Customer Reviews

T-Mobile Prepaid $25 Refill Card

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

I've had this plan for a few months now. I rarely use my wireless phone--maybe twice a week. Prepaid is the way to go if you don't use the phone often. I usually have as many or more bars on my signal finder than my sister's Verizon phone. If you buy a $25 card or larger, you don't have to add more minutes for three months. I got in during a T-Mobile promotion which extended the expiration date to one year rather than the usual three months! I still have over 100 minutes on my phone, and these minutes won't expire till May 2005 thanks to this special promotion! I recommend the T-Mobile prepaid plan.

I've been using EasySpeak T-Mobile cards since I bought my phone, almost a year ago. I don't use my phone often enough to justify the expense of a monthly plan, although I do use it several times a week. I buy a new card about once a month or so. The service is great; I've never had a dropped call or even a static-y connection. They have a Rewards plan, too, in which, after you buy a certain number of cards, you get discounts on future cards. I'm quite happy with them.

If T-Mobile can afford to have the lovely & talented Catherine Zeta-Jones-Douglas be their spokesbabe, you'd think they could afford to widen their service coverage area. You cannot roam using one of these pre-paid babies, subsequently if you are only slightly off the beaten track, you are S.O.L.
Here's my example: Driving down 101 from Oregon, there was NO service for over 400 miles, until Santa Rosa, Ca., & driving up I-5 no service for 200+ miles south of Ashland, Or. Not being accustomed to service as poor as this, I called support, and after being given a run-around to the max, the "bimbette" explained I had "Nation-wide service", but only in T-mobile's immediate cell areas. Their coverage map shows they only have coverage in tiny areas of North America, chiefly top-50 Metro areas. BTW, when I crossed the border into Canada, there was NO service at all. Don't bother with this.

This is definitely the best prepaid program for casual users. I wanted a plan that did not require me to constantly "top up" to maintain the minutes and nothing else came close to the 1-year arrangement from T-mobile (offered in December and again in the spring). It's easy to get confused by price per minute comparisons and such but for someone who only wants availability for occasional or emergency use, this is really the best plan.

We are using it in a major metropolitan area and have never had any problems with signal quality.

T-Mobile's prepaid plan isn't confusing as it's similar to Virgin Mobile's, but the coverage is spotty and weak, in my experience. Given Cingular's and Verizon's prepaid are more expensive than T-Mobile's and VM's, and Boost (Nextel)'s coverage isn't on par with VM (Sprint)'s, I'd stay with VM for now, given their good customer service, decent network quality and low cost.

I see absolutely no reason to pick t-mobile as your prepay service provider. Virgin Mobile has a much, much better plan. It has better coverage to boot (using Sprint's national network). Long distance is always included with Virgin. No charge for leaving voicemail or checking voicemail from another phone. Lower per-minute rates (esp. after 10 minutes per day), and includes long distance. And you don't need to recharge for 90 days, plus you get 60-day grace.

T-mobile is much worse so I recommend you go with Virgin Mobile if you want pay-as-you-go.

This should be a good solution for those in my family who need phone access but would use very few monthly minutes -- but the minutes expire in unreasonably short periods. If I top up a card for $25 or $50 why should the minutes ever expire?

I'm with the last reviewer, what a shock to discover my minutes expire only a month after charging the phone. And finding a place to buy them is a true-joy as well.

I use this for an additional phone when I travel and for guests who do not have a mobile phone or are from overseas. Works well in that it is easy to find additional prepay cards from many major retailers. Phone service seems to be as good as Sprint which is my usual carrier.

Recommend prepay for limited users.

Buy an unlocked phone on EBay and you will be able to use other SIM cards overseas to call the US for less.

This service is perfect for my teenager. She does not need a lot of minutes and it is a way to break her into the wireless world. If she has too many minutes then she will be on the phone constantly. Her last card of $... lasted her about one month and if I needed to contact her at school, at the basketball game I can. Not great for long term due to expiring minutes.