Consumer Cellular

VERY POOR CUSTOMER SERVICE!
This is not a review on cell phones or service reception. I opened an account so that my guest from out of country could have text and data to use during her visit. I was given promotional credit for joining in December 2015, which would more than cover the phone plans added. I called 20 days after opening to cancel my service since my guest no longer needed it.
The call rep assured me that my bill would be covered by the promotional credit and that I would even have remaining credit to use in the future.
He was wrong.
This rep was not aware of the company’s policies and how to use promotional credit. Apparently, I was supposed to wait till the 30^th day to use the promotional credit and then cancel. Since service was cancelled early, the promotional credit evaporated, and I became responsible for charges.
I called multiple times to resolve this mistake and even cited the misinformed customer rep for leading to my situation. Every rep could see that I did indeed have credit to use at one point but said that nothing could be done since the account was closed. I even requested to talk to the supervisor during my last call, but even he wouldn’t budge. He acknowledged my frustration over the misinformed call rep, but still had no heart to compensate for it.
I’m not trying to be cheap at all. I am more than capable of paying these charges. I’m very discouraged by how this company handled my situation. If this is how their customer service is like, then do yourself a favor and avoid Consumer Cellular. They don’t know what customer service should be like.

The rates are comparable to other large carriers. I pay $ 80/​month + tax for 750 talk minutes, unlimited text and 3 gigs of data. They boast that they are“consistently rated #1by a leading consumer magazine «. I don’t know who is doing the rating but it’s obviously folks who don’t mind waiting 30 – 45 minutes ON HOLD to speak to a CSR. I tried to get the info I needed from their website but the site was down all afternoon and recommended I call.

Our family plan on AT&T went from $ 140 to $ 76 a month (four lines, 3GB of data, 750min of voice, unlimited texts). Customer service is excellent and uses the same AT&T network, so our coverage is exactly the same.
By the way: the online account management/​usage web site is clear and easy to use with zero upsell. Much much better than AT&T.

I’ve been with Consumer Cellular for two years now after having been with AT&T for over 10 years and I’m thrilled! I have saved so much money each month that it boggles my mind how much I ended up paying AT&T for all those years. I have a teenager so we need a lot of data and our previous AT&T plan was $ 160 a month, but now we just pay $ 70 a month with CC. We entered Consumer Cellular with our own iphones and received the sim cards and that went just fine changing those over 2 years ago. I have just purchased an iphone6 from CC so I’m hoping that goes well when I receive it. I love their current offer for interest free purchases on phones! I really thought from the commercials and advertising that it was a company for only 55 and older, but I’m younger and it’s been amazing. I have zero complaints.

We’re still with Consumer Cellular and we’re very happy. Yup, we still have the same red flip phones. 1,500 minutes a month, texting and great reception for just $ 48 a month for our 2 phones.

After about 5 years of decent service at a fair price I closed my account. My last effort to contact customer service were beyond frustrating. I made 4 calls, each time waiting between 20 and 35 minutes, only to get a hang-​up. Sent an e-​mail and received an immediate response that I would hear from them in 24 to 48 hours. Life is too short to live with this quality of service.

I signed up with Consumers Cellular service less than a year ago. I have a Verizon account with another phone, but I signed up because I wanted to keep this phone number because I have a lot of old friends that know this number. It turns out that Consumer Cellular gave my number away and I can’t get it back. They disconnected my phone when I had an outstanding balance. It was less than 30 dollars and not more than about 2 weeks. I was traveling abroad and when I returned I paid them the balance owed. I figured all was well. However, Consumer Cellular told me that after they disconnected my phone, they never reconnected it, even though the balance was paid in full.
I have had the number for at least 8 years and I am very disappointed that they did not contact me to let me know that they were going to do this. Seeing as how they disconnected my phone, I would have expected email or written communication to let me know that they were going to give my number away. It turns out they gave it to a fax machine, so all my contacts from all of the world will now receive an annoying high pitched screech when they call that number. I would not recommend this service provider. They don’t seem to be able to communicate very well with their customers.

I finally decided to get a smart phone so I could be like every other knucklehead who is glued to their phone ²⁴⁄₇. The advertising gets you to believe that it will be cheap (starting at $ 10 a month), but my bill was $ 72 and I hardly ever use the darn thing! I called customer service and they said it was the apps I was using being updated overnight that zapped up all the data. I think I only have 3 apps. WTF? I’m getting rid of this and going back to my free Obama phone until there are some options for people like me who have no desire to waste $ 72 a month on something they don’t really need. Very disappointing

Full disclosure: This is NOT a review of the Tigard, Oregon business, but of the Consumer Cellular corporation. I tried for hours to transfer my two cell phones from AT&T to Consumer Cellular, and had a complete idiot on the phone giving impossible instructions! (E.g., replace the SIM card, then call to activate — — - when THE ONLY PHONE I HAD WAS THE ONE SHE JUST TOLD ME TO REPLACE THE SIM CARD IN! I’m still stuck with AT&T, I’m out the $ 20 I spent on SIM cards at the local Target store.

