EmailBest Reviewed
Prepaid Wireless
- Best prepaid wireless overall Virgin Mobile *Est. $20
- Best prepaid wireless for occasional use T-Mobile To Go *Est. $10
- Best call quality TracFone *Est. $10
- Best as an emergency phone T-Mobile To Go (annual plan) *Est. $100
- Best prepaid wireless for local calling MetroPCS *Est. $30
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Best as an emergency phone
- Low per-minute price
- High ratings for customer service
- 90,000 retail locations nationwide
- Minutes don't expire for a year
- No free night or weekend calls
February 2009. You can get a good idea of the effectiveness of prepaid wireless cell-phone services, like T-Mobile To Go, by looking at large customer surveys like those conducted by J.D. Power and Associates, PC Magazine and Consumer Reports. In addition, PrepaidReviews.com rates prepaid wireless plans, including T-Mobile to Go, and includes customer reviews. We also found reviews on Amazon.com.
If you want to keep a cell phone on hand for emergencies but don't plan to use it on a regular basis, reviewers suggest the T-Mobile To Go annual plan, which is a prepaid wireless plan with a long expiration. You get T-Mobile's excellent voice quality, 1,000 minutes for $100 and a whole year to use them. If you are looking for a prepaid wireless plan with the highest score for customer satisfaction, reviewers recommend Virgin Mobile (starting at $20 for 200 min.), although it doesn't have as good a phone selection.
Our Sources
For overall customer satisfaction, T-Mobile ranks fifth out of nine prepaid wireless providers in this annual survey of more than 3,000 prepaid wireless cell-phone users.
Review: 2008 Wireless Prepaid Customer Satisfaction Study, Editors of J.D. Power and Associates, July 24, 2008
T-Mobile places third in this annual survey of prepaid wireless cell-plan users, scoring particularly well for fees and customer service.
Review: The Best (and Worst) Tech Support in America: Cellular Services, Eric Griffith, July 29, 2008
3. ConsumerReports.orgDetails/Subscribe
Consumer Reports polls about 52,000 magazine subscribers in 23 metro areas, asking them to rate their cell service for call quality, handling of calls and complaints, and billing problems. Results are grouped according to urban areas, including New York City, Dallas, Atlanta, Chicago and Miami. This article covers prepaid wireless plans from major providers.
Review: Best Cell Phone Service, Editors of Consumer Reports, Jan. 2009
Editors list T-Mobile to Go as the top-ranked prepaid wireless provider out of more than 25 companies. Users posting comments to the site, however, give T-Mobile either very high or very low ratings.
Review: T-Mobile to Go Prepaid Cell Phones, Editors of PrepaidReviews.com
5. Amazon.com
Amazon.com features subscriber ratings of T-Mobile's prepaid wireless service, and most of the reviews recommend it for light users or as an emergency phone. Coverage lapses are the main complaint.
Review: T-Mobile to Go Prepaid Plan, Contributors to Amazon.com
Prepaid Wireless Runners Up:
2 picks including: About.com, J.D. Power & Associates…
2 picks including: J.D. Power & Associates, Prepaid Reviews…
