Friday, May 18, 2012

Cell Phone Hell


I’ve been living in ‘cell phone hell’. My phone did not work at my home (imagine that – I’m looking at you Sprint) but because they are ‘on island’ they would not let me out of my contract. It turns out that AT&T (the other national provider – on island) has better service. ~ Are you kidding me? This island is 26 miles long by 7 miles wide (at the widest point), how could you not have service at my house?

Anyway…today my sentence was up. The contract with Sprint ended and I was in the AT&T store signing up. The lady there, Kiesha, is my new best friend. I thought I was heading into ‘phone store hell’ and instead she walked me through the process with an incredible flare for customer service. She told me about her son who is in remission of cancer in his eyes and about the seven years she spent living in Omaha, Nebraska. When we were finished, she walked me to the door and gave me a hug. (It’s a Cruzan thing.)  

I wanted to keep my old number, because it’s an area code from the States. This allows people there to call me for free ~ well, not for free, ain’t nothing free, but it’s within your normal nationwide or western calling plans. I’ve been operating (sometimes) off an old Balckberry, which BTW I just recently figured out, now I have an iPhone. It’s pretty, slick, and sexy, as phones go, but I’m back to square one. I have no idea how to work this thing. Kiesha assured me it was simple and that anyone could figure it out in a matter of minutes. Apparently, there are not a lot of ‘dumb blonds in her neck of the woods. I’ve been at it for over an hour and still can’t get my gmail account loaded onto this slippery little thing.

It’s a sad state of affairs when your ‘smart phone’ is smarter than you.

9 comments:

  1. I have a dumb phone especially for a dumb phone guy. I don't even know why I have it. Hardly anybody ever calls me and I rarely use my cell phone. Maybe I'll need it someday.


    Lee
    An A to Z Co-Host
    Tossing It Out

    ReplyDelete
  2. Evolution of "Old Dude With Phone."
    1. "Really, it's the coolest thing. You can make a phone call. FROM YOUR CAR."
    2. "So what if it weighs ten pounds and gives me sciatica? I can even talk in line at the supermarket and in the movies. As long as the antenna is up."
    3. "Butt dial? What the frik do you mean, butt-dial? Mom."
    4. "All I need is a phone that I can call and receive calls. And not butt-dial my mother."
    5. "Well, a camera WOULD be neat to have if I want to take a picture of a couple of dogs humping."
    6. "Of COURSE your ring tone identity isn't Darth Vader's theme from Star Wars. Mom."
    7. "Text? QWERTY keyboard? Why the hell would I send someone a text when I can just call them?"
    8. "IDK. CU L8R BCUZ UR MY BFF. LOL. Mom."
    9. "11,000 text messages?? What's my data plan? 1,000 texts a month? Oops."
    10. "Can ANYone show me how to get rid of these two dogs humping? And how did it become my wallpaper."

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  3. I just figured out the problem with my OLD phone. All along I'm thinking it's a new modern Blackberry and here it's some slavic version a Balcberry. Good to know, it wasn't me, after all.

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  4. I recently downgraded from a smartphone to a regular one - it has a touch screen and a fancy-pants keyboard. All I can do is text my kids and husband on it. That's really all I need.

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  5. I don't even own a cell phone, but I do have an iTouch (iPhone without the phone) and an iPad. They aren't too difficult to figure out.
    Download an app called Magic Jack. It allows you to call anywhere in the world for free. Yes, FREE. Another good app is Facetime - you can video call anyone in the world with Facetime for free. Yes, another FREE.
    There are always ways around those pesky phone charges!

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  6. Had to give my smart phone back - too smart for me. I didn't have enough time to let it teach me to be as smart as it was. Never would have succeeded anyway. So now I'm phoneless and - mostly - OK with that.

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  7. I have a Blackberry that wouldn't work in France when I was there, even with an int'l card. I was told it was because the systems didn't recognize each other.

    Thanks to Fate that the apt. rental place offered free calling to most countries and within the city.

    What is needed, is a straightforward, intelligent how-to card written by another user, not by a techie geek who says, anyone can learn it in 5 mins.

    My sympathies.

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  8. yeah i have one of those smart phones---but how smart can it be---i thought true genius was making things understandable for everyone!

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  9. *hugs* and ROFL

    You know I'm laughing with you and not at you, right? I feel your pain!

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