the running reverend

Earlier this year, we were forced to switch phone carriers. Our carrier at that time (Nextel) had splotchy service in our area. While I greatly appreciated their pricing and customer service, at the end of the day, we needed to be able to make and receive calls in the area surrounding our home.

For that reason we ended up searching for carriers. We considered switching back to AT&T, but saw no point in having a 3/4G smartphone in a non 3/4G service area. 

The only remaining option was to go with Verizon, whose pricing was (and is) significantly higher than the other carriers. However, they were the only carrier that provided both the phones and the service options that we needed.

The only remaining downside was the price of their phones. Unlike AT&T and Sprint, Verizon tends to keep the price of their new smartphones at $150 or above. 

Having used companies such as Wirefly, which I do not recommend (I’ll post more on this later), I decided to try Amazon Wireless. Reviews of the “beta” aspects of Amazon’s business were hard to come by. Given my previous experience with Amazon, however, I decided to give it a shot (the Droid Incredible 2, pictured below, was a penny compared to the $150 that the Verizon store wanted for the phone at that time).

The phone arrived quickly (as did my wife’s, as we ended up ordering two phones). 

Setup was a breeze.

I should mention that our account was a “new activation.” The ease of setup, programming, etc. could easily be chalked up to this fact. However, I have since recommended Amazon Wireless to a few friends, who have elected to avail themselves of the “upgrade” option. The process for them was equally as quick and painless.

At the end of the day, I would recommend Amazon Wireless and plan to use them for future upgrades.