Tech Friday: An update on my USMobile Wireless trial
Posted By RichC on July 21, 2023
For those keeping score as to just how frugal Rich can descend when chasing after a wireless plan … “better” (cheaper) than Mint Mobile … “he” may have gone “a bridge too far” in the latest USMobile wireless plan decision (I know, another idiom and a 3rd person reference, but don’t get me started on the whole pronouns thing)!
The billing structure for the plan I “thought” I was going to choose (the $15/mo for 5GB of data — see my “preferred plan” below) — it didn’t work the way I expected. It seems USMobile adds a “Recovery Fee” and a “Service Fee” each month to their invoicing. The “fees,” described by the ill-informed customer service rep as “government required taxes that they don’t control,” (cough, cough) add up to $4.91/mo PLUS the Hotspot add-on of $2.00 for the plan, which is included in Mint Mobile’s $15/mo plan. Thankfully I was smart enough to keep Brenda and her new iPhone14 on the Mint Mobile plan.
So, since I’m not ready to hassle with changing MVNO marketeers again, I decided to go with the lower priced $5/mo plan with minimal data (and reduced text and phone minutes) and see just how careful I can be with the 500MB bucket of data. With penny-pinching planning and 25 days to go, I’m down to 464MB and am not very comfortable being obsessed over a few bucks; in other words, this will not last long.
Going forward, I’ll likely switch to someone else, go back to Mint Mobile … or pay the $6.91/month in fees — yes, $82.92/year (at this point I’m surprised USMobile isn’t asking for a tip – #sarcasm).
BTW .. click this link if you want to try USMobile for 3-months free!
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