![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
cell phone shopping
Sep. 22nd, 2004 11:39 pmIt's about time I get a new cell phone. The old one has a somewhat broken battery that keeps falling out. I can't replace the battery because the model of phone is so old, they don't make the batteries for it any more.
Time for a new cell phone plan, too. At any moment, my ex-husband could notice that he's still paying for my cell phone plan and yank that.
My office-mate says that Verizon has really good coverage. Coverage and price are the two things I care about. There are cheaper plans than Verizon (such as with T-Mobile) but with really sucky minutes. She also said that combining cell phone and land line onto one bill gets a $5 a month discount. If this is true, then Verizon is pretty competitive on price for me.
So I almost bought a phone today. But I didn't, because the sales staff at the Verizon store sucked. I went to the store in hopes that an actual human being would answer my questions more quickly than I could answer them myself by studying the website. Hah. Here's how that went:
Me: What's the difference between the America Choice plan and the Local Direct plan?
Them: The America Choice plan is great. It's perfect for everyone. We don't offer those other plans any more because they're lame compared to the America Choice plan.
(How could one plan be right for everyone? And if the America Choice plan is better than the Local Direct plan, why are they listed as the same price on the website?)
Me: Does this plan include the NA/BT feature?
Them: (blankly) What's that?
Me: (explains how the NA/BT feature works)
Them: Oh, yeah, call forwarding. This plan has call forwarding.
(Um, no, NA/BT is distinct from call forwarding. It's similar, but it's a different feature.)
Me: My coworker says that I can get a $5 per month discount if I combine Verizon cell phone and home phone billing-- is this true?
Them: I can't tell you about that. That's through Verizon, this is Verizon Wireless. It might be a $5 discount or a $10 discount or a 5% discount, I don't know. You'll have to ask Verizon.
Sheesh. I might have bought a phone and a plan if the salesguy had been able to answer my questions. But why have salesguys actually know anything, when those customers who actually care about anything can do their own research on the web?
Time for a new cell phone plan, too. At any moment, my ex-husband could notice that he's still paying for my cell phone plan and yank that.
My office-mate says that Verizon has really good coverage. Coverage and price are the two things I care about. There are cheaper plans than Verizon (such as with T-Mobile) but with really sucky minutes. She also said that combining cell phone and land line onto one bill gets a $5 a month discount. If this is true, then Verizon is pretty competitive on price for me.
So I almost bought a phone today. But I didn't, because the sales staff at the Verizon store sucked. I went to the store in hopes that an actual human being would answer my questions more quickly than I could answer them myself by studying the website. Hah. Here's how that went:
Me: What's the difference between the America Choice plan and the Local Direct plan?
Them: The America Choice plan is great. It's perfect for everyone. We don't offer those other plans any more because they're lame compared to the America Choice plan.
(How could one plan be right for everyone? And if the America Choice plan is better than the Local Direct plan, why are they listed as the same price on the website?)
Me: Does this plan include the NA/BT feature?
Them: (blankly) What's that?
Me: (explains how the NA/BT feature works)
Them: Oh, yeah, call forwarding. This plan has call forwarding.
(Um, no, NA/BT is distinct from call forwarding. It's similar, but it's a different feature.)
Me: My coworker says that I can get a $5 per month discount if I combine Verizon cell phone and home phone billing-- is this true?
Them: I can't tell you about that. That's through Verizon, this is Verizon Wireless. It might be a $5 discount or a $10 discount or a 5% discount, I don't know. You'll have to ask Verizon.
Sheesh. I might have bought a phone and a plan if the salesguy had been able to answer my questions. But why have salesguys actually know anything, when those customers who actually care about anything can do their own research on the web?
