Is Walmart FamilyMobile the Best Wireless Plan for Mom?

With wind chills in the 30s, the last thing I wanted to do was shop. However, when I received an opportunity to purchase and review the Walmart FamilyMobile Samsung Galaxy Exhibit 4G smartphone for #cbias, I couldn’t pass it up. It also lowest price rate plan I could find.

I told my hubby this would have to be a solo mission because there was no way I’d subject our kids to these bone chilling conditions, not to mention I wanted to be in and out of the store. Having kids in tow would mean triple the amount of time spent.

The plan was to cop the phone for my mom, along with the start up kit for Christmas. Most people would be over the moon to receive a gift like this. But, I’m not too sure about my mom. Don’t get me wrong; she would appreciate any gift I give her. But, the question is would she actually use it? You see, Mummy has been stuck living in the 1900s. She still uses the same complimentary cell phone she received in the early 2000 from the phone company. I’ve tried to convince her to upgrade to a smart phone before, but she wasn’t having it. “I only use it in case of an emergency,” she said.

After some research, I found out that she’s been paying 44 bucks a month for 400 minutes free during the week with nights and weekends free. With the #FamilyMobileSaves, she’d only pay 40 dollars a month for unlimited talk, text, and web. This is the best wireless plan for her because she wouldn’t be stuck in a contract, and she’d be saving a few bucks a month. Texting and surfing the web on the phone would take getting used to, after a few lessons.

What I thought would be a quick run to the store turned out to be a hassle. This phone must be a hot commodity because the Walmart sales associate said they were sold out of Samsung Galaxy Exhibit Smartphones. So, I had to head back out into the freezing cold and drive to another location where they only had two left. The phone and starter kit cost me 135 dollars and change, which is a lot cheaper than my smartphone. If she wanted to add another line to the plan, there would be a five-dollar discount for the monthly service on that second phone.

The only confusing part to this purchase was that when it came to buying the first three months of service, no one seemed to know where to direct me. I was ultimately told by the customer service rep to contact the online account management and information.

I just hope that it’ll be an easy transition when it’s time for my mom to take over the monthly payments. She’s ol’ school when it comes to that too. I’ll be sure to post a follow up complete reaction photos after she opens up her Christmas present.

Do you know anyone who is reluctant to upgrade to a smartphone? If so, Why?