Technology Breakdown!
Ugh -- this week has had another one of those breakdowns of communication -- literally. On Thursday, after picking Steve up from the airport and on the way home -- my cell phone cover came off its hinge! I knew it was a cheap phone (little plastic Nokia), but this was ridiculous.
I think there must have been a small crack or break in the seam where it wasn't visible, and then when I tried to put the hinge back in place it finished cracking on the other side -- so then both hinges came apart. The cover held on by a cord for another day, then it split, too -- so there I was with no phone, and I was going to Wichita for the weekend.
I went to the T-Mobile store by my house and was given a HUUUUGE hassle about replacing the phone! "I never heard of a phone just coming apart...blah blah" Well, I never heard of one doing that, either! But here I am, standing here with a phone that fell apart!
Finally, after going around with 2 people in "customer care," a "supervisor" named Tyler agreed to send me out a Samsung phone for $40. What I really wanted was this sharp-looking Motorola unit that was advertised in the store for $29.95. But oh, no -- I couldn' t have that one because "rules, blah blah blah, rules..."
I gave the guy the benefit of the doubt, and decided to wait for the phone to arrive, then see what I got (naturally the phone was no longer available in the store so I could see it beforehand). Of course when it came, I could see immediately that it was just as cheap and flimsy as the broken Nokia.
Having been a T-Mobile customer for 7 years, and committed by contract for another 2 (I had only had the pitiful Nokia for 4 months), I just decided that by golly I was going to have me a nice phone and I deserved it as a loyal customer who would have spent $5400 with them by the end of my contract!
Let me tell you -- if somebody buys a $5400 cruise from me, I will bend over backward to make sure they have no reason for complaint, and every reason to recommend me to all their friends and relatives. So for T-Mobile to give me another crappy phone just sent me totally over the edge!
OK -- back to "customer care." After a couple more "rules, blah blah blah, rules," I got a hold of Bob. T-Mobile is very fortunate to have Bob, because (provided the next stage goes as planned) Bob saved their customer.
I think my complaint was justified and my solution was completely fair: my phone had broken apart through no fault of mine (I never dropped it, sat anything on it, dunked it in water, or whatever), and all I wanted was the deal I saw in the store -- a really nice Motorola model (made of real metal!) that was advertised for $29.95. Bob agreed, and even set me up with a loaner from one of the stores. Well, that turned out to be another adventure, but at least now I'm back in communication. I do have to return the cheap, crappy Samsung and wait....but I'm hopeful and confident that there will be customer satisfaction in the end.
I wasn't too concerned about going to Wichita with no phone, though, because I took my laptop! Uh oh -- next problem -- Becky (my sister, I was staying at her house for the Oktoberfest celebration) couldn't find the code so I could access her wireless internet system! So -- no communication after all. Good God! How many codes, user names, passwords, access numbers and so on do we have to put up with? It's a wonder we can get anything done at all.
Oh, and my garage door remote quit working, too, and I couldn't find any batteries that worked! Finally, I went to Sears (source of the opener), and was graciously assisted by Chris, who determined that the remote simply was not working -- for no reason that he could find nor fix. Swell! Another $40 for another one!
I was already afraid of what my next credit card bill would look like -- after buying new contact lenses and replacing a worn, shabby old skirt -- and now I've got another unexpected $75 slapped onto it! Yikes!
Thanks for letting me vent -- if you have any tales of technological woes, please feel free to commiserate in the comments field below!