Well, it was fun to write that title. But I am lacking the satisfaction that would come from hearing that both of them were bankrupt.
Explanation: as an Apple customer for over 20 years, I really, really wanted to get an iPhone when my Verizon contract expired, as it recently did. So I went to the AT&T website to check for coverage in the Taos, NM area. Naturally, there isn’t any. The website shows only “partner” coverage and no data service whatsoever. This is a lie, as checking out the comments to my earlier post will reveal.
So I immediately telephoned Verizon to confirm that I had 30 days to cancel my two-year renewal and return the LG enV2. Interestingly, the nice lady in Mumbai or wherever she was said her name was “Julie,” which is also a lie. (Why do they do that? Her Hindi name would be just fine with me…) She was very helpful, though, until she asked me why I was asking about cancelling my service. When I told her I wanted an iPhone, she said they were “too complicated” and that I should get a Blackberry Storm, hahahaha. I hung up on her.
Next, I called AT&T (duh) and ended up talking to “Julie’s” sister. I’m not a racist and God knows I’m not blinded by the red-white-and-blue, but I hate talking to customer service reps in another goddamned country. I just do. Anyway, before I had a chance to hang up on her, she switched me to a fine young man in the good ole U.S.A. who finally explained things to me, to wit:
1. If you come to Taos with your iPhone, of course you can use it. It works fine. However,
2. AT&T cannot sell you a contract in Taos, because… well, just because. They just can’t or won’t. You can’t get one if you live here, but if you don’t live here, you can, and then you can move here and use it.
Clear?
They can all go to hell as far as I’m concerned, but for now, I’m sticking with Verizon, and yes, I do still love my LG enV2. Why Apple signed an exclusive deal with AT&T is beyond me, but if the rumored Verizon-compatible iPhone ever shows up, I’ll get one.
(IF I don’t have to talk to “Julie..”)
Geez!
Related posts:
- I Love This Phone (LG enV2) [Updated]
- Idiots, Scary Monsters, & a 25-Year-Old Song [version 2.0]
- Minor Voodoo [Updated]
- Listen, You Can Camp Out on My Lawn All You Want
In fact, we...
{ 11 comments… read them below or add one }
ATT coverage pretty much sucks in a lot of places. I think they must have deals with other companies to provide services where they can’t, but don’t want to advertise it, so you get crap like this.
I would love to switch off Verizon, but they really do have dynamite coverage pretty much everywhere. That alone still makes them worth it.
At a guess, i’d say either because AT&T offered more money to be exclusive, or because of steve jobs’ famous control issues.
that said, a thought – can you rent a cheap PO box for a month in Albequirkie, use that as your “address,” and get the contract that way?
OTOH, I still have ATT for long distance land line, because you can’t beat them there, either.
I’m in a similar situation. I’d love to dump Verizon, but I have a family plan and this would involved my wife and both my college age kids getting new phones so that I could get an iPhone. Verizon coverage at my house is pretty bad. Otherwise I’d consider dumping my land line. Looking at AT&T’s maps though, coverage on my street (and only my street) is non-existent. I’m in the fabled “dead zone”.
I have also heard that at this point the iPhone on Verizon problem is one of hardware, with Verizon using a different chip set than the rest of the planet, and that there will never be a Verizon iPhone. I have an iPod touch, which I love, and I’d love to get an iPhone. Unfortunately, it looks impossible for the foreseeable future. Apple? Are you listening. You’ve got potential customers out there who would just love to shell out good money for your product but can’t. Does that seem like good marketing to you?
Cheers,
~Fred
But John, since Wal-mart starting selling iPhones they are SO passé!
Oh, and I dumped AT&T a few years back because they have (or had) the WORST customer service of any company I’ve ever dealt with, bar none.
Julie’s Hindi name is probably 17 syllables long. I used to recruit for hi-tech and the names on the resumés were daunting. She’d probably rather be called “Julie” than listen to you mangle her name.
One of those service providers in Bangalore is building a call center in Atlanta because of cheaper real estate and wages. Back in the days that Dell had money, it considered building a call center in OK City, but it was too 3rd world for them.
John
Julie’s Hindi name is probably 17 syllables long. I used to recruit for hi-tech and the names on the resumés were daunting. She’d probably rather be called “Julie” than listen to you mangle her name.
The point is, it’s lying, which gets things off to a terrible start. I wouldn’t have needed to pronounce her Hindi name, anyway, but it would have been nice to hear it.
As for OK City, they were right.
Oh, what’s in a name? ‘Taint really lying. My Dad was called “Max” by his friends all through college, though that was no part of his name. So Julie’s her nickname. Get over it.
John
She didn’t say it was her nickname, man. She lied. We’re drowning in lies these days, all of us. It isn’t going to end well.
“When a man lies, he murders some part of the world. These are the pale deaths which men miscall their lives. All this I cannot bear to witness any longer. Cannot the kingdom of heaven take me home?”
-Cliff Burton, the original bassist for Metallica (he wrote that little gem shortly before dying in a bus crash while on tour in Germany. Be careful what you wish for, huh?…)
(and after he died was when Metallica began to suck balls. there *were* very good and original in the early days, but Cliff was their Soul, and without him they sold out and became blandly normal and just another generic hard rock product band…. which of course was when they became HUGELY successful….. of course….)
Something else to check John is a story I watched on Nightline last night. (check their website for details) but it was about a new program called Cell Swapping….Apparently lots of folks like you want the I-Phone but are stuck with their Verizon or whatever cell plan….BUT there are those out there willing to swap companies with you, and for a small fee – they take over your Verizon plan and you get your AT&T plan – with your Santa Fe PO Box # or whatever…and everyone is Happy…Just more FYI – but check it out and see if it seems worth the hassle…..Steve
The coverage map at att shows the same thing in my area, 5 miles from las vegas, nm. Partner coverage. 87731 take a look
I make most calls in las vegas and on the road when I signed up, as I finished the details online.
Why would I want to use the cell in the house unless the road grader cut the beloved qwest above ground “sometimes in the wire fence and sometimes on the rocky road” wires.
Wth a cell phone signal booster I can get the att signal in the adobe with the 12″ + walls.
Check for yourself with a friend’s iPhone to see how strong the signal really is in your area in taos.
I love my iPhone and wouldn’t have any other.
It’s the simplicity of the software and it’s screen is wider just enough to make a difference than most I’ve seen.
My sister says, “‘I want an iPhone so I can use the app store”!!!
She who has Sprint coverage and sometimes gets a signal in our adobe if she’s outside……who would have thunk it.