Upgrade

With our cell phone contract coming to a close, Nathalie and I went to the store to see what new models were available. As a reward for being with the same company for 2 years, we were told we had a $100 upgrade credit to use on the purchase of any new phone (with a new contract, of course.)

After browsing through the myriad of selections, Nathalie and I picked out two phones and went to talk to the sales rep. But as expected, nothing in life is really free, and neither were the cell phones, despite the $100 credit. Although the phones we picked out were $50 apiece, because we were both almost six feet tall, it disqualified us from being able to use the credit. In addition, the rep found out that we drive an SUV, so there was a $75 penalty fee tacked onto the contract.

No, that isn't quite true, but after listening to the rep explain the terms and conditions of using that free credit it seemed like he was making stuff up and that pretty much any phone that looked cool was exempt from being cost free.

After a mind-numbing review of how that crazy contract works to get a free phone, Nathalie and I were just tired of being there so we ended up just picking out just two random phones that qualified for the discount, signed new contracts, and left.

Although we were a bit bummed out at first for not getting the phones we initially picked out, the phones that we did end up with were still way improved and much advanced compared to the bricks we've been carrying around for the past 2 years.

These phones also came with the option to have what's called a "ringback tune": When someone calls your phone, they hear music that you've picked out and paid for instead of the usual "ring ring" tone through the earpiece while waiting for you to answer.

No matter how much I thought about it, I couldn't see why I would spend money for this option. In fact, all this would do is confuse the people calling me. I can see my parents being quite confused when they try to call me. Instead of hearing the usual ringing noise, they'll hear Jay-Z talking about how he's got 99 problems, but the bitch ain't one.

So they'll likely hang up the phone thinking they've called some weird music line by accident, wonder how that happened because they used the speed-dial on their phone that I set up for them, and just try again. Only to get the same thing. And only to hang up again. Rinse, lather, repeat, until they think begin to think something's wrong with their phone. And I end up with my phone showing that I've got 15 missed calls and nothing in voice mail because they didn't hang on long enough for that to even pick up.

I could spend the time to explain the ringback tune thing, but really, if watching them try to use the internet was any indication of anything, I know it's better just to stay with what they know.