Ting Phone Service – A Review

I switched to Ting recently, and am very happy doing business with them. They have been reliable, they are easy to talk to, and the price is low.

What I Was Looking For

My family of three had used Verizon phone service for a long time. I got to wondering if there were cheaper options. There are.

Each of the people in my family has a different usage pattern. One uses more data, one uses more texts, and one uses more voice.

After some research, I tried FreedomPop and had an unsatisfactory experience. The other family members tried Ting and had a good experience. Now all of us have switched to Ting.

Simple Pricing

Ting’s web site gets right to the point:

Ting’s big selling point is that you pay for what you use. There is no need to guess how many texts / minutes / bytes are needed per month. Ting will charge based on what you use.

This is very different from the traditional approach of phone plans. With other phone providers I have dealt with, there are packages that allow a certain amount of texts, minutes, and data. None of those plans exactly match what I need. I pick the plan so that there’s enough of whatever I use most, but I’m also paying for too much of whatever I don’t use so much.

With Ting, using more than expected just creates a small, temporary price bump. For example, I use a bit more data, I’ll just be charged a bit more for the data usage. I won’t have to upgrade to a whole different plan, where I am also paying for a bunch of unneeded texts and minutes.

The Ting web site has a nice price calculator so you can see what your prices would be. After being on Ting long enough to see my bill, I can attest that it is accurate.

On-Target Web Site

Ting’s web site does not mess around. It gets right to the point by telling me how their pricing works, and what I will get. It delivers that message in simple terms.

Compared to the competition, that is a relief. As seen below, the first thing Verizon’s web site shows is a big advertisement for the most expensive phone they sell. FreedomPop’s web site has simple text, but the text is misleading; one does not get unlimited service at the $10 / month tier, nor will it only cost $10 a month. Also, the name of the company one will be dealing with (FreedomPop) does not appear anywhere on the front page. I have written more about that elsewhere.

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Ting’s frankness and clarity carried through to the rest of my experience doing business with them.

Support Experience

Ting’s customer support number is easily accessible from a link on their home page. After signing up, I called that number with some questions.

The representatives who answered (I made two calls over a couple days) were courteous and knowledgeable. They were well-spoken, and seemed to be answering directly, without reading from a script.

Being able to talk to a human, and get useful, frank answers, made me much more comfortable doing business with Ting.

Ting Phone App

Ting provides a phone app that provides real time usage reports, billing history, and other handy info. The app is easy to use.

My favorite feature is “current usage”, which shows clearly how much I’m paying for what, and how close I am to needing to pay a few more bucks.

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Summing Up

Ting provides good phone service, low prices, and has good customer support. My family will be staying with Ting!

If you’re interested in trying Ting, click this link to get $25 off. Full disclosure: I get a discount on my bill if you follow that link when getting started.