Ringtones Newsletter
Issue 31, February 2012
In This Issue
- Dialing In by CEO John Marick »
- Feature Focus: More Web Access than Ever Before »
- Customer Stars: Matt and Donna Sisko »
- Your Questions Answered »
- Refer A Friend: An Easy $10 for You »
Consumer Cellular Home | Newsletter Archive
What’s New
- Bravo! on the Bravo Price Change. Read More »
We’re Here to Help
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Refer A Friend, Earn Ten
Give Yourself and Your Friends $10! Refer someone who signs up with Consumer Cellular and you’ll receive a $10 credit on your upcoming invoice. Your friends will be happy, too. Not only will they get fantastic cell service at great rates from the best cell phone service company in America, they'll also get a $10 credit on their first invoice. Don’t wait to share the wealth! The best gifts don’t require contracts.
Want to tell a friend? Click here to send an email.
Dialing In
by John Marick
Consumer Cellular has been in business for more than 16 years. During that time, not only have we evolved as a company, but so have our customers, as cell phone users. Many of you started with our free, entry-level phone and eventually upgraded to a more feature-rich model. The more comfortable you became with wireless communication, the more ways you could see yourself using it.
Likewise, when technology changed and new phones were developed to meet changing consumer needs, we added new phones to our list of available models. We added flip phones and sliders. And when texting became more than just a fad for the young, we introduced phones designed to make texting easy.
For example, we brought you the Samsung A697, with its virtual touchscreen keypad and colorful 3-inch display, as well as the Nokia C3, giving you quick web access and a full traditional keyboard. We also searched for and found what we consider to be the best senior-friendly cell phone in the world, the Doro PhoneEasy.
We make sure our phones offer the latest conveniences, such as Bluetooth, music options, and video recording — and, above all, remain affordable.
In light of how we — company and customers — have both adapted to this new and wonderful technology, I’m pleased to mention our latest phone additions: two smartphones, the LG Thrive and the Motorola Bravo.
And because we believe more and more of you will be selecting a smartphone this year, we recently expanded our Connect! data plans. The beauty is, we’re giving you access to more data for the same price you’re currently paying (see Feature Focus below for more details). We also reduced the price of our Android smartphones, making it easier for you to upgrade.
As your cell phone needs and expectations evolve, we’ll be there with you, adapting to new opportunities and assisting you to make the best choices. Change is not only good, it’s inevitable.
John
For more comments and industry insights from John, read his latest blog.
Feature Focus
More Web Access than Ever Before
More and more of our customers are using their cell phone to access the Internet and send messages. In light of this trend, we want to make sure our cell phone plans continue to offer the right amount of use at an affordable rate. As a result, effective immediately, we're increasing all data limits on our Connect! plans to let you use your phone even more.
Best of all, your monthly fee will remain the same and you don’t have to do anything. More data, same price, do nothing!
In addition to enhancing our current Connect! plans, we have added a new level for customers who would like to use their phone’s web and messaging capabilities even more — the Connect! Max plan. The chart below summaries our new Connect! plan packages.
| Plan Name |
Monthly Fee | Included Messages | Included Web Data |
|---|---|---|---|
| Connect! Lite | $2.50 |
100 |
10 MB |
| Connect! Ready | $5.00 |
500 |
50 MB |
| Connect! Active | $10.00 |
1,000 |
100 MB |
| Connect! Complete | $20.00 |
2,500 |
250 MB |
| Connect! Max | $30.00 |
5,000 |
500 MB |
For more details about our Connect! plans, please visit our Messaging & Web page. Or if you would like to make any changes to your service, go to the My Account page and log on.
One final comment… Although we’re giving you more data, we want to make sure you consume that data wisely. Streaming a typical two-hour movie from Netflix, for example, could wipe out your month’s data allotment. Surprised? You're not alone. Not many people realize that it can require anywhere from 500MB to 2GB of data to download or stream a video to your cell phone.
Customer Stars
Matt and Donna Sisko
Unless you’re working in the Complaints or Returns Department in a retail store, the last thing you expect — or desire — in your life is another hassle. At least that’s how Matt Sisko, of Florida, feels about it and it’s one of the key reasons he and his wife, Donna, love Consumer Cellular. In his words, it’s been a “hassle-free” experience.
As a retired couple, the Sisko's are prudent with their spending. So when it came time to upgrade their mobile phone, they sought a wireless solution that would be affordable yet give them the features they needed to keep in touch, especially when texting their two kids and grandson. That’s when they discovered Consumer Cellular and the Motorola Bravo smartphone.
“My wife and I are thrilled with our Bravo phones,” said Matt. “We consider the phones a breakthrough in technology. We get all the latest options, with more freedom than before. And, get this, there’s no contract!”
Because they connect to the Internet at home where they have WiFi, the Siskos felt a huge data plan was unnecessary. They looked over the many plan options available and opted for the Anywhere 1800 plan, combined with the Connect! Ready data plan, which gives them 500 text messages and 50 megabytes of data each month.
The Sisko's customized each of their smartphones to include a few kid-friendly apps from the Android Market. Now whenever their three and a half year-old grandson visits, he stops just long enough to give his grandparents a hug before asking for one of their phones.
“We’ve been promoting Consumer Cellular to everyone we meet, because of the great value we get,” summarized Matt. “Great service, great phones and more economical than any other service with no contract… Unbeatable!”
Your Questions Answered
In each issue we ask our Support team to recommend — and answer — commonly asked questions about our products or services.
I just upgraded from my first cell phone to a smartphone. I hate to throw my old cell phone away. Any suggestions?
First, congratulations on upgrading. We think you’ll love the many amazing things a smartphone enables you to do.
Second, just send us your old phone and we’ll recycle it for you. Not only that, but we’ll donate the proceeds from recycling your phone to Doernbecher Children’s Hospital Foundation. With every mobile phone we sell, we include a postage-paid envelope so you can recycle your old cell phone. If you can’t find the envelope, you can go to our Phone Recycling page and print a mailing label. Mail your old phone (and batteries) to us and we’ll take care of the rest.
I recently purchased a smartphone from Consumer Cellular. Can I stream movies and music on my new phone?
As you start to take advantage of your cell phone's amazing online capabilities, it's important to remember to use your data wisely. While we have increased the amount of data in our cellular plans, they still are not suited for watching videos or streaming music (from sites such as Netflix, YouTube or Pandora). The extremely large amounts of data required for these activities would easily exceed even our highest plan and result in significant costs.
However, with the increased data in our plans, they continue to be a tremendous value as you take advantage of the many other popular online activities such as:
- Send and receive email
- View and update Facebook
- Access Google Maps
- Browse your favorite web site
- Check the current stock prices
- Follow your favorite sports team
- Monitor your local weather
- And much more…
Have more questions, need more answers?
Go online and see the answers to our most frequently asked questions.
What’s New…
Bravo! on the Bravo Price Change
If you’ve been reading about smartphones, you might think they’re out of your price range. That’s because most of them cost hundreds of dollars or require that you lock yourself into a long-term contract with a wireless phone provider.
Worry no more. We’ve changed that business model for good. Not only do you not have to sign a contract to get a Motorola Bravo smartphone from Consumer Cellular, but the price we offer rivals the best prices anywhere. And that was before the price was reduced by $25. Now, you can get this powerful, easy-to-use Android phone for just $140, plus our standard $35 activation fee.
There’s never been a better time to start using a smartphone. To learn more about the Motorola Bravo, watch our How-To Videos. Or to order your phone today, go to My Account and place your order.
