ALLTEL U Prepaid company profile

Cons: Horrible customer service

Summary: They wouldn't help me they were rude and they did not help me what so ever. i will not deal with them again.

Cons: Company store NOT the place to purchase or service phone

Summary: In a previous review I stated that phone was largely useless. I got very little help from the ALLTEL company store in finding out the problems. I finally went to a wireless store that sold ALLTEL and other phones. They suggested the phone I had was defective. On previous trips to ALLTEL I had suggested that the phone was defective with no results. Following the advice of the non ALLTEL phone store,I finally went in demanding a replacement phone. They reluctantly issued me one. Now, the phone works fine!!!!

Summary: I like ALLTEL okay. No problem with the service and customer service is good in the store, I have never had problems with my service and no problem with phone going out in areas with lots of trees, etc. I recommend Alltel.

Cons: Minutes expire now
Customer service is poor
Charged for checking voicemail from another phone
Charge you .75/day even the days you don't use your phone

Summary: Buyer Beware! Alltel changed the plan to include expiration dates! Now when you purchase minutes you are given a time when they would expire. Apparently, this is not across the board. My parents have the same plan and plan does not expire. When I called customer service three times, finally I was told the reason was because I signed up two days after the policy went in place! My rep did not know this at the time, but my minutes still expire! I went to refill my minutes at a store so that I could put a smaller amount on my phone than what you are allowed to online. That rep handed me a customer survey, which I answered when I got home. Today I receive a voicemail on my prepaid phone telling me to call them back. I did not even give them my prepaid or home phone number. Now I have to pay for all those minutes. I sent an email to the company and got a canned response back that had nothing to do with the email. Also, every time you call customer service and give your prepaid phone number, you are passed off to another call center located overseas (I think).
So do your research before committing!

The only good thing is that they have decent phones to choose from if you go to an Alltel owned store. There are stores out there that are allowed to sell alltel, but are owned by another company and provide shoddy service and try to tell you that you can't choose any phone provided. With prepaid you are allowed to choose any phone that postpaid customers have, so don't let any rep tell you otherwise.

Another positive is that you can add .1 to your plan. I haven't tried this yet, but I will probably try this in two months when I have to add more minutes if I am still with them. However, be warned that you are charged tax on the "minutes" that you buy.

Cons: incoming calls fail to reach me, customer service is unhelpful and gives incorrect information

Summary: Got this plan because a postpaid plan was just way more than I needed. I only make a few minutes of calls per week--Most of the time it's me calling my wife to check in, or she's calling me to pick up something on my way home. This seemed like the ideal package. And at first it was.


Then my wife discovered that she can't call me: She calls my number and all she hears are clicks. My phone never rings or makes any indication of an incoming or missed call. Callers get a message saying I can't be reached (I don't have voicemail). We can do this experiment when I have the phone in my hand and it shows I have good reception.


Then the "joystick" on my phone went dead. I was within the 1 year warranty. I took it to the store, waited in an interminable line to have someone tell me that my prepaid phone wasn't warranted. As politely as I could, I pointed out paperwork that said it was warranted. Then they told me, "Oops. Our bad. Yes it is warranted. We have to send it off for two weeks." Grumble.


Two weeks later, I still have no phone. I call the local number to check up and get the offshore call center. They can't help me. I go back to the store (get there before they open this time) and am now told that it takes 4 to 6 weeks for a repair.


Beware. You get no more than what you pay for, and sometimes you don't even get that.