I have been with T-Mobile for quite a while and I wanted to save some money by switching carriers. I chose MetroPCS because they are owned by T-Mobile and charge a set rate of $60 a month for absolutely unlimited everything. No fees, no taxes, no surcharges, etc. I had been with them for a while a few years back (before they were bought by T-Mobile) and hated their customer service because no one spoke english well.
So, I switched to MetroPCS for a couple of weeks and then saw that Sprint was offering their new $60 unlimited plan. I figured that since they were a large-scale company, I might do better by going with them. So, I switched.
I was charged a $36 activation fee and some app purchasing fee ($8/month) on top of all the taxes, other fees, etc. So, what started out as $60 ended up being quite a bit more. I told myself that I was saving $20 a month (which I wasn’t). I loved the new phone (LG Flex), but people could barely hear me. I am not sure if it was the phone or the carrier. Also, I was not able to get a signal outside in a business/corporate area.
I got my first bill and there were all sorts of weird charges (taxes, surcharges and some even had 2 charges for the same thing – different prices). I called billing and spoke with someone who could barely hear me (phone? service?) and who barely spoke english. I was very distraught by the end of the phone call, so I went to the store where I got the phone. AH-HAH! At the store, they were able to take care of my issues with no sweat. They were helpful, very courteous and friendly!
Because I was within the span of 14 days, I was able to cancel the new phone purchase and get it refunded. They said that if I had canceled within 3 days, I could have gotten the activation fee refunded as well. At this point, my bill is almost at the point it should have been for 11 days of service.
So, I switched back to MetroPCS and would recommend their $60 plan. No surprises at all. They use T-Mobile’s towers. So far so good.
I read all over the internet that MetroPCS locks your phone to your plan and charges you to change phones and that is NOT TRUE. Their website has instructions on switching phones, and a phone number that gives you a message stating that they DO NOT CHARGE to switch phones. You simply put your SIM card in and dial *228. The store people charge you to do this for you. Do it yourself and save $20+!