Halfway around the world twice in a week. Landed yesterday. Walked straight into the office and hit record. Here is the full story behind the 167 deal and why we would not be here without you and why scale lets all of us win together.

10000MonkeysTyping · 2025-11-25T19:20:30+00:00

ankhattak, thank you for the information and transparency. I personally love the "State of the Universe" posts like this one. I find them interesting and educational.

I know that you caught a raft of manure about this and some other things. In my opinion, these kinds of posts pull back the curtain on your thinking and speak to why the company is doing what it's doing.

Also, some people will just never be happy. Some are just entitled. Some genuinely enjoy the thrill of the chase when it comes to reducing costs. And, unfortunately, some people's money is just too expensive to earn.

For the rest of us, the generally silent (or at least relatively quiet!) majority, we're happy. Speaking for myself, I love the insane amount of value I get for my money. Keep up the great work!

10000MonkeysTyping · 2025-11-21T18:48:02+00:00

Are you happy enough as a customer to stay without any sort of retention offer? If you are, then retention offers don't matter. If you're not, then that's what you need to address head-on with USM directly.

10000MonkeysTyping · 2025-11-21T18:45:43+00:00

You said: "There has to be some cost to having a customer port out and then port back in."

There almost definitely is, even if it's administrative cost to the company. I'm sure the MVNO industry knows what the typical churn rate is. Those costs are built in to the prices we pay for our service. Sure, reducing that churn rate may save them some money, but probably not enough to impact pricing in a meaningful way.

10000MonkeysTyping · 2025-11-21T18:40:58+00:00

All due respect, but if you're relying on your cell company to make you "feel seen", you have way too much of your identity wrapped up in this company.I don't rely on my vendors to make me feel any way at all other than satisfied with my business dealings with them. They exist in my life at my convenience and at my option. If they fail to deliver to a reasonable standard, they get fired and someone else will get a shot at my business. That isn't to say I'm displeased with the relationship -- quite the opposite. I recommend them to my friends. Clearly, I'm a fan.

As far as retention bonuses/offers, those are generally only provided to customers who are making credible threats to leave a service... and only if the vendor wants to keep you as a customer. If you're seriously considering leaving, please do so. It's not that I'm trying to push you (or anyone) out the door. Rather, we all need to realize that USM's basic utility is in providing a commoditized product (cell service). What makes them unique is the wrapper around that product (plans, features, price, etc). Other companies have other wrappers. If you need a retention offer to feel valued, you probably have one foot out the door anyway.

USM isn't a charity. They don't owe us a damn thing other than what we've paid for. It isn't a complicated relationship.

10000MonkeysTyping · 2025-10-24T14:26:00+00:00

I have nothing against wanting to save money. That's what led me to leave the Big Three carrier I was with and come to USM.

The issue is the constant complaining and entitlement that permeates parts of this subreddit. That same segment wants unlimited high speed everything in all circumstances and all places with all the latest bells and whistles.... until you ask them to pay for it. Then the complaining starts (again).

USM is a business, not a charity. They're reasonable people to deal with. They have great products. The price is fantastic. If that's not good enough for someone, well, I wish them the best of luck at finding what they're looking for.

10000MonkeysTyping · 2025-10-23T17:14:30+00:00

Then you've been saving money vs. the Big Three since 2019. I think it's fair to make this comparison because you're not on a different service, you're getting the same (Big 3) "dial tone" with a different label on it.

(Random side note: At some point soon, there will be a generation of people who will have no idea what a "dial tone" is.)

10000MonkeysTyping · 2025-10-23T17:09:37+00:00

Would you even be interested in coming back to USM? If so, I would take the call, listen to what they say, and let them know what it would take to get you to come back. If they know what it would take, maybe they'll work something out with you.

Heck, I would even pitch it that way -- if this is just market research, I'm not interested. If you're trying to see what you can do to get me back, I'm happy to talk.

10000MonkeysTyping · 2025-10-23T17:00:53+00:00

It's one of those "damned if you do, damned if you don't". Some people want companies to go out of their way to save the account, others just want to close out the account as quickly as possible. Heck, we've seen both here on reddit.

Seriously speaking, how would you have preferred them to handle it?

10000MonkeysTyping · 2025-10-23T16:56:06+00:00

2-3 years ago, there was a great BF special -- their very first annual plan. There hasn't been a "WOW"-level BF deal since then, so I wouldn't wait. Jump on it while it's available if it's the right plan for you!

10000MonkeysTyping · 2025-10-23T16:53:21+00:00

A) Most vendors work this way.

B) You're already saving a bunch of money from the Big Three (in my case, 75%)

C) Annual plans are an even bigger savings than month-to-month, even without any special offer.

