#17 · Jun 3, 2004No choice on phone companies??
Listen to my funny story... (At least, I think it's funny anyway.)
Okay, things have been tight here financially for a while now. Our home phone would ring constantly with telemarketers and bill collectors. Also, we would get tons of wrong number calls because in some weird twist of fate, our number has been published in the past as the number for: Dairy Queen, the Dollar Tree, some heavy equipment company, and some family that used to have the number. There might be more, I don't remember at the moment.
So, we got caller ID. I stopped answering unknown callers and let the answering machine pick it up. "Hi, you've reached *our names.* If you want to talk to us, you'll leave a message." Clear, right? Well, we got mostly hangups. Guess they didn't really want to talk to us, after all.
Hardly anybody called us just to chat. I tried chatting with the credit card company when they called, but they really have one track minds. "When are you sending us the money? Where's the money?! We've GOT to have the MONEY!!" You know, that familiar gasping sound of desperation... Anyway, every time the phone would ring, I'd feel a quiet (or screaming) desperation of my own.
I was a little behind on the phone bill and started debating whether or not I really wanted to spend over $40 dollars a month just to be tormented by my phone. Anybody remember the Calvin and Hobbes cartoon where Calvin is trying to sell muddy water as a miracle drug? Hobbes points out that nobody would want to drink that, what with the sludge and leaves floating in it. So, Calvin changes his sign. He starts selling putrid poisoness water, except the price is $1 NOT to have any. That's how I felt about paying my phone bill.
It might be useful to know at this point that we both have cell phones. The numbers are fairly protected and we have a plan with plenty of minutes for us to use. My number is even local to my relatives who live 2 hours away, so that makes our cell phones even more convenient. We also recently got cable Internet, so we don't need a home phone to dial up. (You might wonder why such financially strapped people have such luxuries, but both items are essential to my husband's business--they are productive, unlike the horrid home telephone!)
Anyway, to recap--I was considering disconnecting my home phone permanently. In frustration one day, I pulled the plug on our answering machine (it was in our bedroom and would wake us all the time). We still had the phone in the kitchen, but we could rarely hear that from upstairs. We had a week of sweet peace. We never heard the phone ring! Our friends knew to call us on our cell phones. It was sweet, sweet bliss. Then, a friend called me and informed me that my home phone had been disconnected. We hadn't even noticed! I was confused about why, however. Later, going through the bills that I hadn't opened in a while, I found the disconnection notice. They had wanted the past due amount AND the current amount by the current amount's due date. I had only paid the past due amount. So, they disconnected me. And it took me a week to even NOTICE!
Stupid, stupid phone company. You see, they had valid reason (albeit a little anal retentive) to disconnect me. Although, if they had bothered to contact me, I could have told them that by mid June we will have money again, and I could continue being a good customer as I have been for two years previously. I probably would have continued to pay them that ridiculous fee just to continue to be harrassed. But, they made the decision for me.
And it's not just me. The friend that informed me of my disconnection lives just a few apartments down from me. She has a regular job, with a healthy income and always pays her bills on time. However, due to some oversight, I'm sure, she was also late on her phone bill. I can't imagine that it was anywhere near as late as mine. But, they disconnected her, too! Big mistake, because they just pissed her off and she started to use her cell phone exclusively as well.
Another friend who lives in the next town over (same phone company), also recently disconnected her home phone and her and her husband moved exclusively to their cell phones.
My brother and his wife, who live a little farther away, never got a home phone at all and simply used their cell phones.
So, counting me, that's 4 families in my relatively small circle of friends who chose their cell phones over their home phones. Cell phones are becoming increasingly more attractive than home phones--and the home phone companies are still acting like idiots! You would think they'd be catching on and begging to keep us as customers.
Instead, they did me a favor and disconnected my service. I'm really eternally grateful. Maybe I'll call them up with my cell phone and tell them so. Smile
So, you have a choice. Disconnect that horrid home phone! Get Cable Internet! Get a cell phone! But evidently, not the company that DaddyCatALSO works for.... Smile We have SprintPCS. They're a little expensive, but they have excellent customer service (very pleasant people), and a huge calling area (as long as you're near a highway.) The calling area is great with all of the travelling we do. Around here, we could pay less for a cell phone, but we couldn't take it with us on trips and that would suck. And THEY don't disconnect me when I'm a little late.
Okay, that's all. Does it qualify as a rant?
And you... You wouldn't be able to touch me. Because this-- this thing with you -- it's wrong! I know it! Not a complete idiot! You think I like having you here?! Destroying everything that was me until all that's left is you in a dead shell.
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