Caution: shallow, consumerist whining to follow.
Two weeks from today I can get my new-every-two discount toward a new cell phone. The only only only phone I want is the LG Chocolate VX8550. I know I am going to have to shell out my own money above the discount to get it, but I don't know how much. I'm not sure how much I'm willing to spend...but I want it sooooooo much!! I think I want the black cherry color.
BTW, when did text messaging get so ridiculously expensive? I remember it being 10 cents to send and like 2 or 5 cents to receive...well two days ago, according to the info on my phone while I was signed in to our verizon wireless account, it was 15 cents to send AND to receive...and then today I checked again and it now says 20 cents each way!! What is the deal with that? First, was there seriously a 33% price hike in the day since I last looked, and second, what is the deal with charging so much for this? We are talking infinitesimally small bandwidth required for a cell network to send a text message (i'm not talking photo or video), especially compared to the bandwidth required for voice during a regular call...the cell companies should be ENCOURAGING the use of text messaging as a cheaper-for-them alternative to phone calls! If they let us have just texting for free with any plan, I imagine they could reduce their bandwidth significantly enough to save money on their ever-expanding demand for more bandwidth. I think they'd probably at least break even, if not come out ahead, in the long run. The $5 per month Hannah pays for 250 text messages (which comes to 2 cents per message) is probably well over 1000% profit for verizon: I can't imagine Hannah's 250 text messages are costing them move than a few pennies. The only possible acceptable explanation would be if they're actually making extremely little profit on their other services like normal cell plans and the phones themselves, and the exorbitant texting prices are keeping other prices from skyrocketing, but I severely doubt that's the case.
I'm done ranting now...is it March 16 yet? I want my new phone!!
Give me tips on getting a good price from Verizon...Ninny's tip was to look up the price on line and then go to a kiosk, where they have the ability to give you a better deal. It almost sounds like you can haggle like buying a new car. I wonder if I'd be more likely to get a good price on my own, or if I bring Paul along?
Honestly everyone I've known (about 6 peeps) who have had this phone have had nothing but problems with it. All of them complain that the phone powers down by itself intermittently, they get it replaced via the Vz warranty exchange program, then the replacement phone starts to (you guessed it) randomly power down for no apparent reason.
ReplyDeleteI'd take a look at some other options, maybe?
How to get the best deal - its NOT like buying a car. THere are certain retention tools available to Vz Customer Service Dept. Call their customer service dept, ask what the options are, tell them your considering taking your business elsewhere and is there any other promos/discounts they can offer to entice you to stay. If they do give you an attractive offer be sure to take down the Customer Svc operators information, like name, id number, extension number or the like, to avoid hassles and headaches once you visit the store.
Good luck!
Who is that comment from?
ReplyDeleteKaty, what does Betsy think of her chocolate? Any problems?