New Technology? Not So Much...

Last week I decided to purchase a ring-tone for my little cell phone. I've had it for almost two years. It's pretty basic, no exciting features. So I went on to the Verizon web-site and downloaded a tone (the theme from "How I Met Your Mother") and I was pretty psyched about it. Well, the phone did not have enough memory for it. I did not find this out until AFTER I paid for it and had it added to my phone plan. I was so NOT amused.

So I go to the Verizon store right here in town and they tell me to go to the Verizon "Tech" store that is like twenty miles away. Remember all this? So I got my new phone, I was feeling all kinds of sassy with it and you know what? It SUCKS. Yes, that's right. My new, high-tech, sassy purple phone SUCKS. Why? What is so bad about it? Well, for starters, it has to be charged every day. While this should not be a big deal, it is for me because I BARELY use my phone. I mean, I call Frank, he calls me. Occasionally, I talk to someone else but those calls last less that ten minutes. Maybe I use the phone for twenty minutes a damn day. That is crazy to have to re-charge for that little of bit of usage!

I e-mailed Verizon to troubleshoot. They were very efficient and called me the next morning and told me to take the phone back to the store to have the battery checked. They made all sorts of notations on my account and even sent me a copy of all of their notes. I was pleased. I went to the Verizon store today - the one that is twenty miles away. Again. The gentleman who checked me in asked me what was going on, I told him, he told me that they would call me in a few minutes and would check my battery. I wait. I get called. Do they check the battery?

NO.

Why? Because efficient phone batteries are...wait for it...old school. I kid you not. A grown man stood there and explained to me that these new phones with their new technology drain these slim batteries and that the days of the long charged battery are over. They are (and again I quote) old school. Now don't get me wrong, he was very friendly, very polite, but the fact remains that he just would NOT check the battery. He explained in every way possible WHY these batteries are not as efficient as the old ones and I get that. But isn't there just a teeny-tiny chance of this particular battery being defective? Isn't there just an itsy-bitsy possibility that all of this could be cleared up with a new battery? Shouldn't the fact that EVERY OTHER VERIZON PERSON I SPOKE TO said to check the battery mean anything?

In the bizarro world that I live in, apparently not. So I'm here with the same phone. With the same battery. I will be writing a very long, very elaborate letter of complaint to Verizon tonight. I get a lot of results that way. Sure it's time consuming but in the grand scheme of things, the customer should get what they paid for. In this case I paid for a phone that I was told gave me more bang for my buck and it is not. I should have stayed with my old, low-tech, low-feature phone. At least with that one I only had to charge it twice a week!

So next time you think you want to just add a simple feature to your phone? Beware!!! You never know what kind of Pandora's Box you are opening!!