Does anyone remember the AT&T of old? Remember how comforting it was to pick up your receiver and hear a dial tone that sounded superior to all the other dial tones? It was as if their dial tone was a note higher, a note brighter than the rest. The golden age that AT&T saw came crashing down with the advent of cell phones. In order to right a sinking ship, AT&T sold their wireless contracts to Cingular, who in turn sunk that ship, salvaged it and sold it for scrap back to AT&T. Like the mighty Colossus of Rhodes, this scrap was melted down into lesser things and distributed throughout the world. An echo of greatness is all the remains of the giant.
This brief lesson in history should hopefully shed some light onto my current cell phone situation. Here in Steamboat, AT&T does not offer service. We are too remote for them to worry about us. Rather than view Steamboat as the largest town in northwest Colorado that has a major tourist population from December through April, AT&T views us as an unviable market. This translates into me having to “borrow” time off of other company’s towers and satellites in order to place a call. I can call and send messages to people, that’s it. Forget that my phone can jump on the internet and see what is happening in the world. Don’t pretend like my phone has a camera that I can take pictures with and send to my friends. My phone, despite all of its wonderful gadgetry, has been reduced to my first cell phone, the Nokia 3395. Don’t pretend for one minute that this was not one of your first cell phones, too. If you were born in the mid-to-early 80’s then you KNOW this phone.
Don’t get me wrong. That Nokia was probably the best phone I ever had. Probably you, too. It was a tank. Superior reception. Zero dropped calls. Never broke when dropped. The problem is that my new cell phone was not built like that Nokia, so it is like that Nokia in functionality without being that Nokia in dependability. Boo for me.
I called AT&T to see if I could negotiate with them on how to end my contract. Unlike them, Verizon has the foresight to see Steamboat as a land of opportunity, hence them being the only major national cell phone service provider in town. The grass is greener on the Verizon side, and I want in. There is a policy in place that states that if I move to an area in which AT&T does not offer service I can cancel with no obligation. This would be awesome, except for the fact that I got my cell phone forever ago and because of this fact alone, my mother is the account holder with me listed as the primary user. My mother would need to live here, too, for me to cancel with no obligation. Much to my dismay, AT&T informed me that the only way I could end my contract with them (forget the five years of being a loyal customer) was to pay a $175 early termination fee. Thanks guys. Hearing my displeasure, the operator offered me another option. I could transfer the line to myself for a small fee ($18 to be exact), put a $400 deposit down and then cancel the line. I could then be eligible (not guaranteed) to receive my deposit back in several months. Thanks? The operator actually thought she was helping me with this option. Sigh. In the end I will more than likely cave and pay the $175, assured that I never have to deal with AT&T and their customer service ever again. In retrospect, $175 does seem like a small price to pay for that.
The issue will have to wait regardless. I have a ski race today, my first ever, wish me luck.
This brief lesson in history should hopefully shed some light onto my current cell phone situation. Here in Steamboat, AT&T does not offer service. We are too remote for them to worry about us. Rather than view Steamboat as the largest town in northwest Colorado that has a major tourist population from December through April, AT&T views us as an unviable market. This translates into me having to “borrow” time off of other company’s towers and satellites in order to place a call. I can call and send messages to people, that’s it. Forget that my phone can jump on the internet and see what is happening in the world. Don’t pretend like my phone has a camera that I can take pictures with and send to my friends. My phone, despite all of its wonderful gadgetry, has been reduced to my first cell phone, the Nokia 3395. Don’t pretend for one minute that this was not one of your first cell phones, too. If you were born in the mid-to-early 80’s then you KNOW this phone.
Don’t get me wrong. That Nokia was probably the best phone I ever had. Probably you, too. It was a tank. Superior reception. Zero dropped calls. Never broke when dropped. The problem is that my new cell phone was not built like that Nokia, so it is like that Nokia in functionality without being that Nokia in dependability. Boo for me.
I called AT&T to see if I could negotiate with them on how to end my contract. Unlike them, Verizon has the foresight to see Steamboat as a land of opportunity, hence them being the only major national cell phone service provider in town. The grass is greener on the Verizon side, and I want in. There is a policy in place that states that if I move to an area in which AT&T does not offer service I can cancel with no obligation. This would be awesome, except for the fact that I got my cell phone forever ago and because of this fact alone, my mother is the account holder with me listed as the primary user. My mother would need to live here, too, for me to cancel with no obligation. Much to my dismay, AT&T informed me that the only way I could end my contract with them (forget the five years of being a loyal customer) was to pay a $175 early termination fee. Thanks guys. Hearing my displeasure, the operator offered me another option. I could transfer the line to myself for a small fee ($18 to be exact), put a $400 deposit down and then cancel the line. I could then be eligible (not guaranteed) to receive my deposit back in several months. Thanks? The operator actually thought she was helping me with this option. Sigh. In the end I will more than likely cave and pay the $175, assured that I never have to deal with AT&T and their customer service ever again. In retrospect, $175 does seem like a small price to pay for that.
The issue will have to wait regardless. I have a ski race today, my first ever, wish me luck.
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