So, in one of my other posts, I mentioned that I dropped my cell phone on the ground while biking on Saturday. I thought I'd share my experience thus far in getting a new phone.
I dropped the phone on Saturday, and there just happened to be a Verizon Wireless store in Harvard Square (yes, I might be the only one left that has VW - they have good coverage, what can I say?). Wolf and I did our homework Saturday night looking at phones and plans, etc... and I knew what I wanted walking into the store.
I have insurance on my phone, and it would have replaced the screen or phone....but I was told on Sunday that there is a deductible of $100-$140 with the insurance. Well...with what I saw online Saturday night, it was cheaper to get a new phone. So I told the customer service rep what phone I was interested in (Samsung Galaxy S3). They had the phone, and the color I wanted in stock - fabulous! The sales guy came over to do the phone upgrade and plan change (apparently the plan I have no longer exists). So, he tells me the phone ($100 with $50 mail in rebate), upgrade fee ($30 - total BS) and sales tax is $167. I said "uhhh, that doesn't quite add up." He assured me it did. So I said, $100 + $30 + sales tax does not equal $167. He then tells me the sales tax is charged on the FULL RETAIL PRICE of the phone - which just happens to be $600!!!!! I told him that was ridiculous and crazy and was so ticked off I told him to forget everything and walked out!
I was totally pissed and close to tears. I got outside and turned around and Wolf was right there, and put his arms around me. That was it....I started crying. He calmed me down and we talked rationally (well, he was being rational, I was being irrational) while walking back to where we parked. As we were walking/talking he said there's always NH, which has no sales tax. So I looked on my phone and there is a store in Nashua, and was open until 7pm (it was currently about 4:30). So I told him, and he said 'tonight?" and I said 'why not?'. The rational him then said that we would be in Lowell next weekend and could go then, so as not to waste the gas (why is he always rational??), to which I responded I'd rather pay the $40 in gas than sales tax, lol. By the time we got to the car I was torn....the rational part of me knew that waiting was the better option, but the irrational me just wanted a phone that day. So, we compromised and went back to his apartment and looking online at amazon (he got his phone from Amazon) and Verizon's website.
Verizon's website was no better than the store (big surprise!), so we went off to Amazon. Found the phone for $20 (with an existing wireless plan - which I have). Awesome! So we added it to the shopping cart. When you do that, it asks for some info to determine if you are eligible for the phone upgrade (which I know I am). It asked for phone number, ss# (last 4), and PIN. So, I enter the required info and it keeps telling me it's wrong. I tried a different PIN and it's still wrong. Totally exasperated I said 'fuck it', we'll go next weekend to Nashua.
So, yesterday, I was relating the tale to someone and realized that MY ss# is not the one on the account - it's someone else's. BINGO! I bet that's why it wouldn't work! So I tried it last night when I got home from work. It worked - yay! So I went through everything, picked the new plan (because I can't keep my existing one) and paid. Got an email overnight with a tracking number (should be here Wednesday). I then went online and ordered the case and screen protectors for the phone.
Got an email this morning that my phone order was returned to Amazon because of something to do with Verizon. Ugh! So I call Verizon and explain to the girl what has happened. She has no idea why (big surprise!!). She offers to try the upgrade on the phone. I told her fine, I wanted a total before giving her a Credit Card #, and then explain the sales tax issue. Her total is $207 -$40 MORE than the store wanted to charge me. I told her no, delete the upgrade. While she was doing all this, it occured to me that maybe the Amazon order got kicked back because I was changing my phone AND plan. So I asked her this, and she said it could be (I don't think she had any idea, but was going along with what I thought). So I had her change just my wireless plan, and back date it to 8/2. Got off the phone with her and ordered the phone again from Amazon. Thus far today, I have received a shipping notice (with tracking number) for the phone from Amazon. We'll see what tomorrow brings and if I actually receive the phone on Thursday!
Stay tuned!! If I actually get this phone and get it activated it might be a miracle! If it gets kicked back again, I'm going to Nashua on Sunday - so there! lol
~Chelle
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