What a Day!

I intended to wake up and get a few things accomplished. For one, I have to put my contract together for my chaplain position. I am waiting for an endorsement letter from my imam to come in the mail so I can put everything together and turn it in.

But ...

No mail today. It's President's Day.

And thus went my plans to go to the bank, and to mail my completed tax returns at the post office.

Arggg.

So, I decided to do something about my smart phone.

I had a Blackberry Curve:

I really liked this phone, and it served my purpose. But with my MS and resulting fine motor control problems, it was a nightmare to send a text message or email. Also, my right thumb was cramping up doing all of that scrolling up and down. So, I thought I would look into a touch screen phone.

I was only one year into my two-year contract for the phone. My husband suggested that I call Verizon and explain my problem. So, I called and ran it down to the customer service representative. I told her that MS and arthritis can impede fine motor control and also cause muscle cramping. I told her that I knew it was not time for me to get a new phone, but wasn't there something they could do for me?

Well, the bottom line was "no." Not really. The only thing they claimed they could do for me was to give me a "deal" that would have resulted in me paying $219.99 up front and after a mail-in rebate, my final cost for a touch screen Blackberry Storm would be $119.00. (I needed the Storm that was a GSM phone so I can use it overseas.)

You know, I don't know what I was thinking, but I just thought that they could have done a little better for me. I explained that my MS has progressed to the point that my current phone is nearly impossible to use.

To tell you the truth, she laid so much salesperson/marketing double-talk on me that I was so confused and couldn't grasp my "fortune" of what she was trying to describe as a "deal" for me.

I was hoping that they would make some type of exemption and renew my contract early based on medical/disability urgency. I know they don't have to do it, and it's not their fault I have issues, but ...

I then asked the salesperson how much it would cost me to break my contract. She said, "are you really willing to break your contract for that reason?"

Well yes, lady. I have been a customer of Verizon for years. My husband also has a cell phone through them, and they are our internet service provider. I have never been late or missed a payment. I know that their business is a competitive one. I still think they could have done something better for me.

A strange walking into a Verizon store would have got a better deal than what they were offering me, a loyal customer.

SO!!!

I went to AT&T and bought a 3G iPhoneI just LOVE the touch screen! It makes all the difference in the world for my hands.

So, I'm going to break the Verizon contract. I don't care that it's going to cost me an early termination fee.

I'm sorry. It's the principle for me.

I'm like that. I have said elsewhere here that customer service really means a lot to me. I think I'm a customer service representative nightmare, lol.

I also have bottled distilled water delivered to my home. A few years ago when gas prices were starting to rise, I noticed a "fuel surcharge" on my bill. It was only like 50 cents or something like that. But again ... it's the principle. I called them up and told them I wasn't going to pay it. I told them that I could not charge my employer for the increase in fuel for the cost of me doing business (i.e., going to work). They sent me bills for months with fuel surcharges on them. I nicely deleted the surcharge from the bill and sent the balance to them. They finally gave up. Now, I don't have fuel surcharges on my bill. And they never bugged me for the money. LOL, they did carry it as 90+ days overdue for awhile, but they gave up. I told them if they insisted, I would cancel with them and get another bottled water provider.

These people piss me off when they think they can screw people because they think they're the only game in town.