limited selection
Yknow, when you consider how much people supposedly love their cell phones, and the fact that just about everyone has one and they are very much a part of our everyday lives, you’d think that buying one wouldn’t be a such a pain in the ass. It took two hours to get our new phones, and 50 minutes of that was spent waiting around for a salesperson in the Verizon store to help us. We waited because we had the same wait at the Sprint store, and eventually just walked out. So much for being a loyal Sprint customer for 5 years.
And the dumb thing is that part of why we went with Verizon is because people kept telling me how great their customer service is. Huh. Maybe its just the way things are with the cell phone biz.
We got a pair of LG VX7000 phones, which aren’t too bad, i guess. They do pretty much what i wanted them to do (based on what cell phones in the states can do that is) and didn’t cost $500 a piece. Too bad they are kinda… uuuuugly. Oh well, they are just phones, i guess. They aren’t pretentious, at least. I’ve already customized walpapers and stuff, so at least that wasn’t too hard to do. Pretty sad - all that technology, and the thing that makes me happy is being able to put Tomoyo-chan on my phone.
Honestly, i’m just glad to have the cell phone thing done. I like buying techy things, doing the research, etc,(for example, i enjoyed doing the research on headphones, and i appreciate all the input i got from everyone here - i like my Grados. A little more bass would be nice, but they are pretty nice otherwise 
but researching cell phones was just… frustrating. The limitations aren’t based on whether you can afford the things, it’s all based on what crap they make available to you. It makes it harder for people who like to be a little more unique when all they have to choose from is that weighted average of what it is felt the masses wants.
Nothing is more frustrating than having to choose from that kind of limited selection.
- pirotunes: Narc - Defragment - digital to analog conversion - Disk 1 -
June 22nd, 2005 at 11:16 am
Yeah, I remember the two hour wait for getting my cell… I just happened to be lucky that we got our phones at a Verizon booth at Costco. Once we gave them the necessary info (took about 30 minutes, I think) they were able to finish up with the activation while we did our shopping, after which we came back and picked up our phone kits.
Erm… now’s your cue to glare at me and mumble “lucky bastard” or some equivalent, I suppose. ^^;
June 22nd, 2005 at 11:51 am
I know this has just about SQUAT to do with your rant, but I have to just throw in a bit of an “I told you so” about the SR-60s. The SR-80s (which I own personally) have that bass you’re missing. Oh well . . .
As for the celphones, yeah, they don’t really cater to anything but the average. All I and my wife wanted were phones that we could use in the case of dire emergency, like a car breaking down, or our son being hurt/sick, and wanted to pay the absolute minimum for them. The big companies don’t want to deal with plans under $20 a month, and even then, you can just barely use your phones. You have to go to $30 a month to get an actual functional plan, and then we’d need two of them. We ended up with TracFone, a prepaid service, and some clunky old Nokia phones. We still have to pay $19 or so every 2 months to keep them active, but at least all the minutes we buy add up. I really can’t imagine having the desire to really DO something with a celphone and then having to hunt down the models and the plans and then actually paying for them . . . GAH!
June 22nd, 2005 at 1:33 pm
2 hours? Sheesh, you did get stuck! The Mrs. and I got ours swapped out within 30min. You should goto the Verizon Jackson Rd. location on a Sunday afternoon.
Nice and fast!
June 22nd, 2005 at 2:24 pm
Hm I think I might need a new one soon to. Oh well. Im glad you are happy with y ou phone…I hope its durable enough to survive anything that might happen to it. Not saying anything will but if I ever go to a con that has you just hope its durable. Erm glad you mangaed to get one without another 3 hours.
June 22nd, 2005 at 8:01 pm
Ah, if only the US would catch up with the rest of the world’s cellphone technology…I read somewhere that people in Japan can use theirs as wallets…and I’m sure most customers don’t have to wait 2 hours just to get one. What a pain that must’ve been!
June 22nd, 2005 at 8:13 pm
“people kept telling me how great their customer service”
Verizon? umm…are you sure?
people have been lying to you fred….
If your unlucky you can easily expect an hour long wait every time you walk in there enjoy
(Please forgive me butchering the english language)
June 22nd, 2005 at 8:15 pm
AHHH….double post!
sorry sorry,
just curious why does the comment thing ask for our e-mails?
June 22nd, 2005 at 9:20 pm
wykdwolf: Your username links to your e-mail. Mmmhmm.
On Topic:
Unfortunately (and strangely enough), I myself do not own a cell phone. It is not necessary in my life as it is, and I am quite happy with my normal phones. >>; I’m strange, yes, but I suppose a simple life is good enough for me.
Besides, every day it seems like more and more of a hassle is involved in getting a cell phone…so why bother? ._.
June 23rd, 2005 at 1:38 am
Nah, I don’t think your phones are that ugly…
I need a phone.. I keep on getting lost because I don’t have a phone when I’m driving.. dammm
June 23rd, 2005 at 3:00 am
I think we all know that Tomo-chan, not Tomoyo-chan, is the one that’s really going on that phone. : )
June 23rd, 2005 at 10:25 am
Okay, “geniuses”
1) Customer service with Verizon quality will depend on what region you live in, whether the store was properly staffed that day, and whether the person that walked up to you was up to snuff at that particular moment…. as with any other provider. (disclaimer: I’m a Cingular customer and used to be an AT&T customer).
2) Which part of the planet Earth would the Verizon store on “Jackson Rd” be?
Anyway — I’ve never been able to get my V220 freebie’s USB port to work properly with the official Motorola software, so “free” seems to mean crippled (at least with the Cingular branded flashcard). I’m about to walk into a service store and request they demonstrate the phone isn’t defective and see what that gets for a response.
