Monday, March 7, 2016

Phone Store

samsung galaxy s6-11 



The only part of this I truly understand is that when dealing with a cell-phone service provider you are going to be disappointed at the very best.  First on the pricing of the plan then sooner or later on some other issue.

My daughter told me this story:
I went to the phone store to upgrade to a new phone.  The contract offered an upgrade after three years of service.  I had the plan for four years and the phone was behaving erratically, so I took it in for an exchange.
The clerk poked a few computer keys, brought up my account and said, "I'm sorry, but you have already used your free upgrade."
"Say what?  I most certainly have not!"

" Yes, ma'am. It shows right here that you came in six months ago and got a new charger cord for the phone.  That's an upgrade."

The clerk was advised in no uncertain terms that I would be switching to another provider.  When I got in the car along with my twelve year-old grandson who was with me I noticed as I was snapping my seat belt that the boy was silently staring straight ahead.  I started the car, turned to him and said, "What's the matter?"

"Turn off the car, Grandma."  I am Nana, never Grandma, so I knew this was serious.  I turned the key, turned toward him and said, "What?"
"I don't want you to drive while you are mad."
I said, "Do you think I was rude back there?"
"A little bit."

I have heard or read many, many accounts detailing numerous ways in which the customer has been taken in the process of upgrading including the instances in which the "upgrade" lost them some features they had before; but of course, they could be added on for an additional cost.  

People wonder why the elders say things like "Oh, for the good old days."
 


10 comments:

Secondary Roads said...

Ethics is something that people with MBAs study. We don't need no stinking MBA ethics.

vanilla said...

Chuck, might it be the case that the "ethics" to which you refer differ in some way from the ethics I studied in philosophy and sociology courses many decades past? That our sense of right-and-wrong has somehow evolved over time? And that I am a relic of a past dead and gone?

Vee said...

So interesting that you would post this on this day. So far, since and starting the day, I have been "steamed" over two tech issues.

vanilla said...

Vee, am I wrong about the disappointment factor?

Vee said...

Very disappointing - both service and pricing.

vanilla said...

Vee, that is consistent with my experience.

Lin said...

We just recently switched phones and now I have "apps" and other assorted annoyances. Unfortunately, cell phones are a necessary evil.

vanilla said...

Lin, the other day I saw BBBH's phone on the table lit up like a Christmas tree. It flashed a message to the effect that it was "updating 237 apps." Say what? What sane person would have any use for that many apps, and where did they come from? I know the lady uses two or three of them at most, beyond email and internet connection.

Ilene said...

Righteous indignation......Someday the 12 year old will understand.

vanilla said...

Ilene, perhaps the boy understands well enough: being indignant is not a license to be rude. (Not that I am saying the lady was rude.)