DaleB
Final Approach
It wasn't for lack of trying, that's for sure.
We're with Carrier "T" right now. We like them, a lot, but there is essentially zero coverage at home. One bar, in a limited area of the house; the rest of the house is a dead zone. That's all well and good, as long as our Internet is up and we've got wifi for calling. So when the fiber goes dark and I have to call the cable company... well, you can see the problem.
So I decide, hey, we'll switch to carrier "V" and trade in the phones for a pair of nice shiny new ones. There's a killer deal on them right now, essentially knocking a grand per phone off the price if you switch to them and trade in your old phone. Sweet. Off to Carrier V's web site. There's one catch: I want to pick these up before we leave on vacation. OK, web site says I can place the order there and pick them up at the local store. Two hours later I abandon my attempts to get the web site to actually complete what should be a fairly simple order. I can now recite both our phones' IMEI from memory, I've typed them so many times. I salute the team that was able to make a retail web site function that poorly; it must have taken a huge amount of effort.
Off to our local Best Buy. We walk in and there are FOUR sales droids lounging at the cell phone sales counter. Four of them. Combined IQ is, apparently, about that of a grape. We're ignored completely, even after I ask one of them a question. I finally manage to get one to disengage from their riveting discussion of some video game or other and tell him precisely what we want. He wants to start by switching our service over. Uh, no; let's start by figuring out if you actually have the devices we want. Several minutes of watching the top of his head as he plays with his phone (ignoring the store's computer not 12 inches from his face)... Nope. They don't. Odd; their web site told me not an hour before that the phones were in stock for pickup today. We need a washer and dryer for a rental house; after ten minutes or so of looking at their selection we never could find a sales droid -- apparently they were all at the cell phone desk. We left.
Off to large appliance and electronics retailer #2, since we still need to buy appliances anyway. They have the phones in stock! Great! And you're aware of the trade-in deal the carrier is offering, right? Blank stare. Uh, no, we don't take trade-ins. Sigh.
Off to Carrier V's own retail store. I had resisted this approach due to my past experiences with them. We walk in, the place is very quiet; two customers sitting at two desks with two sales droids, one droid at the door, one more wandering aimlessly in plain sight. I tell the door droid why we're there. He tells us -- I swear I'm not making this up -- that there will be an hour and a half wait time to see a sales person.
Screw it. I give up. I think Carrier V is a sucky solution anyway. I'm thinking I'll pick up a $25 a month Visible SIM card and pop it into a cheap mobile hotspot; the extra monthly expense will still be cheaper than switching to Carrier V, since Carrier T is giving us a killer deal since we're over 55. All I need is SOMETHING on another cell network once or twice a year.
OK, end of rant. In the morning we leave for a week of fishing, which I normally don't do but it beats hell out of working, even if it is with my wife's family.
We're with Carrier "T" right now. We like them, a lot, but there is essentially zero coverage at home. One bar, in a limited area of the house; the rest of the house is a dead zone. That's all well and good, as long as our Internet is up and we've got wifi for calling. So when the fiber goes dark and I have to call the cable company... well, you can see the problem.
So I decide, hey, we'll switch to carrier "V" and trade in the phones for a pair of nice shiny new ones. There's a killer deal on them right now, essentially knocking a grand per phone off the price if you switch to them and trade in your old phone. Sweet. Off to Carrier V's web site. There's one catch: I want to pick these up before we leave on vacation. OK, web site says I can place the order there and pick them up at the local store. Two hours later I abandon my attempts to get the web site to actually complete what should be a fairly simple order. I can now recite both our phones' IMEI from memory, I've typed them so many times. I salute the team that was able to make a retail web site function that poorly; it must have taken a huge amount of effort.
Off to our local Best Buy. We walk in and there are FOUR sales droids lounging at the cell phone sales counter. Four of them. Combined IQ is, apparently, about that of a grape. We're ignored completely, even after I ask one of them a question. I finally manage to get one to disengage from their riveting discussion of some video game or other and tell him precisely what we want. He wants to start by switching our service over. Uh, no; let's start by figuring out if you actually have the devices we want. Several minutes of watching the top of his head as he plays with his phone (ignoring the store's computer not 12 inches from his face)... Nope. They don't. Odd; their web site told me not an hour before that the phones were in stock for pickup today. We need a washer and dryer for a rental house; after ten minutes or so of looking at their selection we never could find a sales droid -- apparently they were all at the cell phone desk. We left.
Off to large appliance and electronics retailer #2, since we still need to buy appliances anyway. They have the phones in stock! Great! And you're aware of the trade-in deal the carrier is offering, right? Blank stare. Uh, no, we don't take trade-ins. Sigh.
Off to Carrier V's own retail store. I had resisted this approach due to my past experiences with them. We walk in, the place is very quiet; two customers sitting at two desks with two sales droids, one droid at the door, one more wandering aimlessly in plain sight. I tell the door droid why we're there. He tells us -- I swear I'm not making this up -- that there will be an hour and a half wait time to see a sales person.
Screw it. I give up. I think Carrier V is a sucky solution anyway. I'm thinking I'll pick up a $25 a month Visible SIM card and pop it into a cheap mobile hotspot; the extra monthly expense will still be cheaper than switching to Carrier V, since Carrier T is giving us a killer deal since we're over 55. All I need is SOMETHING on another cell network once or twice a year.
OK, end of rant. In the morning we leave for a week of fishing, which I normally don't do but it beats hell out of working, even if it is with my wife's family.
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