Cell Phones

I never read all the directions for the new phone I got last May - I KNOW there's a shocker huh? I went to the repair shop today because my phone touch screen died. That is after the keyboard quit working properly, it either wouldn't acknowledge that I typed a letter or it printed that letter 3-4 times.  And it would randomly delete my contacts.   It has been a true pain in the ass not having a phone for a week.

The repair center was very nice, I didn't have to wait, they replaced my phone with narry a second thought.  I was in there less than 10 minutes.    It helped of course that there were  two staff people and only one other customer.   The guy also said that Apple has the patent on touch screens so everyone else has taken the palm pilot type screens that used a stylus and tried to make them sensitive enough to handle fingers touching them. It isn't working so well for the most part and people are not happy.  And I'll admit as the screen started to crap out, I would "punch" it more often than gently touch it, since it didn't acknowledge a gentle touch.
So, on my way home, I stopped at the store where I bought the phone since I had to go by it anyway, and told myself, if there was no line, I would see about getting a new phone on the cheap. If there was a line, I would just wait until next May.   There was not only no line, but no customers. Guess cuz it's apouring down with the rain.

So, I put the phone on the desk of the store owner and said I hate this phone.  I've always hated it.  I just came from the repair center where they told me I can expect more problems. What can we do?

Ya know, I think these guys at this particular store are smarmy. Not quite snake oil salesmen, but smarmy.  They are very nice, don't get me wrong, very helpful and professional.    Just a little smarmy (I must like that word today).     He said well let me see . . . first he asked what I wanted.

Well a phone that worked would be good, but I need to dial out, receive calls and text message. I don't use it for pictures, I don't get on line with it, I wouldn't know what to do with an app if my life depended on it - and I don't want to pay for that crap. So he showed me a few phones, I went with the first one. it is a samsung Evergreen.   It has a key pad with numbers so I can dial. No more touch screen for me - YEA!

It has the slide out key pad for typing text messages. I told him that was the only thing I liked about the old phone and he said they all have that now. And an app setting and camera and all that other stuff I don't know what to do with, but I think that is standard.

Then he said (and here's the schmarmy part) let me call a special number and see if we can get you a deal on a new phone.   Riiiight. So, the phone I wanted was $30 if you were a new customer signing up for a 2 year contract. He said that the deal they would cut me was $50 and I had to extend my contract on just my phone for an extra 6 months.   I sat and thought about it for a second.  I remembered all the times my husband has wanted something sometimes for no other reason than he wants it, even if it isn't a good deal, or a deal at all, and I said okay.

THEN I find out that my old phone was never set up to store numbers onto the sim card, just into the phone WTF??????? SO he set the new phone up for that, then the sim card died, so he had to replace that.

I have about 5 contacts on the new phone.   Bummer, I'll have to look up numbers this week.   And send emails to people who I don't have their numbers written down and ask for them again.   But, I've downloaded the manual and will start reading in Thursday.

I have a button to push to answer the stupid thing, there is a hang up button, and I'm assuming the text messaging is the same as on the old phone. The rest . . .

I think the guy felt a little sorry for me that I apparently have so few friends. Of course a few weeks ago I painfully added all my work peeps. grrrrr