My New Multi-Purpose Phone Based Communication Device
So, I like gadgets. The thing about gadgets are that they are only cool if you can show them to other people, right? Well, I don't think that enough people have had the opportunity to see my new phone, so I want to show it to you. Then I want to take a few moments to share my experience with the genius's at the Verizon store.
Yep, it does it all. Takes high res pictures, movies (even a light source for low light imaging), internet, scheduling, messaging, voice dialing and plays mp3s and videos. To top all that off, you can even make and receive phone calls on it. Cool huh? I wasn't planning on buying it, but it is an interesting story how it came about.
So two years had passed and it was time for free upgrade credits. I was waiting to get my hair cut, so I thought I'ld drop in on the Verizon store next door and get that taken care of. The helpful guy behind the counter informed me that we were getting the big upgrade credit ($100) for being loyal customers. I think that this is a really good policy. Too often companies are too focused on getting new customers that they forget to offer incentives to keep customers. Too often you have to switch services to get the good deals because they are only offered to new customers.
So, I was think that this was a really good deal. I would get a $100 phone and not have to pay for it. The nice sales guy kept saying something, but I wasn't paying attention to him because I was noticing that the $100 phones all came with $50 manufacturing rebates. What a deal! I was going to make $50 and get a free phone. Slowly it began to sink into my head that the salesman was saying that I could not use the credits towards rebated money.
"But, it is a manufaturers rebate, right?" I asked.
"Yes, it is."
"So, it has nothing to do with Verizon, right?"
"Nope."
"So, if a phone cost $100 and there is a $50 rebate, then you will only give me $50 credit for it?"
"Yes."
"So, it is not really a $100 credit then, is it?"
"Yes, it is an up to $100 credit".
"But, I notice that ALL the phones have a $50 rebate, so there is no way I am leaving here without giving you $50?"
"Well, you can choose one of those phones over there" he pointed to a dusty corner of the store. It had cobwebs, murky creatures and phones the size of a compact car".
"So, if I buy this $60 phone then you credit me $10 and I pay $50 and have to send the rest in for a rebate?"
"Yes."
And if I buy this $150 phone over there then you pay $100 and I pay $50 and have to send the rest in for a rebate?"
"Yes."
Hmmm, I thought, costing Verizon $10 or $100 costs me the same. Well, I decided to stick it to the man and get the $150 phone AND stick it to the man. How can you go wrong like that?
[Side note. I do not consider rebates as price reduction as I have never remembered to mail one in my whole life.]
5 comments:
I'm a fellow gadgeteer, and I applaud your most excellent purchase. As you may know I recently did a little upgrading myself. I share your frustration with the knuckleheads at the cellphone store. The only thing that is worse for me is trying to call customer service. I went three falls out of four with a cell company to resolve a billing dispute, needless to say I'm not with them anymore.
So did you sign up for the data service? I bought a razr and it has that capability as well, but I figured me trying to type an email on a phone keypad would take longer than sending a letter with a stamp, so I didn't spring for it.
I really wanted an excuse to get one of those phones with the qwerty keyboard, but I couldn't come up with a good enough reason to pony up for it. That and I really like the flip phone, as I have a penchant for bumping into things. Anyway, have fun with your new toy, I'm still trying to work my way through mine. Maybe by the time I have it figured out It'll be time to upgrade again.
I got the $5 per mont internet. It is pretty clunky, but hey. I use it to heck weather and read email. No sending, like you said, I think that a carrier pigeon would work better than me trying to keypad an email.
In all fairness, their call in tech support was awesome. Since I wanted to switch numbers between mine and my wifes phone (she got my old one and I got the cool one) and I don't have a land line, we had to get sneaky. First he activated her old phone with my number, assigned he number to my old phone and then assigned my number to the new phone. It was funny though because once we would switch numbers on a phone, he would call me on it so I could hang up the other and disconnect it to change the number. Took us an hour or so.
Yeah, I like this phone. The only thing is that I don't have a micro sd card to play music yet. Or a head set. After I had to pay the $50, there was no way I was getting the accessory pack from them.
I'm with Chinook now and couldn't be more happy with the customer care. I'm glad to hear a national company actually has good customer service. I seriously considered moving over to Verizon, but some of the places we go here in N.C. MT just don't have coverage unless your with Chinook, plus they partnered up with Cingular now so I shouldn't get bent over should I be roaming.
I may need to check into that internet deal, sounds pretty cheep! Is it slower than dialup? I did spring for the bluetooth earpiece, and I love it. I had been using the wired version but I don't think my in car safety was improved, as the wire kept getting spun into a Gordian Knot.
As for the mp3 function, my phone has a limit of 50 songs no matter how big a card you get, which I was not all that excited about, but I suppose three hours or so of music really should be good enough.
Anyway, good to see you back up over here, I can't imagine keeping track of posts at three sites! I have a hard enough time remembering where I've commented! Have a good weekend.
I'm obsessed with gadgets too. And I always forget to send in rebates.
Leesa,
I put the rebate paperwork in my jacket pocket so that I would not forget to send it. As determined as I am, it nis still in my jacket pocket ;) What a hassle, the mail slot is like 5 feet from my desk... Too much work.. makes me tired to think about it. I think I'll nap instead.
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