RANT! CELL PHONE CRAZIES!

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Ray D

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 4, 2006
Posts
1,963
Location
Boise, Idaho
There is no purpose to this thread. I?d ask for help, but there is really none to be had. This is bigger than all of us. There is no help to be had! And, I am a Vet. You know how they are - sometimes just go off the deep end for no reason at all!  :eek:

I?ve had cell phones, since there were cell phones! I?ve had cell phones since they first came out, called ?Pagers!?  Way back in the early 60s, I admired the new pagers that some doctors had, new invention that very conveniently kept you in touch. Then, my company got them, gave me one, (free) and I learned that they were actually a new method for attaching a leash! Loved them! Hated them! Couldn?t live without ?em! You?d think that someone with that extensive experience could handle a simple modern purchase!  :-\

I think it was ?87, when I got my first modern cell, through AT&T. Don?t remember the monthly charge, but had to sign up for a year to get it. The phone was $1,100! (I think that?s just short of a million, in today?s dollars.) No free phones, back then! Long distance was free and I had more minutes than I needed. My rates were low, and guaranteed for a lifetime. (Life was short, back then!)  ;)

Misunderstood the terms - ?long distance,? especially - - learned about ?roaming? the hard way. Won?t be forgetting that! Got dropped calls between the living room and bathroom! Best reception was in the blackberry patch, in the neighbor?s back yard. (Not the same ?Blackberry? as today. Those were different!)

Loved the convenience of being able to receive an incoming call, while turning left at a major intersection! My relationship with AT&T was not one of those ?Love/Hate? things. It was unmitigated, mutual, HATRED! Divorced after ten years. Waited too long!  :mad:

Cell companies were GIVING PHONES AWAY, FREE, BY THEN! AT&T would give someone a free phone, to start with them but would give me nothing, to stay with them! (We weren?t even pretending to be civil with each other, by then.)

Went with NEXTEL. Got a free phone. Loved the radio feature!  ;D

HATE NEXTEL! Recently bought out by Sprint! Already hate Sprint, and I don?t even have their service! (You can get both, Sprint and Nextel, depending upon where you live and not including Idaho!) (There?s an opportunity to develop hatred with legs!)  :mad:

Can?t get a free phone, now, and the old one is on it?s last legs. (I can get a free phone if I will ?add a line.? They send me offers for that, twice a week!) Well, we have a fist fight every year or two, and I come out with some sort of ?special,? but otherwise, it?s spit and sputter all the way! Looking for another company that I can, at least, get along with. Been looking since I started my last contract, more than two years ago.

I made a list of requirements: First, they must know where Idaho is! They must offer a contract that I understand. (I?m university educated, in business and law. I taught that, at the University level, and have the retirement pension. This should be do-able, I would think.)  :-\

They must put the contract terms in understandable form, where I can read them, before I buy. They must show me a map of their service area that is accurate and reasonably reliable. I don?t want a dropped call, on the way to the bathroom! The ?FREE? stuff must be free!

Haven?t found anyone who can meet any of those terms, so far. Actually, pretty hard to find out the terms, before I buy, at all. And, I don?t understand the terms, anyway, when I can find them. What is a ?minute?? What is ?free long distance??  What is ?roaming? and where do I have to pay it? What is a ?FREE PHONE??  ???

But, I can get a phone that takes pictures! It will also keep my daily schedule - appointments - tell me who has a sale going, as I drive by - tell me where I am and where to go. (Up to now, I had to actually call them, in order for them to tell me ?where to go.?) That?s progress!  ::)

It will start my coffee in the morning and give me a wake up call when it?s ready. In the ad, it shows the French maid in a miniskirt, serving it.  ;D I haven?t figured that feature out, yet. Wonder how they do it? Or, is that like ?free long distance??

It will ?text message,? for people I don?t want to talk to. ??? I could E-Mail all day long instead of just in the morning! I hear that they will even pay for stuff, in the store, at check out! Actually, there is no particular need for me to be involved in the purchasing decision, anymore. Wow! I think I need one of those!

Read the other day that some survey established that cell phone service companies have the lowest ?customer satisfaction? index of all industries. Wonder why?  ::)

I saw the list of businesses they beat out. You gotta be imaginative, innovative, and work hard to set that kind of standard!

Ray D

REBUTTAL?  ???
 
A quote from Leo Getz in Lethal Weapon 4 is appropriate here:

"They BEEP you with cell phones. That's what it is. They're BEEPin' you with the cell phone. They love it when you get cut off. Y'know why, huh? You know why? 'Cause when you call back - -which they know you're gonna do. - -they charge you for that BEEPin' first minute again at that high rate. "
 
Ray, I hope you feel better now :)  I can't argue with anything you wrote.
 
I'll add a few rants to that!

Why can't you get two phones with the same set of inbound numbers?  The technology supports that, but I haven't seen the capability from anyone.

I want my phone to handle two different numbers and the manufacturer's manual states that it can, but my provider has that feature disabled.  Does anyone support it?

Does any provider allow you to send or receive a fax when connected to your PC?  again, the phone manual says it's supported, but my provider has it disabled.

Inquiring minds want to know!!!

Al
 
Al,

For sending and receiving FAXes with the computer, get an account at MaxEmail and your faxes are handled via email attachments.  I use PDF but they support most graphics and document formats as well.  Real FAX machines are an anachronism :)
 
Thanks for a good read Ray.  You have my blessing.  LOL  I can walk out on my front porch and get all bars for phone, anywhere in the house I can get one or two, go out on the back porch and we get nothing.  They tell me the nearest tower is five miles due south of our house but signals only go for 4.9 miles.  Just my luck.  We have Verizon since last feb.  Bought it while at Mardi Gras in Louisiana.  It seems to work good thru Idaho.  We went to Yellowstone twice last year and seemed to work good both ways.  And my step son lives in Malad, Idaho in them eastern mountains and has Verizon and gets good signal which really surprises me for the place he lives.  Good luck and hope you find that which you seek. 
 
Ned said:
Al,

For sending and receiving FAXes with the computer, get an account at MaxEmail and your faxes are handled via email attachments.  I use PDF but they support most graphics and document formats as well.  Real FAX machines are an anachronism :)

Thanks, Ned!  I've looked at those services before, but they seem kinda expensive since I only send maybe 3 faxes per year and I have a free eFax account for inbound.  It seems to be only a few doctors or lawyers who can't handle receiving an email with an attached document.

Al
 
I use MaxEmail and receiving faxes is free, sending is $.05/30 seconds, I believe.  A typical 3 page fax costs about $.10.  The annual subscription is <$15/year.
 

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