10:00 PM 8/16/2001

            I imagine this little posting is going to shock the hell out of anyone who actually reads my writing on this site.  When I write, it’s usually because I’m pissed off about something or depressed.  The fact that I’m writing a positive article and I’m in a good mood is a definite cause for alarm.  Be sure to hide the children and brace for impact. 

            A couple of days ago, I realized that the flip on my cell phone was about to break off.  This didn’t really surprise me, since I have had the phone for over a year and a half and things like the antenna and belt clip have broken recently.  I guess plastic can only take some much fatigue before it finally gives. 

            So, I decided to call AT&T Wireless up to see what new kinds of Ericsson phones they had available for their network.  I know most of you evil people are probably Nokia fans… and for a while, I was too.  Then I decided I didn’t need a huge cell phone swiss army knife of doom, and I would actually get a phone that’d fit in a pocket.  Ericsson had one that was cheap, Nokia had one that was somewhere around $400 at the time.  Hmm… is being able to play snake on my phone worth $400?  You decide. 

            Anyways, back to the main story.  I know I’m probably boring the hell out of you by now, so if you haven’t started drinking bleach yet to end it all, please do so now.  J  AT&T told me they currently have two Ericsson models, a big multi-function phone, or one that looks just like mine, except with some new features.  After some deliberation, I decided that the smaller phone would be more to my liking, and I asked for prices.  This is when I was shocked.

            Apparently, being a customer for a while with AT&T Wireless actually pays off.  For my three years of wonderful patronage, they were going to give me a $20 discount on the phone… bringing the price to $30.  Wait, there’s more:  They were also going to give me a $65 service credit AND an extra 1000 minutes a month for the next year.  Can you believe that?  A utility company actually GIVING ME stuff?  Ok, I’m probably going to be suckered into being a customer of theirs for life now.

            I’m so used to completely asinine service from every other company I do business with.  When there’s a problem, I have to wait a week for someone to come out to fix it or put up with 45 minute hold times just to have someone tell me that their internal call center database is down, so I’ll just have to call back later.  Geez, I never even experienced a minute of hold time trying to ask someone questions about buying a new phone.  This kind of service should be a model for other companies.  When you’re really nice to your customers, they’re really nice to you.  Now, if only someone could tell the Macaroni Grill that a waiter team of four that takes forever to even take your order doesn’t exactly make for a happy group of customers… 

            Thanks for putting up with this rant kind of thing.  -Robert