Anyone ever bought a cell phone and found it doesn't work at home?

[LoZoccolo]

My mom just bought one; her old carrier worked at her house and her new one didn't. She's afraid she'll have to pay to get out of the contract. Anyone have any experience with this?

[greatauntoftriplets]

1. Did she activate it???

nt

[LoZoccolo]

3. Yep.

She cancelled her Verizon contract because of poor reception, but didn't ask the salesperson what she could do if the new one (Sprint) didn't work.

She says she's going to go down there and complain tomorrow...probably going to be fucked up because even if it's her fault she has a tendency to throw a big enough fit to try to get her way no matter what. Wonder if she'll start screaming and crying and get in trouble. Not big on taking responsibility for mistakes.

[Nikia]

2. We don't always get reception at home

It used to work at home, but we moved to an area with cell reception that isn't quite as good. We usually get a signal if we step outside. My phone doesn't work at work either. I have to step about 50 feet away there.
Our contract expires in February. We will try to get a company with better coverage of the area, although perhaps there aren't enough cell towers here.

[uppityperson]

4. I do/did. They usually have a 2 week trial period you can quit in

I've had 3 different companies.
1) did ok except merged with another big company and I don't like their business practices. No home reception since several yrs ago and smaller powered phones.
2) switched to the company that advertises customer service. bs. Anyway, no home reception. When people tried to call they reached a 30 second totally blank space (no ring, no nothing) before going to voicemail. Since some of us used phones for self employment, this didn't work as we lost customers who thought the phone # didn't work. Company tried to fix it, then told me this was what happens with all cell phone carriers.
3) switched to Verizon, have reception at home. If out of service area, caller hears ring, ring ring, voicemail.

They give you a 2 week trial period, so make sure that she gets on it soon. You can port your old number back, may charge you or the company may do it for free to keep you as a customer. Ask, then ask to speak directly to supervisor (not have answerer speak to supervisor for you). Good luck.