verizon |

It’s funny how the cell phone companies make it seem like you get some extra special deal on buying a new phone every two years. I guess some people like to get replacements of their gadgets every two years, but I tend to hold on to my electronics for longer than that. My iPod? I don’t plan on replacing it for a long time. Heck, if it still works, I’ll use it when I’m 50.

But cell phones… dare I keep one longer than two years? Never. Well, the truth is this time around I actually lost my last phone (about a month ago) and despite being confused as to where on earth I put it, I’m splurging on a new, discounted-with-two-year-contract phone.

My tastes in gadgets (and everything else) tend to go by looks first, features second, quality third. That’s not always the best way to pick out a big-ticket item. Luckily with phones there aren’t that many options… which makes it somewhat easier to shop and decide.

Yesterday I checked out the latest Verizon phones at their Circuit City store and was hoping to fall in love with one that would be free after the rebate and my contract discount. Of course, I fall in love with one that will cost me $129 after the various discounts. Oh bother.

After trying to get my heart set on one of the cheaper phones, I did some research on the different phones and decided I really, really, realllly wanted the $129 one. At least this year I did research, right? Last time I got a Verizon brand phone and despite being black and shiny it was a crappy phone. This time around I’m going for an LG (that supposedly gets good battery life and decent phone quality).

Was I totally stupid to spend $129 on a phone when I could have got one for free (or perhaps even found my old one that’s likely hiding somewhere in my room… or at a friend’s house?)

I can’t wait to get the phone. I ordered it online, so it comes next week.

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The only good thing out of this situation is that I was able to call and speak with a rep from AT&T last night (so I wasn’t spending more of my Verizon cell phone minutes to deal with the saga (see here and here.)

After barking at this women for over a half hour, it seems I got somewhere. Well, sort of. She explained to me that since my account was canceled on December 24, the charge that just showed up on my statement was for Nov – Dec. Also, since my billing cycle ends on the 21, I will have one more charge appear on my account for the three days between the 21 and 24, but the rep couldn’t tell me yet how much that would be for.

As far as canceling auto pay, she said she’d gladly do that, but it usually takes one billing cycle before that’s put into effect (so, in other words, it doesn’t really matter if i do that because there’s only one more billing cycle left).

What really frustrates me is that this all should have been taken care of in October, if the women at AT&T handled our phone request properly and transfered the account then.

At the end of the conversation, I realized that trying to get reimbursed from AT&T for the charge was going to be impossible. So instead, I asked if they could send me a bill for the last three months charges, so at the very least I could forward this on to my boss so I could be reimbursed.

That sounds so simple, right?

Well… I’m told that it costs $5 per bill to have them sent to me, but I could go online to see and print them for free. I bitch at her for another 10 minutes, explaining that I can’t get into the online account because it’s under my bosses’ name with HIS information and password. She finally goes to talk to her manager and puts me on hold for another 5 minutes. Then she comes back and says she’ll mail the bills out to me. Jackpot. Well, sortof.

That’s about all I can do for now. I’ll send the bills off to my boss the second I get them and hopefully will get the $300+ back that has been withdrawn from my account.

All I can think is thank goodness I was able to make this call at night when my minutes are free!

AT&T will never, ever, ever get my business again.

Tag Archives: verizon

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