The smartphone saga

Well, my current cell phone was crashing and I thought, I'll upgrade. Thinking that it would be nice to have more functionality on my phone (email, PDA, with a complete keyboard, etc), I decided to buy a Treo 680 - expensive at over 400 clams, but then there was a rebate included for $200. Still expensive, but I thought, I'm making an investment that's going to make my life easier. Or so I thought.

Well, the first phone arrived and I tried to activate, per instructions, on the web. Mind you, I went thru my existing AT&T/Cingular account online to order the upgrade in the first place, so theoretically I'd just follow instructions and my phone would be activated. But no. So I called the customer service activation line and the helpful person stated that no, in fact, the new upgraded phone wasn't even associated with my account and they would have to associate it and activate it. Fine, do that.

Oh, but that wouldn't be the end of it. I couldn't access any of the menus on the phone, at all, or make calls, so I called them again. The woman tried to assess the problem and concluded that the unit I had was defective, and that I should return it. Ok. But that meant I had to also get a replacement. So the next day I called their Online Sales Dept to discuss return and replacement. The guy was exceeding nice and helpful, ordered the replacement and requested that a prepaid return label be sent to me. Now, mind you, the new phone is charged to me until the old phone is returned and credited. They use two-day delivery for the phone, but regular snail-mail for the return address label. I rec'd the phone yesterday. The label hasn't yet arrived.

So, I go online to activate the new phone. I get an error message that says that all phones associated with my account are activated and if I think this is in error, I should call a number. By that time it's late & I figure I'll just call today. I called a few minutes ago only to get the message that the customer service function is not open, that I should call back during regular business hours. At this point I'm in the possession of two hideously expensive paperweights.

But the story gets better: you know that $200 rebate I mentioned? Well, I read the fine print and in addition to buying the the phone at full price, I also must sign up for what amounts to service (voice & data) plans costing $80 per month! I pay $30 and change for my existing phone plan and I knew I would be spending a bit more per month, but $80? Oh, and that's not including taxes.

At this point, I'm ready to return both phones and order the cheapest upgrade phone I can get. All thanks to the "New AT&T"! Thanks guys!

More on this as the story develops...

UPDATE 8/13/07: I called AT&T this morning and a very nice customer service person walked me thru activation (both of the phone & SIM card). The phone still said No Service. She advised me to go to a specific store and have the SIM card replaced because it must be that the SIM card was defective. I thanked her (while starting a whole new frustration) and hung up. I conveyed this to DH Jeff & he said let me look at it, whereby he popped out the battery & put it back in. And guess what? I now have a useable phone. Yippee! Now all I have to do is choose an appropriate plan, sync the bluetooth and set up Palm OS and all will be well. I'll still have to suck up the full cost of the thing, probably, because I don't want to pay $80 a month.

UPDATE 8/15/07: I checked the data plans available and got one that suits for $15/month for messaging and internet, to be added to my existing voice plan for which I pay $30/month (and don't even use all the minutes), for a reasonable total of $45/month. Now, with their "great deal," I would have paid $220 MORE for the first year WITH the $200 rebate, as compared to the plan arrangement I chose WITHOUT the phone rebate. What a rip-off. And did I mention that I haven’t received the pre-paid return address label to return the defective phone? If I haven’t received it by the time I get home this evening, I’m going to have to call AGAIN to see what’s up. I mean snail-mail doesn’t take a week for a damned label!

Talking to a coworker recently, I discovered that she had had a very similar experience with AT&T/Cingular. Word to the wise out there – read everything and ask questions before buying and signing up for anything, especially with the “New AT&T”; evidently, it’s all about getting you to pay the highest possible price before you realize what you’re getting into!

UPDATE 8/16/07: Last evening I had NOT received the dang return label for the defective phone. So, I called this morning and now I have an address where I can send the phone & a credit on my account for the postage. A little victory.