Ting

[Oldbooks1]

To be honest, I can understand why a customer service rep might say something like that.

Typically they have a script to follow and only limited access to the billing system and may not have the authorization to seek out that information. Of course, every company does have the information in its accounting system but front line support staff may not be able to retrieve it and the customer has no easy way to access company employees who actually could provide it.

Comcast, for instance, does not make it easy to get that information but if one is persistent and willing to be on hold for a while it is possible. It can also be obtained by complaining about a lack of transparency to the authority what oversees it in a particular location. Comcast has a special unit that responds to complaints via that channel and it works well.

[sfatula]

I do agree on the why, but, they represent the company, I do not care how they are organized. If they cannot answer the simplest question, how much, then I would say it's not very good customer service. Which is why I tend to go elsewhere in those cases.

[deleted]

@Oldbooks1

I have been trying to determine what type of cell user is the ideal customer for Ting and have a hard time finding the answer.

For a heavy user, there are better choices as there are for light users.

Ting seems to try to attract customers who look at just total price (the famous $23 monthly bill) rather than those who analyze actual needs and the most economical way to meet them.

As a bean counter, surely you know that bean counters and frugal consumers are in the minority!

[Oldbooks1]

I do. As a believer in the role of consumption in supporting the continuous upward trajectory of the US and global economies I am delighted that this in indeed the case. Without the totally wasteful and useless level of spending on C+G, it it clear that I alone could not sustain the level of nonsensical behavior that makes it possible to continue being a happy and contented member of the frugal bean counting minority.B)

[deleted]

@Oldbooks1

I do. As a believer in the role of consumption in supporting the continuous upward trajectory of the US and global economies I am delighted that this in indeed the case. Without the totally wasteful and useless level of spending on C+G, it it clear that I alone could not sustain the level of nonsensical behavior that makes it possible to continue being a happy and contented member of the frugal bean counting minority.B)

"I" get what you're saying.

[johntour]

@TARDIS

Getting us back on topic: The "disable service" options in the TING Dash are great!

Out-bound calls say: "The number or code you have dialed is incorrect"
When people call, they hear: "The number you have dialed is temporarily not in service."

Out-bound Texts say: "You are not authorized to send texts"
When people text, they don't get any alert at all that the message didn't go through. I didn't test this extensively, though.

Interesting info, thanks. I let things drift over to Ting because 2 of my 6 phones are the great LG Tribute HD model and seem to have their own problems working with other carriers. Now that they work I can take my time to choose something cheaper.

Some Tings (SIC) I didn't know is you better set your alerts and limits early before the kid blows through his data on Fakebook and runs up the charges. And, still not the cheapest but if you just want a drawer/glove box phone the small 100/100/100 plan for $15 drops to $6 plus tax if you don't use any allotments for your billing period.

Yes their CS/support is great, always a follow up email or 2 but I'd rather do my troubleshooting here and other forums. Either way I have a month or 2 with Ting for now.

[mmfacemm]

@johntour

And, still not the cheapest but if you just want a drawer/glove box phone the small 100/100/100 plan for $15 drops to $6 plus tax if you don't use any allotments for your billing period.

But you can pay $0 a month with tello for a glove box phone. Just use it once every 6 months. You can even sign into the app on your main phone to make that call over wifi. It makes zero sense to use ting for a glovebox phone unless you want to use up some credit. 100/100/100 on tello costs $6. Crazy ting prices.

[johntour]

@mmfacemm

@johntour

And, still not the cheapest but if you just want a drawer/glove box phone the small 100/100/100 plan for $15 drops to $6 plus tax if you don't use any allotments for your billing period.

But you can pay $0 a month with tello for a glove box phone. Just use it once every 6 months. You can even sign into the app on your main phone to make that call over wifi. It makes zero sense to use ting for a glovebox phone unless you want to use up some credit. 100/100/100 on tello costs $6. Crazy ting prices.

Good to know, point for Tello. Seems unless one configures Freedom Pop to get truly free it's going to cost something each month for service. I think it's Tello that drops data speed after your allotment but it's faster than others.

[Oldbooks1]

PrepaidPhoneNews has an article about a free e-book from Ting on how to minimize cellular usage.