The more I read about the Japanese offerings (with basically little/no competition) and price plans, the more irritated I get at the whole current telco infrastructure in the States.
June 23rd, 2005 at 11:37 am
tomoyo is really cute^^ i have a lot of free time maybe ill try and draw her later today.
June 23rd, 2005 at 1:58 pm
in response to you ALA going-to-ness
I wish you would’ve posted that like..Tues…because then I would’ve asked the person in charge of my volunteering at my local library to buy one of your posters…she’s also going to ALA…
June 23rd, 2005 at 2:39 pm
*sigh* i feel your pain. i’m trying to get a new phone AND a new calling plan right now. i spent TWO HOURS at the stupid verizon place, never got helped, and walked out empty-handed. cell phones are supposed to be time savers, aren’t they? but how much of your life do you waste trying to BUY the damn thing. good luck in your future cellphone ventures.
June 23rd, 2005 at 5:38 pm
…I don’t own a cell phone.
So I’m afraid I can’t sympathize much here. ^__^
June 23rd, 2005 at 7:22 pm
@vexx: Given that he lives up in MI, I’d assume it’s somewhere up there…
June 24th, 2005 at 8:25 am
I dunno who told you verizon has good customer service.. actually they suck. A lot. But from reading online reviews of the different cell companies Verizon has the best coverage in the US (too bad a large section of indiana is missing).
June 24th, 2005 at 12:07 pm
Cell phone additions are entertaining. It would be nice to just have the theme to Clannad as a ringtone.
Tomo-chan and Tomoyo-chan…
~Chun
June 24th, 2005 at 5:35 pm
Just one thing. Didn’t get to comment on the “intolerance” rant, so I’m doing it here. Sorry to whoever gets bothered by it.
When you’re doing a comic, you’re doing it for fun. You’re doing it because you like it.
And you do it *your* way.
Don’t give a damn about the critics. I promise you, no matter how much they bug you with: “Piro sucks! Kill zombies with Largo!”, they will *still* be coming back every 2 days, looking for that wonderful update.
They *won’t* desert you, just because the story isn’t going exactly where they want it to go.
I think that, as a cartoonist, it’s very important to remember that. What you make is *yours*, and you only answer to yourself in the end.
Basically, be more selfish about it, man. We’ll still be there all the way, because we know you’re a great cartoonist and a great storyteller. And we know we get our money’s worth… partly because it’s free, but you know what I mean.
About phones: If it does what you want it to do, and it does it reasonably well, yeah. No point buying the more expensive model, just because the cover is shinier.
Also, salespeople can make you wait, because there’s always the next guy who’ll come in, buy something grossly overpriced with a shinier cover and then leave thinking he cut a good deal.
They think they don’t really have to care about two people waiting for the odd hour. There’s always a next guy wanting his shiny thing.
June 24th, 2005 at 5:42 pm
hey, at least it’s not as bad as my phone. it doesn’t flip, it’s one of the flat ones. and the case doesn’t REALLY work, it kept falling apart, so my brother and i took off the back of it and duct taped the battery on. plus we took part of the front half of the cover off, to make the buttons easier to push. we realized too late that it wouldn’t help. plus, it’s black and white, and you can’t have backgrounds and games and stuff.
it’s a sucky phone, but hey, it’s pretty entertaining. (plus people never ask to borrow the phone - which means we don’t use too many minutes! yay!)
^_^
June 24th, 2005 at 5:59 pm
I feel for you with that Verizon service…a friend of mine only got quick service at the Verizon store because he knew one of the customer service people. Now don’t get me wrong they have wonderful coverage but my Cingular Motorola MPx 220 is a wonderful phone. Upside: Fully customizable and runs Windows Smartphone 2003. Downside: It costs 299.99 with a 2yr contract and it runs a MS operating system ^_^ However, I wasn’t able to find a US phone with the same features for less than 300 and I personally like Motorola’s phones.
June 25th, 2005 at 9:00 pm
i repeat. atleast you have one. >.<
June 26th, 2005 at 2:57 am
hey Fred,
probubly don’t remember me. its been sooo long since we talked, erm..i kinda lost your email addy, and just figured i could leave a message here (as long as i put my two cents worth in, right?) bought the first issue of your printed version of MegaTokyo. my friends love it. i was totally shocked when i found it out at the local mall’s book store. its pretty awsome. um anyways. yeah i’m too poor to afford a cell, but would like to get one sometime in the future where i make more then 120.00 dollars every two weeks -sigh- cheap employers.. anyway. i heard the cheapest (possibly) is getting one of those cell’s you can get for under 10 dollars and then paying for a phone card that you can use for a whole month. when you run out of minutes at the end of the month (unless your mr/mrs. motormouth) you should have a rather cheap plan there..or so i think. well it’s been great, so now i gotta go see whats new on the rest of the site. ^_^ ciao
June 26th, 2005 at 10:35 am
I never really use a cell phone… Not necessary for me… The way you make it sound, its sound like a hassle to get cell phones anyway…
June 26th, 2005 at 7:07 pm
About “Jackson Rd”, I just think its kind of funny when someone posts a location in a public forum with no indication of what part of the galactic quadrant its in…
I know Fred’s approximate location. But at post time, I had no idea where “Redace” was physically located but have been since informed he has something to do with Wizzywig’s Collectibles (someplace Fred spends his money at). So in form of apology… anyone who lives near there should go spend money at Wizzywig’s — and I’ll browse/shop from afar..