Cellullar Companies Want My Money

So my two year agreement was up last week, and I had the opportunity to get $50 (or $100, it’s hard to tell) dollars towards an “upgrade” in my phone. I had been quite happy with my old phone, but ever since Sasquatch when my phone was left in my ice-water soaked pocket, the front screen’s been toast and sometimes my microphone’s kind of faulty. So I had to get a new one. Which is too bad, because for a basic feature set, entry-level phone, it was more than adequate for my needs.

I did like the Samsung though, so I moved on to an a870, priced nicely at 79.99. Which, to my eyes, meant I was going to get a new phone for free. But that wasn’t quite true, because these cell providers and cell manufacturers want my money.

No, my phone was 29.99. after mail-in rebate, but before the “new every two” discount, which apparently was $50 after all. But of course I didn’t walk away from that little kiosk for free. Instead, I was charged another $70 for some accessories, minus the remaineder of my discount ($20). Except when I paid for it all it seemed like these were a “special bonus” package that I was privileged to receive. Guess what! Cell phone companies want my money. After a week, I realized I didn’t need half this stuff and went to take it back. And that’s where things got really fun.

Turns out there are two “stores” in the mall. Except one is there for sales and the other for service. But of course nobody bothers to let you know about that until you’ve waited in line for 15 minutes. After reaching the service counter (nearly an hour after the whole ordeal began), I was politely explained that they were trying to give me a deal offering 20 dollars off 70 dollars worth of stuff I didn’t want. It frustrates me to no end that I find out all this afterward, but I’m also to blame, as I blindly accepted the stuff without really looking at my receipt.

In the end, I got it all sorted out, saved some money and saved the rest of my family the hassle I went through. After all was said and done, maybe the most frustrating thing of all was having to get new wall and car chargers for this phone when I had perfectly good ones for my previous Samsung. Why do we need to reinvent the port people? It’s not like it didn’t work before. And now I’ve got two old chargers that don’t plug into anything. Great for the environment, great for my pocketbook—yet another example of how cellular companies want my money.