Survey reveals more of you need to shop around for carriers, you’re missing out

We were curious to find out the last time our readers switched carriers, so we posted a poll. Almost 6,000 votes have been tallied, and here’s what you told us!

When was the last time you changed cell phone carriers?

A massive ~42.6% of respondents said they last switched carriers 10+ years ago. This was by far the most popular pick out of all poll options.

Reader tracy.d.reynolds outlined their reasons for sticking with T-Mobile since the 1990s:

I have been a T-Mobile customer since 1997 back when they started out as Powertel and it would take a lot to get me to move. I’m under a very old government plan that I don’t believe can be beat. I have 5 phones, one watch, 5G gateway for Internet and all the freebies T-Mobile gives away as Netflix, Apple TV and others from time to time and pay less than $200 per month with the go5G plus plan. I have never had an issue with T-Mobile customer service. They have always been there and fixed any issues I’ve encountered which have been very few over the past 25+ years. The reception may not be the best across the country, but it’s always been great wherever I am and wonderful when I travel abroad to Europe. I’ll be hanging on with T-Mobile a while longer!

Meanwhile, user jjbudzinski didn’t reveal if or when they switched carriers, but explained why they’ve stayed:

We’ve stuck with T-Mobile becuase they have free international data & texting around the world and my wife gets unlimited international calling for $15/month. This allows her to call family and friends, at $3/minute for most countries she needs to speak for just 5 minutes per month to pay for itself. She often talks for over an hour per month on a regular phone call – no data usage needed.

Almost 18% of respondents said they last switched carriers five or more years ago, while 17.2% said they switched networks one to three years ago. Even if you combine these two figures, it’s still clear that more surveyed readers last switched carriers 10+ years ago.

User anthonysr44 said he switched to Google Fi in the last few years:

I had switched from T mobile to Google Fi a few years ago and I’m glad I did. There was no change in my service whatsoever and everything was much cheaper.

Meanwhile, reader alyson003 was a former Sprint subscriber who made a switch last year:

I was a Sprint customer for 20 years, then the t-mobile merger happened. Nothing but a nightmare for 2 years dealing with them and trying to get my billing straight. My coverage was also terrible. Switched to Visible last year, saved $100 a month and have not missed that crummy company one bit.

Otherwise, 12.2% of polled readers said they “recently” switched, while 7.94% said they switched in the last few months. Finally, ~2% chose the “other” option. I’m guessing some of the people who chose this option haven’t switched at all.

Nevertheless, it’s clear that six out of 10 respondents haven’t switched carriers in the last five years or more. I’m guessing most of you who voted this way are happy with the service, or aren’t so unhappy that they want to leave. However, I’d still suggest that you look at other carriers to make sure you aren’t missing out on a great deal. Then again, colleague Andrew Grush has a list of carriers he doesn’t recommend. Me? I haven’t switched carriers in just over a decade, but that’s mainly because I’m too lazy to do so.