By John Toth
The Bulletin
My quest to bring my cellphone status into the 21st Century quickly became a complicated web that was partly my own creation.
But not totally. It was also the fault of those who should never be answering a help line where the questions are more complicated than how long a turkey should be baked.
This is one reason why I keep my phone for a long time. I hate the hassle of relearning how the phone operates and transferring everything I need over to it.
Give progress some credit, though. The phones I was dealing with, as I transitioned into the modern era, do most of the app loading all by themselves. It’s pretty self-explanatory. But I still hate venturing into the unknown and leaving my safe place.
My first try was a fail. The phone I ordered did not have a lot of things I needed, so I returned it for a refund. The second try was a late-model Motorola phone, which was pretty easy to set up. I bought a new case and was satisfied.
Then a week later, I got a call from a T-Mobile sales representative, who brought me up to date on the new business packages available. He was a great salesman. I wish he could sell ads for us on the side, but he said he was too busy.
He used the word “free” a bunch of times, like in every sentence. Free phones, free smart watches, lower monthly cost. I bit the bait and ordered all of it. But wait, I just got this great deal on a Motorola phone. Now I’ll have to transfer everything again.
It didn’t matter. I had a chance to upgrade to the latest Samsung Galaxy model phone for no charge as long as I stay with T-Mobile for a couple of more years.
“That won’t be hard,” I told the sales rep. “I’ve been with T-Mobile before it became T-Mobile.”
“I see that you have been with us more than seven years,” he replied.
This opened the door for me to go into the history of my long journey. It took a little time.
It all started when one of our advertisers started carrying VoiceStream phones, the predecessor to T-Mobile. They were cheaper than the other providers, so I bought one and soon realized that Voicestream didn’t have such a great network. This was about 20-plus years ago.
I made do, since I didn’t want to pay what the other carriers charged. Then VoiceStream got tired that a lot of its customers were calling it pukestream (well deserved), and decided to change the name to T-Mobile. They also started to expand the network. I was able to get decent coverage, so I stayed with them. (I shortened my story for this column.)
“Are you still on the line?” I asked the rep.
“Yes,” he said, sounding like he just woke up.
A few days later, two boxes arrived. Once again, the transition began. But I realized that I may have bit off more than I could chew, so I had to slow things down and go one step at a time.
I ran into trouble right away. The sales rep told me that these phones had a digital SIM, and no card was needed. I called T-Mobile to try to figure out how to transfer my old number into the new phone without a SIM card slot.
(SIM stands for Subscriber Identity Module. It is a card that carries an identification number unique to the owner. The phone cannot access the network without it.)
I had some trouble understanding the agent because of a heavy accent and background noise. I don’t know where she was working from, but I suspect India, in a large, noisy room.
I was not doing well between the accent and the noise. I can handle them separately, but together a lot of information just breaks down into babble. I had to ask her several times to repeat what she said.
Then I was transferred over to another agent who also wasn’t any help. I gave up and hung up the phone.
After I calmed down from being totally frustrated, I looked closer at the new phone and found a familiar slot with a pin hole on one side. That had to be the SIM card slot. It was.
I put the old card in, fired up the phone, and the old number was now in my new phone. I mentioned to the tech in India earlier that I couldn’t believe that they made these phones without a SIM card slot, and she didn’t reply.
All she had to say was, ”they do have a slot. Just open it and slip the old card in.” I suspect she did not know. I wonder if she knew anything about baking a turkey?
The watch was easier. I did it in a few minutes. The new phone is great. I love it. The watch is great. I feel like I should get a refund from T-Mobile for going through all that hassle for no reason.
The phone rang. It was a T-Mobile supervisor calling about the low rating I left after I received a text asking to rate my experience. I rated it zero.
He was concerned. I assured him that I was not leaving T-Mobile. I told him I got it all done after I found the SIM card slot. He apologized and asked if he could be of help or answer any questions.
“Yeah, do you know how long it takes to bake a 10-lb turkey?”
He didn’t know. I googled it.
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