ALLTEL Wireless user review

Cons: 59 cent/minute roaming charges, return shipping not reimbursed by company.

Summary: I go to school at OSU in Columbus, Ohio (population 400,000+). I researched Alltel for a few weeks previous to purchasing service, and I even called their customer service line to ensure that I would be covered without roaming in Ohio's largest city. The customer service rep was seemingly very kind and helpful, and she ensured me that I would be in Alltel's network and not charged for roaming (yes, I specifically asked about roaming) in Columbus... so I went ahead and bought the phone. The phone worked wonderfully in my hometown prior to moving back for school... but when I arrived to campus I noticed that I was roaming, so I called customer service, and they told me that I was not in their coverage area and that the representative I spoke to earlier had been mistaken. So obviously, I'm going to cancel, I'm still within my 15 day trial period..... BUT I have to pay 20$ to ship it back to Alltel (because they won't process the return at a store) and I won't even be reimbursed.
So untill I find another carrier I am stranded without a phone at school with a useless 350$ dollar piece of equipment that I have to pay to return because a customer service representative lied to me. As far as I can tell, Alltel will say anything to get you to switch to them...even outright lie. I personally would suggest that anyone searching for a carrier only purchase from one that allows you to veiw their coverage at a street level (verizon, att, and t-mobile all do this right from the main page of their wireless website). I really hope that the tale of my customer service fiasco will influence you and perhaps this company to fix their service and alter their manipulative customer service tactics.