Cell Phone Issues....

Alright, so it's bad enough that my cell phone decided to freeze up last night. It's bad because we don't have a "home" phone right now and our cell phones are our communication and connection to friends, family, and business.


So,this morning, I decided to load Kory up and take him with me on one of our "Special Dates". Time where he and I can do something fun together with out distraction. I love, love, love these moments (though I should do a better job with the quantity of them..but for now, the quality of time we spend together is great). He starts "school" tomorrow, so we were going to head off to look for a backpack, lunch box, etc. We started at Target and everything went well. He didn't want a backpack, he said that his "Car's" backpack that Nana Joyce had given him was the ONE he wanted to use. So, I decided to let him pick something else out in it's place. Now, this is a shocker....he wanted a car!!!! (gasp!!) So, as we headed down the car isle, he honed in on one 3/4 down. It was an orange Ferrari!! That was "The one". Boy, he was one happy kid!!!


Next, we headed to the lunch box area of the store and he held out his little hand and said "No mommy, I don't want a new lunch box, I want to use my McQueen lunch box at home. (Again, one that Nana Joyce had previously given him) I thought wow, this is going to be easy. Then he clicked his little tongue, winks his eye at me, and said "Mommy, I think I should get another car". Yeah, I was on to him. After deep negotiations were accomplished we agreed on getting something under $10 that he and sisters could play with together. He came up with the idea of this wacky sprinkler that sprays water in a million directions (Bonus: On Sale $7.99). Picked up a few other things that were on our list and we were out of there (after a stop, of course, for popcorn and an icee.... he's a pretty cheap date so far....)


The AT&T store was just down the shopping center so, we headed that way. After 45 minutes in the store with them trying to fix my phone in every way that they knew how, it was determined that I would need to get it replaced. I was given two options: #1 Go to the "authorized" warranty replacement store up on North May and Memorial (about 45 minutes from here) or #2 Call the 1-800 number and have a new phone in two days. I decided choice #2 would be the most convenient.


We got home after a few more stops. The twins and Kory both went right down for naps (What a blessing!!) I got on the phone, expecting the call to be quick without any complications. First mistake~expecting a quick call. 40 minutes later, and four transfers later, I arrived at the destination where I had started. Go figure. So, blah, blah, blah....I explained the story for the 4th time to this tiny voice on the other end of the line. She said okay, I need to transfer you to our "High End" warranty department. "Wooo Woo Wooo, don't transfer me, I've been there twice and I've been sent to you to fix the problem and I would be so appreciative if you could just take care of this for me." She asks me to hold for "10 seconds", which turned out to be 3 minutes. Another new "customer service specialist" answered with their normal "greeting". My reply, "Are you serious? I have to tell this story all over again for the 5th time????" The guy replies, "Yeah" as if I am doing HIM a favor. I explained my deepest frustrations over this and proceeded to start my story. Half way through, he interrupts me and says "So you want your phone replaced?" Now, I'm trying to keep my cool and not say something completely rude...so gritting my teeth, I said "Yes, please". He began to ramble again about the terms of conditions on a replacement phone and then told me that a refurbished phone would be sent to me within the next two days. I said "I don't want a broken phone that has been fixed. I bought this phone in January, it's still under the one year warranty and I also have insurance on it. If I bought a new phone and it's broken because of some sort of technical issue and NOT the fact that I dropped it in the toilet or threw it at Daren from across the room, I wanted a new phone. I bought a new phone and you are going to replace it with a new phone." His reply..."No I'm not" ~ I asked for a supervisor and he kept saying she's gonna tell you the same thing, we don't have new phones here at the warranty call center, just "refurbished" phones. I proceeded to use one of my great analogies to explain to him how idiotic that thinking was. He said, again "So, do you want a phone or not?" So...out of complete frustration and diminishing available time to be on such a pointless phone call, I agreed. I told him though, "If I get this fixed phone and it breaks, you are going to have to figure a way out to get me a new phone." His end of the line was silent. Long story...(I know, again) short...I have a Palm Centro phone, they are going to "express mail" me a new one (for a fee of $12.95 that will show up on my next bill) and I will send my broken phone in.


Now, my beef with this entire issue, is that it just doesn't seem right to me. Here, you buy something, get a warranty on it as well as insurance to cover your rear, then if something happens to it, you have to jump through 10 hoops to get a response, but you don't get a new replacement, we'll send you one that has been broken that we have fixed. Along with that, you get no customer service, and you still have to pay extra to get it shipped to you, when I would think that the insurance and warranty payment you make every month would cover that. (Shipping is free but they can only say it will be here within the next 10 to 14 business days... no can do)

Now, since I've vented my frustration to the world, realizing that there may not be a single person who reads this, I feel somewhat better. My jaw has began to relax and the throbbing in my head, due to my blood pressure increasing, has subsided. Why did I let myself get so worked up? I have no idea, but I did. Did they find delight in my agreement to their terms and the fact that I lost this battle with them? Probably. So, that's it...that is what this is all about. And now, I am going to go, shut my brain down (as Melissa tells me frequently to do), and have a Dr. Pepper....who knows, I might even close my eyes, but I dare not take both feet off the floor, someone would surely wake up.....