My review is the polar opposite of just about every other review here of Consumer Cellular. I have had GREAT customer service from them. I have had network service issues and had to call them a few times. They were awesome! I have stayed with CC for over 6 months now because the customer service was so good.
I also love the fact that their SIM cards are free (you buy it for $ 10 at Target and they give you a $ 10 credit – most carriers charge $ 10 – 20 per SIM card. Why?). You can select from either AT&T or TMobile SIM cards. If you know what you are doing, it’s a painless process… or just get the Target guy to set it up for you.
So there’s a lot to like about CC… but now I will have to leave them.
My issue is that my network coverage is TERRIBLE. I live in North San Diego County and coverage is terrible in general but read on…
I didn’t buy a phone from them. I used my own unlocked AT&T phones. The best I typically got was 2G service (0.128Mbps or less with 200ms+ latency on OOKLA SpeedTest… not a typo).
Rather than blame them, I tried every conceivable tweak instead. I tested the service on AT&T and TMo, I tried multiple OS’s (Windows Phone 8.1 and Android… sorry, I don’t have an iPhone), I used multiple phones (Nokia 920, Nokia 1520 (2 different ones), LG G3), I modified the APN settings, I tested my phones in different cities (San Antonio, Phoenix, Las Vegas, Seattle, San Jose, etc), I reset the phone to factory, etc. Nothing has worked.
Most of the time, the data service is unacceptably slow to nonexistent… even when it shows 5 freakin’ bars! I now carry a VZW MiFi when I’m traveling because I can’t get GPS to work without it. The voice and text usually works but who makes phone calls anymore… amirite?
Why did I stay so long? Because I am usually within reach of WiFi so it hasn’t been a dealbreaker… but as much as I wanted to love this service and the pricing model, I give up. One Star for good customer service (despite what everyone else says… I guess my standards are low).
I’m gonna give Ting a try because I really like the variable pricing model. If you are a light user, this model is the way to go. If you are a heavy user, not so much.
If Ting sucks as bad as CC, I’m going to T-​Mo and give up on trying to save $$ on wireless service. I guess sometimes you get what you pay for. At these low prices, if the service was great then everyone would be using it, right?

Having just finished a 2 yr contract with AT&T, I just began service with Consumer Cellular (CC). I loved having the option of keeping my old phone. CC just sent me a SIM card to put into it, which was very easy and worked flawlessly. I was paying WAY more than I ever should have with AT&T, because I was paying for voice service that I rarely used. The biggest advantage to CC is their pricing structure and the plan options that you can tailor to your own type of use. I went from $ 67/​mo. with AT&T to $ 14.50/mo. (+ possible taxes) with CC! Ridiculous!
Few notes about switching. Kept my iPhone 5s, got a SIM card from CC. The CC website does not tell you this, but you cannot activate your new service online if you are putting a SIM card into your existing phone. That website activation is for new, CC phones. No matter. Called CC’s customer service (got thru RIGHT away first thing on a Sunday morning), and after a brief phone call my new service was activated! (and, old AT&T service was automatically cancelled once my number was transferred to CC — yep, kept the same number too) Another tip — since my iPhone was an AT&T GSM phone and CC uses the AT&T network, my iPhone did NOT have to be unlocked to be used with CC service.
Since CC uses the AT&T network, which I’ve used for 2 years now, I can say that the service is great, and I’ve never had trouble using it anywhere. (mostly suburban, but some rural use) Haven’t had any experiences with CC billing yet, but so far, so good! And I’m not really worried about any of it, because since I’m under no contract, I can cancel at any time. But I don’t plan to!!!

Once I finally got my new phone, we had no further issues with Consumer Cellular, so when my husband decided he’d like a smart phone we called CC. We decided on a new model Motorola and found we could buy it at a target store. The nearest one was about 100 miles away, but after our last experience it seemed a prudent choice to drive. Unfortunately, it now seems that any interaction with CC customer service is to be avoided.
Since we were picking up the phone, the CC rep told us we needed to get a SIM card. In order to be sure there were no misunderstandings, we called CC from the register in the electronics department and went over the requirements again. The Target employee got the card, rang us up and we drove 100 miles back.
Funny thing is, we couldn’t access the internet and couldn’t transfer our contacts. We called CC and were told to get a different SIM card. We drove another 200 mile round trip, got the card, but still no service. After another call to CC and several transfers to different representatives, they figured out that once again, we ended up with a wrong SIM card (there are two different 3-​in-​1 SIM cards but CC didn’t bother to mention that. CC ended up sending the correct SIM card to us by regular mail and once we received it, all was well.
Our big complaint is CC customer service don’t seem to be trained very well and the company doesn’t care what problems their customers encounter. We asked both with my phone (when they mailed it to the wrong address) and the SIM be sent express mail, but they refused and shipped both regular mail. It doesn’t say much for their commitment to good customer service.

Pros: No contract, service not too expensive, good coverage
Cons: Bad customer service, snarky staff, long waits

Horrible company, horrible service. For over $ 130 a month for two lines I get to sit in downtown LA today with my iPhone 6 saying, «No service», really, in downtown LA!!! Even AT&T works in LA!
Avoid this company like the plague, they talk a good game but when something goes wrong they are the definition of incompetent. Agents are poorly trained, technicians clueless (I have spent hours on the phone with them) and AARP must be getting a huge «cut» to be recommending them. AVOID, AVOID, AVOID!

