leader prices and hope to make up the loss through their extraordinarily
poor deals on airtime or high minimum monthly charges.

They seem to be content to sell to people that are looking for low
monthly minimums, low per minute chargers, and superior coverage, and
that don't mind getting a phone on their own. If they became too
successful then Verizon might cut them off.

When I mentioned PagePlus yesterday at the meeting I was at, someone was
asking "is this a better deal than Verizon's family plan? Verizon gives
you a free phone on the family plan." There are still a lot of people
that become obsessed with getting a "free" handset, and lose sight of
the big picture.