Should have jumped ship at first transition to DISH. In addition to many issues I’ve read here, the straw that broke camel’s back is that they keep sending texts at 1-2AM our time simply stating, “Your bill is ready.” I have texts/notifications turned off, prefer email, but this same message goes to email at same time. These late-night notifications wake me up and I’ve brought to their attention several times through voluminous texting with them. They have not fixed instead stating their policy that I cannot opt out of billing notifications (among other things). Also keep getting notifications for phone sales, etc. I reply STOP, have turned off promos and filled out their opt-out forms twice.
Already resolved to look for new plans but info overload. There are great reviews here. Hoping for recommendations to read further on my basic needs. Of course, still cannot see my data usage on BI but phone is at home on WIFI mostly so can’t tell; just says -GB of unlimited. BTW long time Republic member. I read forum there which was helpful but I never had problems with service nor did they harass with notifications/texts. Thanks for those who started this forum; I just need help targeting new plans to review based on my needs. Sorry for the rant, but this 1AM BI text notification woke me up again to the need to bail out immediately.
My needs:
-WIFI mostly at home and will connect at a few public places.
Low data needs, mostly phone & text but may use a bit more data this year.
Prefer on-line portal to conduct business by email & laptop vs an app only.
Phone support nice but if good service, not necessary
Set it/forget it–sign up once for auto billing w/no need to change/update frequently
Ability to opt out of texting/notifications (email only).
Company with no known merger/acquisition in works to sell out–who knows?
Have a Moto G Power (2022) working fine.
No constant upselling?? BI app opens with Recommended Add-Ons + Explore New phones. Not customer first oriented–must scroll past upsells to reach account info at bottom (hoping they read this).
Thanks for any recommendations assisting me in accomplishing New Year’s Resolution 2024–Ditch Boost Infinite. I’ll read further though dread the transition process. Not sure what’s left on my grace period–don’t care.
I ditched DISH/Boost Infinite shortly after the retirement of the Republic Wireless brand was announced.
My household is currently doing business with two service providers (Mobi and Tello). Mobi’s service uses Verizon’s network. Tello uses T-Mobile’s network. I’ve reviewed both in Reviews.
If the old Republic (prior to the DISH acquisition) plans were a good fit for you, I think you would be pleased with either. Both have online portals (Tello’s is much better than Mobi’s). On the other hand, Mobi’s support (available via phone, text and/or email) is among the best I’ve experienced with any company (not limited to telecom).
Once set up, there’s been no need to adjust billing settings (other than by my choice) with either. Tello has never sent a notification via text message and Mobi allows one to opt out and receive notification only by email.
Mobi’s primary market is Hawaii. Tello is based in Atlanta. Both are small companies (I think smaller than the old Republic). I’ve seen no evidence either is looking to sell out though it’s always possible with any company.
Mobi and Tello are not the only good alternatives in the market. Hopefully, others will mention the alternatives they’ve chosen and why.
Thanks for quick reply; will read both reviews again. Recognize you from Republic though I had no need to post really. I simply can’t believe BI ignored my 1st complaint and thereafter that they were sending auto-texts at 2AM. Admittedly a light sleeper so even with phone in another room with bedroom door shut, that 1 beep notification enough to wake up (especially in dealing with emergencies needing phone left on at night). I finally asked for a customer service rep’s phone # whom I can call at 2AM. I have texts saying. “You’ve unsubscribed from promotional SMS” yet receive promo text for new phone offer. Whether BI is handling texting or 3rd party, obviously failing. Next will see if I can block them completely from texting until switching to another carrier.
I went with Mint a while back, switching from T-Mobile which I had migrated my primary line to from RW due to needing access to Canada roaming. Mint had Canada roaming (which, due to the cost structure of the new version, they have effectively turned off, but I now have ways around that.) I went to Mint for the obvious reason that they are low-cost, and paying by the year made things simpler. I have the low-end plan for data. I do get a once-a-month SMS notice that my data has renewed. I don’t know if it can be turned off, but I just reviewed my message history and all the messages on that subject were sent between 1 and 8 PM. This may not be useful in any case as I went back through my Boost Infinite messages (I kept the RW line while my Ambassador status from the early days made it free) and my bill notices come in the late afternoon. This may be a load-balancing issue in the billing/notification system.
And an alternative:
This may not be helpful if you are not into programming, but I’ll mention it anyway in case it might help someone.
Years ago, I bought a program for Android called Tasker, I don’t know if iPhones have an equivalent. Tasker is an event-driven programming language that gives me all manner of flexibility. After some programming and tinkering with phone settings, I can exert very fine control over what events get to make a sound, and under what circumstances. My phone automatically goes into silent mode when I go to many area theaters. The program for this effectively says “If you can see thus-and-so WiFi network, be quiet.” More relevant to your complaint, I wrote a series of programs that silence the phone at sleeping hours of the night, but will selectively allow certain phone calls and message sources to make noise.
