Can't Text Me Love

Cell phone salespersons are the “used-car” salesmen of the technology age. Why is it that every time I speak with one of them they spend 1% of their time actually listening to me and 99% of their time trying to convince me how much I need the latest, greatest device? I went into the store the other day and said straight out, “All I want is a cell phone for making calls (there’s a novel idea!). I use it primarily for business. I don’t need a lot of extra minutes. I want as basic of a plan as possible at as low of a cost as possible.” So, the guy decided to totally ignore all of this information, and take me to the latest fancy all-in-one phone/internet device. He told me that we can package stuff together to get me a really good deal. He said that if we bundled certain things with my home phone and internet service, it would be equal to what I am currently paying. His sales pitch sounded pretty good and reasonable, but unfortunately he wasn’t listening to me and was trying to sell me a techno-lemon. After a few clarifying questions, I discovered that the only way the cost would balance out is if I dropped my home internet service in favor for the internet service on the phone. I then asked him, “So, what you’re telling me is that I would have to do all my internet work on this 3 inch screen and with this 3 inch keyboard?” He paused, silently, to consider my question. “Yeah, I suppose so,” he responded nervously as he realized he was losing the sale, “but if you add this thing and this other additional cost, you can hook your computer up to your phone, etc, etc….” I said, “Thanks for your time” and walked out of the store, never to return again.

Have you seen the latest cell phone commercials? AT&T is trying to convince us that we need their phone because we can talk on that phone while at the same time surfing the internet on the same phone, and apparently you can’t do this with Verizon. Is this a helpful tool? How many times are you on the phone making an appointment with someone thinking, “Man, I wish I could be watching a youtube video for the 45 seconds I’m spending scheduling this meeting.” But the guy at the store believes that my life is somehow incomplete or lacking without all the new bells and whistles that will be obsolete one year from now.