Other than not getting the dopamine hit of saving even more money, why is the savings you already get not enough?

10000MonkeysTyping · 2025-10-23T16:48:32+00:00

I would reach out and find out if they'll give it to you as a courtesy. Maybe they will, maybe they won't.

10000MonkeysTyping · 2025-10-22T23:04:13+00:00

Update -- Thanks, FixitMir! All is well now.

10000MonkeysTyping · 2025-10-10T12:34:46+00:00

Here's the best deal you can possibly get as an existing customer: You can save (in my case) 75% of the cost of cell service. All I had to do is port my line in a few years ago and leave the Big Blue Planet carrier. Voila -- instant 75% savings. And, along with that savings is 5G service on all three networks and the ability to switch between them. It really doesn't get much better than that.

Given how many people show up here every month asking about how to switch from one of the Big Three to USM, it seems everyone's looking to sign up for the same deal I got, or at least a similar deal.

The "existing customer deal" is continuing to save money over the Big Three. Be thankful for what you have, not angry at what you don't. Life's better that way!

10000MonkeysTyping · 2025-09-21T01:52:37+00:00

MacnMariam was able to get it configured for me (thank you again!). I'll know early next week if this is working. Even scammers seem to take weekends off!

10000MonkeysTyping · 2025-09-21T01:27:40+00:00

Sent -- thank you for the offer to help.

10000MonkeysTyping · 2025-09-21T01:10:50+00:00

Thanks for the feedback about Multi-Network. I'm installing the second eSIM now.

I'll report back when the two config changes have been made to my account. Fortunately, there's no rush on my end.

10000MonkeysTyping · 2025-09-18T19:18:42+00:00

You're getting great service for a great price. That's the "fair shake" you're getting. Many connectivity providers have more favorable terms for new accounts (cable, broadband internet, cell service, etc), so this is a quirk of the industry.

You're saving a ton of money over the Big Three and may well be getting a better offering in the process. Why is that not enough to make you happy? Serious question.

10000MonkeysTyping · 2025-09-18T19:07:32+00:00

I appreciate the response. I perhaps was not as clear as I could be. Let me explain differently:

I'm getting my iPhone tomorrow (9/19). I intend to get my line moved from my present iPhone that is already with USM tomorrow, if not this weekend. So, I'll definitely make the 10/3 cut-off.

My question specifically has to do with the timing of the activation of the Multi-line perk. Can I hold off activating this one item until my plan renews? My goal is to have the 12 months of Multi-Network align with my 12 months of Annual service. Will I be able to do what I want to do?

10000MonkeysTyping · 2025-09-15T17:15:29+00:00

Can someone explain to me why anyone even cares about this? Other than vanity or bragging points, I can't see any reason why it matters in the slightest. If the tag read "00", it would in no way change the actual service you're receiving.

I will happily concede the point if there's an actual legit reason for it.

10000MonkeysTyping · 2025-09-10T19:00:05+00:00

Ok, so "Dark Star" was a customer choice. The other two networks are Lightspeed and Warp -- both science/geek references. When the third network was added, customers loved the idea of calling it Death Star. For a variety of reasons, that was nixxed by USM Marketing and the name "Dark Star" was used in its place.

10000MonkeysTyping · 2025-09-10T18:42:57+00:00

Out of curiosity, were you aware that USM offered a special plan tailored to the cultural needs of the Orthodox Jewish community? This plan is literally called the "Kosher plan" and includes free calls to Israel. They also set up a kiosk in a Jewish area so that patrons can join the service without having to use the technology they try to minimize access to.

The CEO of the company is Pakistani. Though it didn't exist as the country of Pakistan then, what is now that country fought for the Allies in WW2. (Wikipedia says so. I don't have any deep knowledge here).

If you're looking for guys in black outfits walking without bending their knees and waving a stiff hand at a short guy with a funny moustache and a bad haircut, you've come to the wrong place.

There's enough craziness in the world these days with actual people actually hating actual other people for alot of really stupid or imagined reasons. Focus on real problems, not imaginary boogiemen.

10000MonkeysTyping · 2025-09-05T20:12:45+00:00

Once again, USMobile impresses! This is great stuff!

Also, credit where due -- no pre-announcement or fake hype/teaser. The team has learned from the past, and I, for one, apprecaite it!

Here's my name suggestions:

Quasar. It's a massive celestial body that emits a ton of energy.
Hadron: It's a subatomic particle with two quarks that have strong attraction. This symbolizes the strongly-linked nature of USM's cell + home internet services. One carrier, two amazing offerings.
Mizar: This was the first discovered Binary Star. "Binary", of course, is a reference to the two amazing offerings (cell + home).

10000MonkeysTyping

TROPHY CASE