Admittedly not very useful if you are not a technical type, but for me, it did put an end to wrong numbers at oh-dark-thirty.
There are apps that can toggle sound off and on by time of day, but I don’t know about the granularity of control.
We moved to US Mobile last summer. What I liked was how their limited data plans work and we could get something close to our historical usage. I also liked that after the first line additional lines in the shared data pool were only $8/month. In the end they had the best monthly price for our data needs. Also important for us living in hurricane country is we can use all of our monthly data allotment for a hotspot if desired.
WiFi appears to work well when I’ve needed it. We have a strong enough T-Mobile signal that I usually leave Wifi turned off on my phone except for updates.
I can’t speak to their unlimited plans which have gone through some changes recently.
US Mobile does push their unlimited plans on the Verizon network but there is an option to use T-Mobile’s network. Where we live we went with T-Mobile as it has the closest tower that is also in a good location hill and tree wise.
I found their customer service to be pretty good when I’ve run into problems Even in a case where the problem was with my phone settings (I turned too much off).
We also have a phone on Spectrum which uses the Verizon network. WiFi calling works well on it as with the poor Verizon signal we end up using it quite a bit. Getting ported and setup with them did not go smoothly and customer service was hit or miss. When I got someone that was competent they were very good. When I got someone who was not competent things went badly. Once the migration was complete my service has been fine and I haven’t needed to contact support. We are thinking of migrating back to an AT&T based MVNO as AT&T has the strongest signals at our house.
The first thing I would recommend is to call BI and get your account number and port out pin so you will have them when you are ready to port your number out.
I changed to US Mobile using the 6 gb data plan with their Verizon setup and then moved my second line that my wife uses over to share the 6gb. $18 for the first line plus $6 for additional lines. You can purchase additional data for $2 per gb and any unused rolls over to the next month. I really like their app that changes to let you know how much data you have left and even lets me know how much each lines is using each day plus much more information.
I also use Hello Mobile(T-Mobile) with 2 lines on their $5 plan that is unlimited talk and text and 500mb of data. One line is for my home phone line and the second is a second line on my iPhone for places the primary service is not available.
Both USMobile and Hello Mobile include all taxes and fees in their price.
Predicted any change from BI would not go smoothly!! Adding here, for anyone waiting it out, just be sure your phone is recorded as Unlocked from BI. Mine was purchased from RW, cash, and made sure it was Unlocked when transfers were to take place. Unknown to me, it transferred over as Locked which I didn’t realize until obtaining new SIM card from Tello and tried to activate. Phone calls ensued.
BI looks up records, says it was a (another) glitch in the transfer, and placed a Device Carrier Unlock order in which takes 24-48 hours. And I had to get new BI PIN + did get a port out PIN in advance. They asked why I’m switching carriers Told them about 2AM billing notifications, among other things. At least the BI phone reps were nice but not out of woods yet. I said this is not my fault and should not be billed again–another CHACHING email came through
Thanks all for suggestions. At this time think Tello may best meet needs. I did look at others recommended here and will add later to Tello review if I get there… Yes, I should have jumped ship immediately!
Presuming it came from DISH/Boost, the explanation a device is somehow recorded as being locked or unlocked and that impacts one’s ability to port (transfer) one’s number is nonsense. Phones are either locked or unlocked and whether a phone is locked or unlocked has no impact on the ability to port one’s phone number. A locked device might not work with one’s new provider but a device being locked wouldn’t stop porting one’s number.
I understand you purchased your phone from Republic but when was this. If it was before December 1, 2021, the phone is already factory unlocked. If on or after December 1, 2021, then it would need to be unlocked for use with Tello (or other service provider) but, again, this wouldn’t impact porting your phone number.
Phone purchased 12/22 so it is unlocked. To clarify, following Tello instructions this happened when first trying to activate SIM (not porting out old # yet). Tello was able to look up IMEI showing it locked and BI did verify this next. Yes, it’s in BI records as locked. Hoping to sort out.
A phone purchased from Republic in December of 2022 would indeed be locked. December 2021 was the cutoff for Republic selling unlocked phones. It’s unfortunate you hadn’t joined us earlier. Your experience is why I wrote this:
Thanks, I DID go through the procedure to unlock phone prior to transition, sure of it looking through my RW documentation. Apparently, something did not go through and BI said it was a glitch on their end? Regardless of what happened, wanted to give a heads up. BTW, was reading here at that time and saw warning to be sure RW unlocked. Thanks!
