Should Pageplus, Spot Mobile, Virgin Mobile, & T-Mobile Sue Tracfonefor False Advertising?
Last night I saw a Tracfone advertisement on national TV proclaiming
that they had the lowest monthly cost at as little as $7 per month.
Clearly this is false on several fronts. Pageplus is as little as $2.50
per month. T-Mobile is as little as 83¢/month once you spend $100 and
achieve "gold" status. Virgin Mobile is as little as $5.00 per month.
Boost is as little as $3.33/month. O2 is as little as $3.33/month. Spot
Mobile is as little as $1.67/month and minutes are only 10¢. Of course
there is no need for the Tracfone ad to mention that Tracfone has about
the most expensive minutes you can find in prepaid, and that if you do
manage to use enough minutes to get down to the 10¢/rate by paying $50
(for a double minutes card) you're better off with some other plan like
Net10 (also from Tracfone), or Straight Talk (also from Tracfone).
What Tracfone could say is that they are the lowest cost carrier with no
monthly fee and excellent coverage and roaming. Spot Mobile (T-Mobile),
T-Mobile, Virgin (Sprint), and Boost (Sprint or Nextel) have relatively
poor coverage, and Pageplus charges a 50¢/month fee. O2 (AT&T) does not
allow roaming.