I have purchased a phone from Consumer Cellular. Today I paid off the balance on the phone. They refused to provide me an unlock code or give me a timeline to provide it. They told me to keep calling back to check with them, and blamed the problem on Apple. They have made false advertising claims about the carrier they used and about the ease of discontinuing service.
They seem to prey on the elderly (their target customer base) and assume the customers have no technical knowledge.
Pathetic.

Ok. So I caved and decided to return to having a smart phone. After a lot of research and conversations with friends, I went with Consumer Cellular. Their rates were reasonable, I could get an iphone (was android in my previous life) and they had support (so they said).
Not.
The first phone they sent didn’t have software to enable contacts. I finally figured out that was the problem after MANY calls to them. They sent me a new phone (iphone6) and I called them to help transfer the materials I had on the first phone to my new one.
After MANY MANY MANY calls to them, and conversations with their «tech,», a woman directed me to upload materials to icloud to download to my new phone.
After MANY MANY MANY MANY calls to them, and spending about 3 hours at Apple’s genius bar, going back and forth between the Apple geniuses and the Consumer Cellular «techs,» it became clear tI had lost all my data because their information and assistance in uploading the data to icloud was totally incorrect.
It’s been a nightmare.
Long and short–
1. they don’t know what they are doing technically
2. they need to get people on staff to do
3. if they are going to sell iphones they need to have the support for them and/​or
4. know where their knowledge ends and where they recommend consultation with Apple.
irresponsible, ignorant and a waste of time, these people.
The plan is ok. The support sucks.

I not a big user of my cellphone so I hated paying $ 60-​$ 70+ a month for my Verizon service. Last August (2014) I switched to Consumer Cellular and purchased a 5s iphone from them. The first couple of days I was have some problems and felt it was the phone not the service so I took it to an Apple store and they checked it out and said I needed a new phone and gave me one right then and there… no questions asked. I have used this service for the past 7 months and find it much better then Verizon and certainly much less expensive… I only pay about $ 25/​month. The only think that was expensive was the price of the iphone… if I were to do it again I would look for a used iphone and then Consumer Cellular will send you a sim card, but the phone has to have been used on AT&T or be a GSM phone.
All and all I would certainly recommend Consumer Cellular.
FYI… I’m using my phone primarily in Orange County CA and have used it back East in NY and PA with great results.

I moved to Consumer Cellular from AT&T just two weeks ago, keeping the same phone, a Samsung Galaxy S4. The porting process wasn’t quite as seamless as I had hoped, but customer service was very courteous and helpful, and I went from one carrier to the other in less than an hour of down-​time. I’ve had a couple of other calls to customer service over minor matters that were resolved quickly.
Since CC uses the AT&T network, service parameters haven’t changed. However, I did receive one significant disappointment: with CC one cannot set up a Wi-​Fi hotspot with an Android phone; it can only be done with an iPhone. I honestly don’t remember if I had tried to set up a hotspot while with AT&T. My carrier prior to AT&T had used a CDMA network, and there was no problem setting up a hotspot with the Android phone I had at the time.
I can live without having the hotspot/​tethering option, but it would be nice to have it.
So far I’m very happy overall with CC. Great prices. Great flexibility. Courteous and helpful customer service.

Great Phone but beyond deplorable customer
is the horrid.
Called about 3 – 4 times last year each time 45 minutes to 1 ½ on hold.
Girl tells me after repeadedly asking her that my smartphone and regular phone can have same number. Totally incorrect information and she was sure. Come on.
Disconnected my regular phone after telling the girl to give the smart phone another phone number and do not turn off the regular phone or do anything with it. She does exacly what I ask her not to do leaving me cell phone less for a week until sears
gave me phone.
They tell you every thing gets delivered in 4 – 5 days which is usually at best 15 – 21 days.
Waited a month for the return label for my smartphone and never got it so I stoppped
the payment to say wake up its a month later and no return label.
This company works on a planet of there own and turtles move quicker.
I say do not use them under any conditions and Ive filled complaints with AARP
and other agencies.
Worst customer Ive seen in a life time… run quick and use another company.

Consumer Cellular has been a pleasant surprise. Their customer service reps have been very friendly, the rate plans are priced reasonably, and I am able to bring my own phone. I use Wi-​Fi most of the time, so I do not use large amounts of data. In addition, I use my work phone more than my cell phone, so Consumer Cellular fits my specific needs.
I brought an iPhone to use with their service, and I had no problems setting it up to be able to use Consumer Cellular’s data. However, I have used carriers that were not the main three, so I am very familiar with the steps required to make it work.
I suggest using the iPhone Configuration Utility, which is available on Apple’s website.
Once you have that downloaded and installed, you will then need to run the program and create a new APN configuration. When your iPhone is connected to your computer, you will delete your current APN file and import the new configuration file. It is that easy and then you are able to use Consumer Cellular’s data, if you have chosen one of their plans.
I am including a screenshot of what the fields should look like in the iPhone Configuration Utility program.