sarahmichelef (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
sarahmichelef) wrote2005-11-04 03:38 pm
sarahmichelef) wrote2005-11-04 03:38 pm
Entry tags:
My adventure for the day...
2 new cellphones: -$0.02 (yes, negative two cents)
2 car chargers, 2 cases, 2 headsets: $20
An hour and a half at Radio Shack trying to set up new cell service: Priceless
Yesterday our cell phone bit the dust. We were 2 weeks shy of our contract being up and the plan was to upgrade to a FamilyShare plan so we could each have our own phone (which will come in handy when M misses the bus or something). So this morning I armed myself with our most recent bill, a copy of our original contract (because due to Verizon's messup, the contract that originally started in June ended in late-November), and I was prepared to argue that we should get two cheap/free phones.
So I waltzed into RadioShack ready to argue. Approached the first guy I saw (whose name I later learned is Allan) and said "I have an entertaining situation. My cell contract is up in 2 weeks, but our phone died yesterday, and we want to upgrade to a 2-line plan anyway."
Allan said, "No problem. You get a free upgrade during the last two months of your contract."
Me: "Even when we only had a 1-year contract?"
A: "Then it's in the last month of the contract."
Me: "Score."
We look at phones. I choose two Motorola V120s (I think it's the V120... el cheapo flip phone with eternal caller id and speakerphone, but nothing else), which came with a $40 gift certificate for accessories. My new friend Allan gets out two of them, takes our old contract from me to get all the pertinent information off of it, and starts to set up our new contract.
Attempt Number One: The system gets confused because he's trying to upgrade the hardware AND change the contract all at once. Allan calls Verizon for the first time, to figure out what's going on.
Attempt Number Two: The system gets mad because he's trying to have a family share plan with phone numbers in two different area codes. Allan calls Verizon for a second time - I don't remember why.
Attempt Number Three: Ultimately successful. He calls Verizon to convince them to change M's cell phone number to a Buffalo number so that he can do the hardware upgrade / add a line. They insist on talking to M directly. This is a problem since I'm the one at Radio Shack. What's more, M is at a conference and un-reachable. So Allan does the logical thing: gets my permission to impersonate my husband. (M will be so amused to learn that he is now about 5'6", Black, and the manager of Radio Shack.) Verizon cancels our old cell contract and gives us a new one. They give us two new phone numbers.
Allan then has to call Verizon to cancel approved contracts from Attempts One and Two.
Then we have to choose accessories... they had a package they were offering for a case, a hands-free set, and a phone charger for $50. Remember that we had $40 off on accessories per phone, so really we got all this stuff for twenty bucks.
And now for the kicker: For whatever reason, the cash register decided to charge me negative sales tax on the money I did have to pay.
In the end, this whole process took approximately an hour and a half. I saw a very entertaining parade of people over the age of 60 come through Radio Shack, including the crusty old German lady who told me that cell phones would give me brain cancer and couldn't believe that a 9V battery cost three bucks and the 80-year-old grandma who wanted to get rid of her landline and get a cell phone but really had NO IDEA what this whole cell phone thing was about - she just knew that she hated having to pay 50 cents to call a family member to come get her from the mall.
And we just have to call Verizon to get the cell service re-bundled with our landline and dsl. I'm making M do that because they'll for sure insist on talking to him again.
So after all of that, we have new phones, I didn't even have to pitch a fit to get them, and I've met a new candidate for sainthood: Allan, the manager of Radio Shack.
2 car chargers, 2 cases, 2 headsets: $20
An hour and a half at Radio Shack trying to set up new cell service: Priceless
Yesterday our cell phone bit the dust. We were 2 weeks shy of our contract being up and the plan was to upgrade to a FamilyShare plan so we could each have our own phone (which will come in handy when M misses the bus or something). So this morning I armed myself with our most recent bill, a copy of our original contract (because due to Verizon's messup, the contract that originally started in June ended in late-November), and I was prepared to argue that we should get two cheap/free phones.
So I waltzed into RadioShack ready to argue. Approached the first guy I saw (whose name I later learned is Allan) and said "I have an entertaining situation. My cell contract is up in 2 weeks, but our phone died yesterday, and we want to upgrade to a 2-line plan anyway."
Allan said, "No problem. You get a free upgrade during the last two months of your contract."
Me: "Even when we only had a 1-year contract?"
A: "Then it's in the last month of the contract."
Me: "Score."
We look at phones. I choose two Motorola V120s (I think it's the V120... el cheapo flip phone with eternal caller id and speakerphone, but nothing else), which came with a $40 gift certificate for accessories. My new friend Allan gets out two of them, takes our old contract from me to get all the pertinent information off of it, and starts to set up our new contract.
Attempt Number One: The system gets confused because he's trying to upgrade the hardware AND change the contract all at once. Allan calls Verizon for the first time, to figure out what's going on.
Attempt Number Two: The system gets mad because he's trying to have a family share plan with phone numbers in two different area codes. Allan calls Verizon for a second time - I don't remember why.
Attempt Number Three: Ultimately successful. He calls Verizon to convince them to change M's cell phone number to a Buffalo number so that he can do the hardware upgrade / add a line. They insist on talking to M directly. This is a problem since I'm the one at Radio Shack. What's more, M is at a conference and un-reachable. So Allan does the logical thing: gets my permission to impersonate my husband. (M will be so amused to learn that he is now about 5'6", Black, and the manager of Radio Shack.) Verizon cancels our old cell contract and gives us a new one. They give us two new phone numbers.
Allan then has to call Verizon to cancel approved contracts from Attempts One and Two.
Then we have to choose accessories... they had a package they were offering for a case, a hands-free set, and a phone charger for $50. Remember that we had $40 off on accessories per phone, so really we got all this stuff for twenty bucks.
And now for the kicker: For whatever reason, the cash register decided to charge me negative sales tax on the money I did have to pay.
In the end, this whole process took approximately an hour and a half. I saw a very entertaining parade of people over the age of 60 come through Radio Shack, including the crusty old German lady who told me that cell phones would give me brain cancer and couldn't believe that a 9V battery cost three bucks and the 80-year-old grandma who wanted to get rid of her landline and get a cell phone but really had NO IDEA what this whole cell phone thing was about - she just knew that she hated having to pay 50 cents to call a family member to come get her from the mall.
And we just have to call Verizon to get the cell service re-bundled with our landline and dsl. I'm making M do that because they'll for sure insist on talking to him again.
So after all of that, we have new phones, I didn't even have to pitch a fit to get them, and I've met a new candidate for sainthood: Allan, the manager of Radio Shack.
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