4.22.2005

 

That's it!!

I'm officially fed up with my old cell phone. I've had it for almost 2 years, but I don't mind having a phone that's out-of-date. It's small and cute, it has a good ringtone (Mozart's Rondo "Alla Turca"), and it has a few fun games, even though it's a black and white display. Its age alone isn't what bothers me, since I don't usually feel the need to have the latest and greatest of anything. It's when the thing I have becomes crotchety and temperamental that I start to get annoyed. The problems started almost a year ago when the phone stopped holding its charge. It'll say it's fully charged, but as soon as I talk for more than twenty minutes or so, it starts beeping annoyingly to tell me the battery is low. This was okay, as long as I remembered to charge it regularly. However, about two months ago, I started having trouble getting it to charge in the first place. When I plug it in, I often get a message that says "unable to charge," even though it's plugged in correctly. I thought I had figured out the precise angle at which I had to insert the plug, but sometimes even that doesn't work. Today, I was struggling with the cord, and I decided maybe I should turn the phone off and back on to see if that would help. That's when I encountered the third and final problem, as far as I'm concerned: my "end" button just stopped working. This means I can no longer hang up or turn my phone off. I have to be able to turn my phone off when I'm in class, and losing the ability to hang up would get obnoxious really fast, I'm sure, especially if I waste a lot of minutes waiting for the connection to time out and cut me off. Harumph. What's going to go next, the 7 key? Actually, that wouldn't be disastrous, because I almost never use the numbers; most of the people I call are already in my phone book.

I happened to be at the Cingular store at the mall yesterday, and they told me that I can add myself to Jack's plan anytime I want -- this was going to be our plan when my contract ran up next month, but I think we're going to go tonight. We were going to wait, because I thought I couldn't get a free phone with a new contract until my old contract had expired, but the Cingular people told me I could still get a free phone. Maybe they didn't know the details of my plan, or maybe it's close enough to the end of my contract that it doesn't matter, but they told me I was eligible for an upgrade. My questions is this: how long have I been eligible for an upgrade, and why didn't they tell me sooner? Jeannette found out randomly that Sprint would replace their phones every 18 months, so they got to get new phones a few months ago, but I'm guessing this isn't something that companies want everyone to know; they'd have to spend too much money replacing people's phones! Anyway, Jack and I will be taking a trip to the mall tonight, so cross your eyes for us that I'll be able to sign a new contract and get a free phone without incident. I don't think I can deal with this phone for much longer!

 

Comments:

Suckage. It is quite amazing the things you can find out "accidentally" about cell phone contracts, freebies, etc. After I'd had Verizon for a year or so, I found out that they have free minutes on all bank holidays. Who knew?!

Most companies have some sort of upgrade plan, ranging from a new phone every 1-2 years. Verizon has new every 2, where you get $100 towards whatever new phone you want. I think it's Sprint or maybe it's even Cingular that allows you a new phone every year at a reduced cost.

Hope you were able to get a cool new phone.. and have fun transferring all your contacts into the new one. That's always so much fun!!
 
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