It probably contains little if anything that is unfamiliar to forum members but might be useful for family members or friends who are less tech savvy and want to control cellular use to avoid unpleasant surprises

prepaidphonenews.com

Ting-Cut-Your-Data-eBook.pdf

[deleted]

@Oldbooks1

PrepaidPhoneNews has an article about a free e-book from Ting on how to minimize cellular usage.

It probably contains little if anything that is unfamiliar to forum members but might be useful for family members or friends who are less tech savvy and want to control cellular use to avoid unpleasant surprises

prepaidphonenews.com

https://ting.com/wp-content/uploads/Ting-Cut-Your-Data-eBook.pdf

Ting trying to justify their over priced service, maybe those resources could have been used to lower their pricing.

[Joseph]

Meanwhile Ting is one of the largest non-carrier owned MVNOs.

[deleted]

@joseph

Meanwhile Ting is one of the largest non-carrier owned MVNOs.

One of, meaning in the top 2 or 5 or 10 or...........?

250K subs with less than than double that in total lines split over two carrier networks after 5 years, huuuge, they're huuuge!

Ting is not competitive to say the least, so I doubt they will continue to retain their subscribers if they do not adjust their pricing.

[Joseph]

If Ting isn't competitive then the Big 4 are very uncompetitive - and must surely not retain their subscribers.

[deleted]

@joseph

If Ting isn't competitive then the Big 4 are very uncompetitive - and must surely not retain their subscribers.

By all means, spend more with Ting if that is what makes you happy!

We used Ting for several years and early on they seemed competitive compared to Post-Paid, but certainly no longer competitive with the many MVNOs out there. We also used C/S maybe 4 times over that period, so I don't see c/s as a big selling point.
More recently they could not figure out why I could not get LTE on my Nexus and sent me down the all too convenient path to a factory reset when that was completely unnecessary. So much for their awesome customer service and knowledge.

All I know is if you are ok with Ting using Sprint then you should at least compare your usage to that of what it would cost you using Twigby, I doubt Ting will beat them!
If Ting does beat them, then I would say it is only by a few dollars using multiple lines to share allotments while scrimping on your usage to stay within a certain bucket.

[zubrin]

I pulled my last line from Ting 2 weeks ago and expecting a final bill of $15 after credit is applied. Yet the final bill just came out and my $8.94 credit is missing. Do you have similar issue?

[mmfacemm]

I can't help but wow $24 for 41 mins, 2 texts and 312mb. That is shocking.

That would be about $8 on Tello.

How they stay in business is way beyond my reasoning.

[Oldbooks1]

@mmfacemm

I can't help but wow $24 for 41 mins, 2 texts and 312mb. That is shocking.

That would be about $8 on Tello.

How they stay in business is way beyond my reasoning.

I think it really is a matter of market segmentation. Members of Social and this forum are not the customers on Ting's radar. Its overall subscriber numbers are not enormous but quite profitable and those who use the service seem to like it.

Many people I know would be ideal candidates for Ting. They could save a lot each month by switching from the Tier 1 carriers and Ting provides enough hand-holding to make them comfortable. However, they are "scared" because they do not understand the world of MVNOs.

[One]

Our experiences with ting were all consistent AND disappointing.

Their line fee does indeed make it uneconomical - but that is not the worst of it IMO.

A combination of their tiers and the ways they handle accounts assures overbilling in their favour.
Ting delays things such that is is highly likely for users to be billed another line fee for a line that has ported away; they also seem to sort of accidentally delay port outs.

The extreme disappointment we had over the reversals of the various 'bonuses' they offered, then withdrew was bad enough - but then seeing how much it cost for the least amounts of usage was shocking - and finally getting away from there AND getting billed again for lines that no longer existed there...sheesh.

The amounts of time required just to get them to release lines for porting, reverse over-billed charges and verify that the account was closed with no further billing possible was yet another very poor 'feature' of this service.

Last of all was the line we sort of inherited from a friend who no longer wanted it that went there from rp...
It had a $40 top-up on it, and combined with the various offers of goodies from ting - should have been free long enough to see that post as a credit...sure, uh-huh.
No such luck.

The phone had maybe 20 minutes of usage & maybe 3 SMSs, and that gobbled up most of the join-up credit; month 2 had zero usage and that ate up almost all the rest - so rather than pay to see if they'd honour their top-up transferral offer, it was time to port out (to Cellnuvo, of course...).

