Alltel - www.alltel.com

The Alltel coverage is pretty good. I can get a signal in places where many others cannot. There are few places where someone else gets a signal when I don't.Customer service has been great so far. I switched from being part of my mom's family plan to having my own plan, and the transition was smooth. I have not called any 1-800 customer service lines. Instead, I go to my local Alltel store. I have been to two stores in the New Orleans area so far, and both were helpful and friendly.As mentioned above, I live in the New Orleans area. During Katrina, and more recently Gustav, Alltel was great. A couple of days after Gustav hit, I received a text message from Alltel that they were giving me 1000 nationwide minutes and unlimited texts through 9/12/08.If I were to put a suggestion in a suggestions box for them, it would be to request a smaller phone plan. I don't like to talk on the phone, so I usually don't even come close to using all my minutes. Right now I am on the smallest plan available that offers the features I need. I pay around $40 + taxes per month, which isn't bad.I've read on this page about the bad Alltel experiences some people have had. Where in the U.S. are you guys? Maybe you have bad regional offices. The people I have dealt with in southern Louisiana have been wonderful.

I've been with Alltel for over 3 years and they have done nothing but make mistake after mistake. They shut my cell phone off BEFORE my bill was due and when I called a representative they told me they could do nothing about it. She told me they'd charge me an extra $35 to get it back on because of their mistake. STAY AWAY FROM ALLTEL!

Paid $767 last month and $567 this month, son's phone went over on minutes and texting. Also had to pay last month's late, I never pay any bills late ever. So they texted my husband's phone every day. The last month's charges were AFTER we changed the plan the month before. They credited us part of the extra charges but not all. Phones are under contract, $200 to terminate, so I changed to 2100 minutes, it will be $150 a month. Avoid Alltel, they won't do anything they're supposed to do, get online and read all the comments on all the websites from all the others.

I have been with Alltel for a number of years, first when it was cellularone and then continuing after they were bought out by Alltel in 2006, I think it was.

After the buyout I was told by Alltel that my plan would remain exactly as it was when we had cellularone; this lasted about a month. Suddenly I was getting charged for the 20 text messages that I could previously send/receive for free. When I called the customer service about this I was told they were able to change tariffs. This does appear to be the norm for alltel support/customer service - non-helpful and confusing.

Now for the real good part...

Starting last August (2007) someone at alltel, without any authorization, decided that they would change the plan that I was on to something completely new and my bill shot from $60/month to $144/month - they simply moved me to a whole new package without my knowledge or consent!!!

I didn't realize this until November (I usually space paying the bill until they threaten shut-off) when I went to pay my bill and saw the gross error and called in... they thought that was odd someone would change the plan but said they would fix things and issue a credit for the difference...

So today, 1/3/08, I called in after looking at the online billing area and seeing that not only did they not fix this error but in fact changed me to another plan which was now $166/month!!!!!! They also said there was no record of the hour + on the phone in November about the un-authorized plan change, charges, and overall grief that I was subjected to from alltel.

After spending 2 hours on the phone things have supposedly been fixed and I'll be credited the $300+ dollars that I was overcharged for the plan I didn not sign up for... we'll see.

Overall I have a REALLY bad experience with All tel. I hope it won't happen to someone else. In less than 2 months of service with them, I have to pay almost $400 for service per month and $400 to cancel my contract ( 1 contract 2 phones sharing minutes). TOTAL - $1200 in less than 2 months. Needless to say, I was not really happy.

Alltel gets better coverage in Georgia..

I have been with alltel for a month and I think that they are good I don't know that people are talking about when they say bad coverage. But they are great like when I go to the skating rink everybody else's phone is not working but alltel is working some people say they are going to switch which I recommend.

My Alltel phone which is still under warranty will not hold a charge and constantly drops calls. I have been to the store six times and spoken to the 800 customer service representative four times and still don't have a phone that works. Today they actually asked me to leave the store and not complain in front of their other customers. It's been four weeks! What do they expect me to do?

I have been an Alltel customer for years, and their customer relations are terrible. They constantly overcharge you, and it's not easy to get them to rectify the situation. Also, if you are a few days late on the bill they shut your phone off almost immediately. The only reason I use them is because I live in Northern MI and they have the best reception. My suggestion is that if you can get any other company that offers just as good reception, do it!!

I have used Cellular one for 10 years! As a Former Cellular One customer, I had come to expect a superior level of customer service, including courtesy policies. One such policy that I discovered is no longer being offered, through Alltel is where I am able to retroactively make changes to my plan. As a Cellular One customer, I had become accustomed to such policies, and continued service based on these extensions, when I could have gone with a company that had better coverage or a better plan.

Customer service is extremely important to me. Now that Alltel has purchased Cell One, based on my first experience I will be leaving as soon as my plan is up, if not sooner. Their level of customer satisfaction and customer oriented service has gone the way of the rest of the companies that only look out for themselves.