I gave in and got a new phone today. It didn’t make sense to keep paying for a phone that didn’t work. Even when I wanted it to, which was rarely.
I decided that all I really wanted in a phone was that it had the ability to assign different ringtones to different people on my “contacts” list. That way, I would know who was calling (and whether I wanted to pick up) without digging out the phone and checking the caller ID.
The first place we stopped was the Verizon store at the one of the biggest shopping malls in the city. Oh my god, what a zoo! It took fifteen minutes for someone to get around to acknowledging us and “putting us in the queue.” Which meant that we were now officially in line and would be waited on approximately when hell froze over. We spent about fifteen more minutes looking at the available options and being bombarded with the loud alternative music they felt set the proper mood to drop a whole lot of cash on useless technology. And then I leaned into the husband’s ear and hollered that we could probably make it to Costco before they closed.
Hands over our ears, we fled out to our car and down the freeway to Costco--a less 21st century in- your-face venue for purchasing technology, certain that it we could get what we needed in spite of the lack of atmosphere. Sans the music and the crowds, we were able to settle in and sign our lives away for another two years of essential cell phone service.
So now I have a new phone, complete with a camera, games, and an MP3 player I had absolutely no interest in owning. For the low, low price of $120, even though I've been a Verizon customer for almost a decade. Oh, and if I should remember to follow up on the impossible paperwork trail, I'll be getting a whopping $40 rebate in the mail in about a year.
Bleah! There’s nothing like purchasing your own little bit of 21st century technology for making you feel that you have been screwed without even a peck on the cheek.
It is surprising how unsettling purchasing a new phone can be. Especially trying to figure out how to operate it! I got home with mine a year ago and tried for what seemed like forever to get the ring tone "Hello Moto" to come up on a Motorola phone. Finally I broke down and called and was told that model does not make that sound. I never would have bought the phone if I had known that! Damn, the things you don't know to ask. Joe had to get a new one and could not retrieve his voice mail. He had to wait (because he would never call nor go back in) for me to come to Memphis and figure it out for him. You had to call your number to get them!!! $200 bucks for a phone and you cannot access voice mail with out a song and dance! BTW, we got his rebate pretty fast! Surprising!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the heads up. I'm getting my first cell phone ever tomorrow. However I'm not necessarily interested in anything other than an easy typing venue for texting. It's the only use a phone would have for me with my deafness. Yet it gives me more privacy texting a conversation than having a relay operator play third wheel to a private phone call. At the very least I won't hear the loud techno music...(winks)..(Hugs)Indigo
ReplyDeleteYour last line says it all...
ReplyDeleteGreat post.
Judi
I so totally agree. I have a discman for music and a tv for movies. I don't need a phone that does that. Some form of GPS would be nice. But, I'll settle for a phone that sounds half as good as the fixed phone at home.
ReplyDeleteJackie