Tag: Verizon

To T or Not To T. To I or Not To I. Those Are The Questions.

I have been a customer with Verizon for over 20 years. I have stayed with them because I knew that if I was traveling I would have a good signal. When I was DJing, I had their Jetpack which allowed me to use internet to download songs if I had to. Today, I rarely travel far and I no longer DJ. I had to really look at things.

I won’t go into my financial situation, but it recently became clear that we had to cut back a little. We have been paying about $250 for my phone and my wife’s phone. We also pay for a line for her Apple Watch. My mother and father-in-law have four phones on their plan (maybe with AT&T?) and pay about $100. So I began the search.

You would think that if you’ve been with a carrier for as long as I have that there would be some incentive to stay with them. Every time we get a new phone or the bill creeps up, I call Verizon. I tell them what I need and they may be able to bring the bill down a bit, but over time it begins to creep back up again.

T-Mobile’s coverage has increased a lot since they took over Sprint or whatever other carrier they merged with. They have a couple plans to choose from, and even their most expensive one is considerably less than what we pay at Verizon. I guess it helps that I am 55, because they have a 55+ plan. I will make a decision by the end of the day today, but it seems like we will make the switch. With that switch comes another issue.

I have been an Android user for what seems like forever. I have never had issues with it. I have things backed up to my Google account and on the Verizon Cloud (I suppose I will have to grab all of that if I switch). I always felt like it was easier to use than an iPhone. My wife has been bugging me to get an iPhone since we got married. I guess primarily for Facetime. I have no issue using Google Meet or even Facebook Messenger for video calls now, but she likes Facetime.

If we switch to T-Mobile, I can get an iPhone 17 for free. My wife would get an upgrade to the same phone for nothing (as long as she trades in her current iPhone). One of the things I love about my Android phone is that it seems to take better pictures than the iPhone (even my wife has said that). I like how quick I can edit photos with it, too.

If you have read my blog for any length of time, you know that I do not do good with change. Even though I have worked through a lot of it over the last 8 years, it just is not easy for me. I am a creature of habit and I worry about not having the familiarity that I have with my current phone. Every time I have ever had to do something on my wife’s phone, I end up having to hand it to her because I have no idea how to navigate it.

I have the guy from T-Mobile calling me back this evening to finalize things, should the switch be what happens. I guess I really need to think about this.

SMASH! CRACK!

I watched it fall like it was in slow motion. My phone slid off the counter and as it fell I could hear myself yelling in slow motion, “Nooooooo!” I could feel myself reaching out, hoping to get my hands on it before it hit the floor, but I never had the chance. It came down and the upper left corner of the phone slammed into the floor.

It seemed to bounce before it fell facedown on the floor. My heart sank, knowing that despite the protection of a screen protector and an Otterbox, the screen had shattered.

I reached down, picked it up and slowly turned the front to face me. Sure enough, the upper corner of my phone was covered in cracks and shards of glass. One crack went from the upper left corner all the way down to the lower right corner. It was not pretty.

This isn’t the first time it has dropped on the ground. Perhaps this time it was just high enough to do damage. The Otterbox and screen protector have done their jobs! It took a few drops before the screen protector cracked and was replaced. The last one held up for well over a year. This drop, however, was a bit different and when I heard it hit the ground, I knew it was going to be bad.

The last few phones I have had were Motorola phones. I have had very good luck with them. For a while there it seemed like I was only getting a year or less out of a phone before I had to send them back to the factory or call about issues. When I switched to Moto phones, those issues stopped. I always got 2-3 years out of them with little or no issues.

Three years ago, when it was time for Sam and I to upgrade, she tried to get me to switch to an iPhone, and despite some very good arguments, I stayed with my Android phone. It continues to work well, and if it wasn’t terribly damaged, I’m sure I wouldn’t even be thinking about an upgrade yet. After the incident today, I opened up my Verizon App and began to explore the option to upgrade.

With both of our phones paid in full, our current bill has come down. I hated the thought of upgrading because that would mean an extra $20 or more on the bill each month. I called Verizon and discussed options on my way to work.

The rep who I spoke with shared some of the upgrade options with me. I had seen something on the app that said if you upgraded one phone, you could get another free. I thought this could be nice for both Sam and I, however, I was told in order to do that, you have to get an entirely new line and new number. We’ve both had our numbers for years, so that was not an option.

They had a deal on a new Samsung phone. The phone would cost $980, but they would give me $800 for my phone. I would only have to pay $180 for the phone over 36 months – $5 a month. This would be something I could work with. I didn’t want to do anything without first discussing with Sam, so I mentioned it to her and I decided that I would go ahead with the upgrade, despite it not being a Motorola phone.

I chatted with another representative when I called back. I told her exactly what I had discussed with the other rep. She proceeded to get things in order and before we finalized things, she told me my new monthly bill would be almost $50 more. I asked how that could be and she started to explain this that and the other. I reminded her that the other rep had given me a quote that was only $5 more a month. She said she was going to try something else.

When she returned to the line the price had come down, but only slightly. I told her that I had been with Verizon for over 20 years and I didn’t want to pay the higher price. She tweaked here and there and it never really came down much more. I reminded myself that the only reason I was gung ho about the new phone was that it was basically an even trade. It was only going to cost $5 a month, so why wouldn’t I take advantage of this?! I told the woman on the phone that I would need to discuss this with my wife before committing to the changes, knowing that I was not going to do it.

So now what? I opened up my app and started to really examine the bill. One of the things I had forgotten about was the fact that I have been paying for insurance on my phone since I got it! Insurance! It had been so long since I have had to file any kind of claim, I had completely forgotten about it.

In the past it seemed like I was forever using the Asurion insurance to replace broken phones, phones that wouldn’t keep a charge, and phone with other issues. I went to their website, typed in my number and filed a claim. I paid my deductible and my new phone (which is the same phone I have now) will arrive tomorrow. Done.

In the end, I saved us a boatload of money. I also will keep the phone I am comfortable with and won’t have to buy new accessories for it. To me, that’s a huge win.

The only thing I am freaked out about is making sure that everything is backed up so that when my phone arrives, everything will transfer to it. Of course, I will have to remember every last dang password for apps, but I suppose I should be back up and running at full power in a matter of days.

Fingers crossed!