I just set an email (below) to T-Mo using their Customer Service site, on
their secure page as a customer:
The area in question is around Pymatuning Lake which is on the border of
Northeast Ohio and Northwest Pennsylvania. From Cleveland, where I live, the
best way to get there is to take I-90 East, which is fine until you get
further out into Ashtabula County, a few small dead spots. We then take
State Rt. 7 South, off of I-90, and after about a half mile, there is no
service - period. It's about a 30 mile drive going South, and, nothing as
far as service. The closest town to the resort is Andover, Ohio, where we
and many others in the area do our shopping, restaurants, etc., and again,
"no service".
The resort we go to is called Pymatuning Valley Resort (part of the big
Coast Resorts chain), and "no service". There is also a state park located
next to the resort. There are other resorts and state parks in the area in
both OH and PA, as the area is a "hot spot" for residents of both states. I
didn't go to the PA side, so I don't know about coverage there, but would
guess there is none. Also, a major highway, Route 322 goes by in this area
with no coverage.
My brother and his wife both used to have T-Mobile, but had to switch to
Verizon to get service in the Pymatuning Lake area. I talked to a couple
others at the resort who also switched from T-Mobile due to lack of
coverage. There were plenty of people out there who's cell phones seemed to
work OK, none were T-Mobile. A couple people told me they were told T-Mobile
plans on covering the area, but this was some times ago and hasn't yet
happened.
As I stated, I will be visiting the resort there much more next year and
don't want to switch (under contract thru 10/05), as otherwise T-Mobile
seems to give the "most bang for the buck". Please look into this, or else I
will be forced to buy a second line of service from Verizon, maybe "pay as
you go" to fill in the gap, but may not be a happy camper when asked to
renew T-Mobile next November. Thank you.
--
John Klug - 26 Nov 2004 01:26 GMT
> As I stated, I will be visiting the resort there much more next year and
> don't want to switch (under contract thru 10/05), as otherwise T-Mobile
> seems to give the "most bang for the buck". Please look into this, or else I
> will be forced to buy a second line of service from Verizon, maybe "pay as
> you go" to fill in the gap, but may not be a happy camper when asked to
> renew T-Mobile next November. Thank you.
Ever since it was Aerial, I have always had to have a second phone,
but it is getting better. Look at northwest Ohio. Since cellular A
is Verizon, and B is Alltel, there is no rural GSM coverage at all.
Have you tried a phone with GSM 850, by the way? Maybe Cingular has
coverage there? The Cingular nation maps show coverage around the
Ohio/PA border (but that is no guarantee). Nor is there any guarantee
that T-Mobile will let you use the other carrier's signal.