Anyone using Google Fi for their cell service?
- Thread starter Ozclone
- Start date
I used to have Fi, currently on Verizon. I didn't have any coverage issues with Fi. My phone itself, though had an intermittent reboot issue that royally pissed me off. I couldn't pin down the behavior with any repeatability, though, so I didn't push for a warranty replacement. My wife had the same model phone and had no issues.
I liked the idea of pay-as-you-go data since I'm almost always on wifi and the per-line service charge was good. I spend most of my time around Ames, with trips to central MN and NW IA. I don't recall any big coverage issues, but I could simply be forgetting after nearly 3 years away from Fi.
Once my Fi phone was paid off I didn't like the options that Fi had so we went to Verizon so I could get a reasonable-quality phone that wasn't gigantic (Fi seemed to require either a massive Pixel or some cheap crap if I wanted something smaller).
I had it for about a year recently. It works great, but I switched back to Visible to save a few bucks. Never had an issue with Fi though. Live in the Des Moines metro.
Probably a good cell plan with good coverage, but customer service was abyssal in my one experience described below. I put a lot of stock in how a company treats it's customers, so I am done with Google Fi.
I signed on for an account with them and bought two new phones. When the package arrived from FedEx, only one phone came. Google promised to 'investigate' and after multiple calls to customer service they 'escalated' my complaint. In the meantime they refused to send out another phone. So, I was paying for service on two phones while only in possession of one phone. After several weeks, they found that the other phone had been activated somewhere else and they suspected it was stolen in the FedEx chain of custody. I still hadn't gotten a second phone or refund. I sent the first back and cancelled service. I got refunded for one phone and I had to file a charge back to my credit card to get squared up on the other phone.
A simple solution of sending out a second phone from the onset would have kept me as a customer, but instead it was as though they suspected me of stealing from myself
I signed on for an account with them and bought two new phones. When the package arrived from FedEx, only one phone came. Google promised to 'investigate' and after multiple calls to customer service they 'escalated' my complaint. In the meantime they refused to send out another phone. So, I was paying for service on two phones while only in possession of one phone. After several weeks, they found that the other phone had been activated somewhere else and they suspected it was stolen in the FedEx chain of custody. I still hadn't gotten a second phone or refund. I sent the first back and cancelled service. I got refunded for one phone and I had to file a charge back to my credit card to get squared up on the other phone.
A simple solution of sending out a second phone from the onset would have kept me as a customer, but instead it was as though they suspected me of stealing from myself
Pixel phones are pretty cheap and FI has been good so far.
You can suspend service on any account through the Google Fi app which would have stopped you from having to pay for the second line until the phone situation had been resolved. We have lines for our kids that we only keep active at certain times of the year then suspend the accounts until we need them again. The flexibility is amazing!
I am a Google apologist...love my Pixel 7...Fi user for a few years now. But in my market (eastern Iowa) the only cell company Fi uses is T-Mobile (they recently dropped using US Cellular) so their isn't much advantage to using Fi. I have my son's phone on a $300 a year Mint Mobile unlimited plan that uses T-Mobile towers as well. So I am paying $50 a month versus $25 a month that I pay for my son...with no difference in local service. I have zero issues with Fi...but feel like I am talking myself into Mint Mobile in the near future.
Mint would be our alternative if we wanted unlimited data but we're always on Wifi so the flexible Fi plan ends up being cheaper than Mint.
Have Fi now. Used to be great. But once they dropped providers to only use T-Mobile, it's been terrible. The cell signal is fine, but the data rates you get are abysmal. I'll have full 5G bars and not be able to load a website.
Other issue is with Samsung phones there's something wrong with the dialer. If you call someone somethmes it'll keep ringing on your end even after the person answers. It seems to be a known bug with Samsung and Fi and no solution in sight.
But it is cheap and with 5 lines on our plan it has so far been worth dealing with poor connections. We use wifi most of the time anyways.
Other issue is with Samsung phones there's something wrong with the dialer. If you call someone somethmes it'll keep ringing on your end even after the person answers. It seems to be a known bug with Samsung and Fi and no solution in sight.
But it is cheap and with 5 lines on our plan it has so far been worth dealing with poor connections. We use wifi most of the time anyways.
I had Fi for years but switched to Verizon. It's great because it's cheap and if you're on WiFi all the time, it's a great deal.
I switched because it's super unreliable for data.
Once you get out of the city (and often while you're using data in the city) you can expect super laggy behavior. Maps won't load. Poor call quality. Messages not sending until you get back on WiFi. Etc.
I switched because it's super unreliable for data.
Once you get out of the city (and often while you're using data in the city) you can expect super laggy behavior. Maps won't load. Poor call quality. Messages not sending until you get back on WiFi. Etc.
I was going to until I read a few horror stories over billing. Because it's difficult to get a human being at Google, they would lock your account and therefore hold your phone number hostage without any resolution. I ended up with a prepaid Verizon plan that costs the same or less anyway
Too be fair, the T-Mobile and Sprint merger combined both networks so you're still getting towers from both just under one umbrella.
I'd be interested to hear more about the original issue with Verizon. I had an issue with AT&T like this many years ago. It took me getting the Attorney General's office to contact them for me to get it resolved. Mine was because I went through Best Buy and something was messed up between them and AT&T. I've been on Verizon since that was resolved.
sort of, they've left some bands out of their newer phones and I always get pushed to the t-mobile towers and never on the old sprint towers i used to use.
How well does the Verizon prepaid service work? We're in the same situation where we're looking to move from Fi, but the full blown Verizon plans start to get pricey for a large family.