MOTO G Power 2022. I don’t have exact recollection of what done but have some notes and I’m sure I read warnings, followed up appropriately. That’s why this forum was so helpful plus did read all RW stuff at the time. I think even phoned at the time to ensure unlocked.
For Motos, the result of a request to unlock should have been a code sent to you for you to enter into the phone to unlock it. In my experience, while the unlock was requested by tier 1 support (all they can do), the code was rarely passed to the customer. I suppose one could call that a glitch but I see it as a process failure.
I suggest giving them the two days then calling back in for the code. A tier 1 agent should be able to see it by looking up the internal ticket created to request the unlock. If that fails, email executivecustomerservice@dish.com. They’ll find the code and give it to you.
Samsung phones and iPhones are unlocked over the air by the respective manufacturer. This does not apply to Motorola phones.
Started a ticket last Friday, 1 week now passed during which time was told tomorrow, tomorrow, behind on tickets… I keep calling to check not trusting they’ll contact. Now told escalating, 2nd ticket started, will be ready Monday (over 1 week), and “Thank you for CHOOSING Boost Infinite ”
Will call them again Monday, if not resolved will use that dish email.
Epilogue: 1 more week passed as I awaited any further email communication on my ticket. Nothing happened so I called again to learn my ticket was closed. Their position is my phone is locked to Boost Infinite for 1 year (6 months now passed). They will not unlock phone. I actually received the phone in 3/2022 from Republic and I don’t need a new phone.
So I should have dumped BI sooner. I cancelled Tello account–they’ve kindly refunded money. I’m keeping Tello online account and will have to order new SIM after I get out of BI jail in 6 months. Can’t wait to go through process again of trying to get BI to unlock the phone.
It is not surprising to hear you are getting nowhere talking to 1st tier support. In their defense, they have neither the training or, more to the point, the authority to resolve this matter.
Presuming the answer came from 1st tier support, if it were me, I’d go ahead and escalate to executive customer service.
If the answer came from executive customer service, I’d file an informal complaint with the FCC:
Republic’s policy when you purchased the phone was it would unlock upon request. Boost Infinite should honor the policy in effect when the phone was sold to you. It was DISH Wireless, LLC’s decision to migrate Republic members to Boost Infinite not something members chose for themselves.
Thanks Roland, documenting this in case anyone has problems as some contemplate switching after the 6-month RW grandfather period. I read through the entire BI policy seeing no verbiage to where I could be held to a locked phone and a 1 year “contract.” I phoned again, long convo, a new ticket has been started and escalated to a new escalation team. BTW, last week’s email indicated it was a ticket from a case manager in escalations (not the initial tier 1 support I first spoke to). That ticket was then closed.
The new person was nice, spoke to supervisor, and indicates I’ve been given wrong info. Said they should honor RW’s policy to unlock phones which is same as BI. Their own policy also says you can cancel at any time (no 1-year contract). Person yesterday said my years with RW, or phone, did not count for anything and that they’re 2 different companies now! I hope this is resolved and it should pay to be persistent. I also mentioned confusion & shortcomings I’ve had with the transition & service.
With Boost Infinite unlocking a phone is an it depends scenario. This purports to be Boost Infinite’s unlocking policy for phones:
This is the Republic Wireless by DISH phone unlocking policy:
Said policy, clearly states that for “5.0 phones” they will be unlocked upon request and is not the same as Boost Infinite’s because Republic never directly financed phones. There was an option for third-party financing from Affirm.
There is escalations within Boost Infinite and there is executive escalations. Did the email response come from DISH’s corporate executive escalations team? That is who you would reach by sending email to executivecustomerservice@dish.com.
My experience (and what I see in various online fora) with multiple DISH brands is the agents are exceedingly polite but that they will say almost anything (including just making stuff up) to get the customer off the phone. At this point, if I were in your shoes, I wouldn’t continue investing time dealing with anyone other than executive escalations. If it takes an FCC complaint to get their attention so be it. The FCC’s online complaint process is not a difficult one.
I’m sorry you continue to deal with nonsense but the desire to avoid same was the reason I bailed.
I have texts saying. “You’ve unsubscribed from promotional SMS” yet receive promo text for new phone offer. Whether BI is handling texting or 3rd party, obviously failing. Next will see if I can block them completely from texting until switching to another carrier.
Predicted any change from BI would not go smoothly!! Adding here, for anyone waiting it out, just be sure your phone is recorded as Unlocked from BI. Mine was purchased from RW, cash, and made sure it was Unlocked when transfers were to take place. Unknown to me, it transferred over as Locked which I didn’t realize until obtaining new SIM card from Tello and tried to activate. Phone calls ensued.
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