21.25/Mo Red Pocket Prepaid Wireless Phone Plan+SIM; Unlmtd Talk & Text 3GB

If you aren't tech savvy: BEWARE. I suspect that reselling service from Verizon has lower profit margins for Red Pocket versus reselling service from the other (worse) carrier networks. Because of this, they will attempt to trick you to activate a non-CDMA (not Verizon) SIM even if your device is capable of using CDMA LTE.Red Pocket will attempt to make it very confusing or difficult for you to activate your device using the included CDMA SIM Card. I am moving from the CDMA LTE network (my previous provider was Verizon) to the CDMA LTE network (with Red Pocket as my provider) with a Galaxy S7.The online SIM Activation form on their website is suspiciously broken. When entering the provided CDMA SIM information along with my device IMEI, I got the error message repeatedly that my IMEI is ineligible for CDMA activation: Error! CDMAV Ineligible Device. I knew this to be incorrect.After contacting the customer service reps (via the website chat) numerous times - I think I held four or five conversations with at least four people - my activation issue was eventually resolved. One of the first reps flat out lied to me and said I can't use CDMA. The others told me Verizon blocked my device from activating.Finally the last rep asked me to fill out the activation form differently (what the hell?) by removing the final digit of my IMEI. THIS WORKED. Why didn't the previous reps tell me this after hours of troubleshooting over the same error message?Do what you advertise for, Red Pocket. Don't waste my time anymore, please...Btw - a great MVNO at a similar pricepoint is Total Wireless (a subsidiary of Tracfone). That's what I'd try out next if Red Pocket stops offering service over the Verizon network.

I just switched to Red Pocket and have yet to get all 3 lines purchased working after a week. My former carrier, Cricket (AT&T MVNO) was great, especially for $20 a month (3gigs) for 5 lines. Still, there are times when the AT&T GSM network didn't have the coverage we needed in rural areas. Noting that Red Pocket offered (3gigs) CDMA through Verizon, I was excited given the @$21 per line price point. I think I should preface this by adding that anyone not familiar with the terms GSM and CDMA should educate themselves or find something different. Red pocket includes 3 SIMs with their packet, and they try to steer you to the GSM networks using the 2 other SIMS included with the packet. I think perhaps some of the coverage complaints are linked to the fact that some users just don't know the difference and are steered to installing a GSM chip because they just don't understand the difference.We have two newer factory unlocked Iphone 6s' and a factory unlocked Google Pixel, and I was told repeatedly by Red Pocket that the phones "did not support CDMA" cards after giving them the IMEI. I forced the issue, knowing full well that the phones had CDMA band support. The first activation went fairly smoothly, but I could not do the online registration, and it still took @ 1 hour after convincing the uneducated rep that my phone did support the required bands for CDMA. If you are trying to use the CDMA SIMs, you most likely won't be able to use the online registration (I couldn't in all 3 phones). It will take you 30+ minutes just to get through to them on the phone. Again, make sure you check your phone supports CDMA bands before purchasing this with the intention of using the CDMA chip (Verizon). So the first went okay, and I purchased 2 more lines. That's when the real nightmare started. Long story short, I spent 3.5 hours of my weekend trying to activate 2 SIM cards that apparently were no good. I kept getting a message, welcome to Verizon Wireless, your call can't be completed followed by a disconnection. I hope this doesn't happen to you. The support staff was worthless, and the saving grace was that I already had 1 phone working. I put the SIM from the working line into the new phones, and it worked like a charm. Even after telling multiple reps this, they were still telling me it was a problem with phone compatibility. Finally I asked for a manager, and spoke to a woman named ?Rejean?. She determined the sims were no good. That's not good news for some Amazon customers, being that they probably have a fair number of these bad cards in inventory.Had to wait @ a week for 2 new cards to be sent from Red Pocket via First Class Mail, and the first went off without a hitch. So now I had two working lines. After another 2.5 hours so far (I'm still on the line), they can't get the last (third) line working. Totally inept. The rep told me to factory reset the phone. I told him in a nice way to shove it because I had swapped the SIM cards with the working phones and got the same error on the phone that was just working with the other SIM. There's a complete lack of common sense with these folks. I've been hung up on so many times because these guys just can't get it together. You really have to want CDMA coverage if you choose this company. On the upside, the 2 working lines say "Verizon" in the corner and they both work fine in the boonies where my AT&T phones quit. I just hope the company doesn't go belly up given that I paid for a year in advance. If you have a lot of spare time and a real desire to be on the Verizon network for cheap, try this Red Pocket annual plan. Oh, and did I mention patience? I'm still on hold about line 3 while writing this review. Good luck...

For the price, this is pretty hard to beat. Let's hit the major points:+ You can get any major network in the US. I use Verizon, but I believe you can use Sprint, AT&T, or T-Mobile. Comes with all the SIM cards you could possibly need.+ Things worked as expected.+ Customer service via chat on their website is responsive and effective.+ My existing phone number ported without drama.- Setup was poorly documented. The rudimentary instructions don't cover it all, so I had to figure a lot of it out on my own. Don't give this to grandpa and expect him to do it.