Oddly enough the port-out was delayed long enough for billing to occur - which then takes days to appear (assuring that you'll stay another billing period as the $6 charge happens immediately), and no amount of cajoling them got that port to finish - so that line had to be cancelled outright to avoid the $6 charge for nothing - and even THAT was a hassle.

Good thing that the phone used for that line is essentially a throw-away that we do not need, because it may or may not still be tied up there or caught in-between porting out and porting in.

All things considered - we would ONLY recommend using ting for someone who has a really nasty temperament & enjoys yelling at others - thankfully though, we have no such folks that we associate with !!

At the end of the day perhaps karma will find its way to visit some deserved balance upon that company;
I can say with a clear conscience that such a visitation would be good for a snicker or 2.

[Diedrich_Duo]

@Extraterrestrial_Zoologist

Our experiences with ting were all consistent AND disappointing.

Their line fee does indeed make it uneconomical - but that is not the worst of it IMO.

A combination of their tiers and the ways they handle accounts assures overbilling in their favour.
Ting delays things such that is is highly likely for users to be billed another line fee for a line that has ported away; they also seem to sort of accidentally delay port outs.

The extreme disappointment we had over the reversals of the various 'bonuses' they offered, then withdrew was bad enough - but then seeing how much it cost for the least amounts of usage was shocking - and finally getting away from there AND getting billed again for lines that no longer existed there...sheesh.

The amounts of time required just to get them to release lines for porting, reverse over-billed charges and verify that the account was closed with no further billing possible was yet another very poor 'feature' of this service.

Last of all was the line we sort of inherited from a friend who no longer wanted it that went there from rp...
It had a $40 top-up on it, and combined with the various offers of goodies from ting - should have been free long enough to see that post as a credit...sure, uh-huh.
No such luck.

The phone had maybe 20 minutes of usage & maybe 3 SMSs, and that gobbled up most of the join-up credit; month 2 had zero usage and that ate up almost all the rest - so rather than pay to see if they'd honour their top-up transferral offer, it was time to port out (to Cellnuvo, of course...).

Oddly enough the port-out was delayed long enough for billing to occur - which then takes days to appear (assuring that you'll stay another billing period as the $6 charge happens immediately), and no amount of cajoling them got that port to finish - so that line had to be cancelled outright to avoid the $6 charge for nothing - and even THAT was a hassle.

Good thing that the phone used for that line is essentially a throw-away that we do not need, because it may or may not still be tied up there or caught in-between porting out and porting in.

All things considered - we would ONLY recommend using ting for someone who has a really nasty temperament & enjoys yelling at others - thankfully though, we have no such folks that we associate with !!

At the end of the day perhaps karma will find its way to visit some deserved balance upon that company;
I can say with a clear conscience that such a visitation would be good for a snicker or 2.

Wow -- your experience with Ting was the exact opposite of mine when I decided to port over to Twigby! I called Ting's support number first to be sure of the process, and they verified that. Once I inputted my port information into the Twigby website, my phone was activated and number ported over in less than 45 minutes. After everything was up and running with Twigby, I noticed that my account was still "all there" on the Ting website, but after a day or two my phone showed as inactive. I finally called Ting again to be sure that everything was done (i.e., dormant) and they assured me that no new charges would occur unless / until I activated my phone again. So far, a month later, that has indeed been the case, even though I still can sign in and see my account information, or what's left of it.

Sorry you had such a bad experience with Ting. As others have mentioned, it can be a good fit for those who might need extra "hand holding", and its rates (while downright exorbitant compared to RingPlus's free plans back in the good old days) are still much cheaper for many people compared to what they might pay on any of the Big 4 carriers.

Regarding nasty temperaments, yelling, and karma: Some wise individual once said that you get lots more with sugar than vinegar. Having had to deal with Countrywide years ago when they were at their absolute worst, to clear up a mortgage mess (and eventually having all of our incoming phone calls go directly to "the Office of The President", aka the PITA line), I've learned that it usually doesn't pay to get ugly, even if it might make me feel good for a while, so maybe I wasn't ever a good fit for Ting. And I REALLY hope I don't come back in my next life as a Countrywide CS rep, although that is highly unlikely since Countrywide is long gone.

Hope you are much happier with your new providers. Always enjoy your posts, E_Z! Take care and see you around in the forums.

[PEW]

I had a great experience with Ting. Used up my credits, had my phone international unlocked, ported out with no issues.