New, cheaper wireless plans are arriving fast and furious right now. No matter how long you've had yours, it may be time to switch plans. You may get better service—HD video on T-Mobile's One plans—or you could save big bucks—Verizon's new unlimited plans cost less than many of its old capped data plans.
Watch out, though. As I discovered this weekend, sometimes wireless sales people don't know what they're selling. To make a long story short, I tried to sign up for T-Mobile's three-line plan, which is advertised as $140 per month.
Calling T-Mobile, I got a friendly representative who said the plan cost $155. Not $140, I said? Nope, $155. She double-checked it on her computer. I hung up and took a good look at T-Mobile's website, where it said it cost $140.
Now, me being me, I was able to call T-Mobile's executive team and find out that the plan was indeed $140. The trick is that you get a $5 discount per line for automatically paying each month, bringing it from $155 to $140. I switched my plan. It's all good. I pay $140 now. But the inherent lesson is worth repeating.
Wireless Salespeople Often Know Nothing
It's a wild world of discounts and promotions out there right now. They're confusing and constantly changing. Do not trust what the people on the other end of the phone say. They may not know about the latest changes. If you don't like what they say, and you think you know better, try calling back and getting someone different.
If you go to a store, come armed with printouts of any plan offers you may want to take advantage of, and refer the sales people to the printed page.
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This goes for buying phones, too. Carrier salespeople will generally steer you to a phone that's similar to the one they have, rather than the one that's best for you. Apple employees are generally pretty well informed, but even they can be trusted only up to a point—many don't know that all "Verizon model" phones are actually carrier-unlocked, for instance.
I'm not going to be entirely self-serving. Yes, you should trust me. But as an old journalism teacher once told me, "if your mother says she loves you, check it out." Read multiple reviews of things. Ask multiple sales people. If you don't like the answers, keep asking.
It's a pain, but in my case it's a pain that saved me $180, which I can spend on books to teach my kid fifth-edition Dungeons & Dragons. Or maybe I'll just download the PDFs of the rule books from the official website. After all, I have unlimited data now.