Confused about pre / post paid plans

[regression]

I bought a Nexus 4 after the price drop. I got it in the mail yesterday and brought it to a T-Mobile store today to get a SIM and start service. The woman asked if I wanted pre or pos paid plans. I thought postpaid was how it worked with contracts and I thought T-Mobile doesn't have contract any longer.... I ended up getting the $60 pre-paid plan (unlimited voice / text and 2.5 gigs high speed data). Since she couldn't tell me the difference between the two, I called T-Mobile when I got home.

I was told I have unlimited data roaming in the US. Is that true. I was also told that I do not have conditional call forwarding, so no using Google Voice for voice mail for me. The guy on the phone said if I went post-paid, I would need to sign a contract and he didn't know if it was 2 or 3 years. That includes conditional call forwarding.

So, can someone make sense of this? Is it true T-Mobile still have contracts? Has anyone documented the advantages / disadvantages of pre vs post paid plans?

BTW, I am coming from Sprint. I have been blow away by the HSPA speeds. I have been a few places today where with Sprint I would get 0.02 Mbps down and now 10 Mbps down.

 

[Greg C]

Here's a link to T-Mobile's prepaid plans:

Prepaid Cell Phone Plans, No Credit Check | Monthly 4G | T-Mobile

T-Mobile just started what they call "Fair and Simple" which are prepay.

You can find out more at their website.

I bought a Nexus 4 after the price drop. I got it in the mail yesterday and brought it to a T-Mobile store today to get a SIM and start service. The woman asked if I wanted pre or pos paid plans. I thought postpaid was how it worked with contracts and I thought T-Mobile doesn't have contract any longer.... I ended up getting the $60 pre-paid plan (unlimited voice / text and 2.5 gigs high speed data). Since she couldn't tell me the difference between the two, I called T-Mobile when I got home.

I was told I have unlimited data roaming in the US. Is that true. I was also told that I do not have conditional call forwarding, so no using Google Voice for voice mail for me. The guy on the phone said if I went post-paid, I would need to sign a contract and he didn't know if it was 2 or 3 years. That includes conditional call forwarding.

So, can someone make sense of this? Is it true T-Mobile still have contracts? Has anyone documented the advantages / disadvantages of pre vs post paid plans?

BTW, I am coming from Sprint. I have been blow away by the HSPA speeds. I have been a few places today where with Sprint I would get 0.02 Mbps down and now 10 Mbps down.

 

[zorak950]

You don't need to sign a term contract to be a post-paid customer, but they will do a credit check. All post-paid means is that you pay at the end of each month of service instead of at the beginning. This also usually comes with more service and roaming options for two reasons: one, post-paid customers tend to stick around longer so the carrier has an incentive to encourage people to go post-paid and keep their post-paid customers happy, and two, since you're being charged after the fact they can add additional charges to your bill depending on which services you use.

 

[21stNow]

Prepaid plans do not have data roaming. The main advantage to prepaid is the flexibility of coming and going when you want to. Prepaid service tends to have fewer fees than postpaid service, as well.

T-Mobile does not have contracts if you buy from them directly. If you go through a third-party such as Costco, two-year contracts still exist. The equipment installment plan (EIP) only exists on certain postpaid plans. T-Mobile does offer postpaid service without a credit check, but the EIP is not available with these plans. Since you brought your own device, the EIP is not a concern for you. However, if you want to buy a different device in the future, you will have to buy it outright or from another source like you did for your Nexus 4. Finally some services, such as unlimited Wi-fi calling, are only available to postpaid customers. Prepaid customers can get Wi-fi calling, but it will deduct from your plan minutes (which is meaningless for you since you have unlimited minutes).

 

[regression]

Thanks everyone for replying. The woman at the store only said the difference between pre and postpaid was they do a credit check with postpaid. I guess the two things I am lacking (that I care about) in using preaid is the inability to use Google Voice for voice mail (no conditional call forwarding) and no data roaming. If I see that I am not getting any data service, because I am roaming, I will switch over to postpaid. I assume you don't get unlimited roaming, but better than nothing.

I assume postpaid plans are the Simple Choice plans? I am weary of calling T-Mobile's support number since both times I have in the past I obviously got someone who wasn't from this country. It was VERY difficult to understand what they were saying...

 

[21stNow]

Yes, the postpaid plans are the Simple Choice plans. The roaming amounts for data are very low, so consider this if you think that you will need to roam for data. I think that it tops out at 50MB per month, but I'm not sure about this.

 

[regression]

Yes, the postpaid plans are the Simple Choice plans. The roaming amounts for data are very low, so consider this if you think that you will need to roam for data. I think that it tops out at 50MB per month, but I'm not sure about this.

Thanks. So if I am on prepaid and go outside of T-Mobile's coverage area, I guess I will just not have any data? Can I roam while using voice and text?

I sure wish the person at the T-Mobile store knew at least as much as you guys are telling me

 

[21stNow]

Here is a document concerning postpaid data roaming on T-Mobile: Domestic Data Roaming FAQs | T-Mobile Support

Yes, if you are on prepaid and are outside of a T-Mobile service area, you will not have access to cellular data.

This is a link to T-Mobile's prepaid voice coverage map: Prepaid Cell Phone Coverage | Pay As You Go Phone Coverage | T-Mobile

It looks like voice and text domestic roaming is included with no charges, but I can't find a definitive statement that says this.

 

[zorak950]

Have they switched to offshore customer service now? Huh. Well, they couldn't possibly be more useless than the Americans they employed before. I've always said about T-Mobile's customer service that they're very nice, but don't count on them being able to accomplish anything.

 

[patruns]

It looks like voice and text domestic roaming is included with no charges, but I can't find a definitive statement that says this.

This is correct, and I believe it applies to all US carriers by law now.

 

[gtt1]

Wouldn't something like Solavei work for you.

If going with T-Mo on a prepaid maybe look at Straight talk or the Walmart $30.00 for 100 minutes plus 5gb data. With straight talk you can pick either AT&T or T-Mo as your provider. Take a look at some of the threads here

Don't see why Google voice would not work for you with unlimited minutes on your current plan there are some threads on here discussing it.

 

[regression]

I found one other difference between pre and postpaid. I get a 12% discount on T-Mobile service for being an Allstate Motor Club customer. However, that only applies to postpaid, not prepaid. So, I will likely switch over to postpaid towards the end of the month of prepaid I have already paid for.