Well, Sunday I went to the phone store to see what they could do for me. I told them the phone got a little wet and the battery seemed to be shorted out. A replacement battery was put in, and the phone did turn on! A ray of light! But it didn't really work. I was able to sign up for an insurance plan ($4.99/mo.) which allows a phone to be replaced. I did get some rice and put the phone in the bowl, thinking it couldn't hurt. But I think the new battery also shorted out and the phone didn't turn on again.
Back to the phone store Monday to see about replacing the phone. They don't do insurance replacements at the stores any more (once again, consumers are inconvenienced and receive fewer services while paying higher prices) but I got the phone number to call.
Tuesday morning called the insurance company (which I'm sure is a wholly owned subsidiary of AT&T) and after keying in many numbers, got a live person who asked me for all those same numbers again. I can get a replacement phone, factory refurbished (not new) but my model is on back order and may take 10 days to get here. And I have to pay a mandatory $50 deductible-automatically added to my phone bill. Today. And I have to mail the damaged phone and battery back. 10 days without a phone? That doesn't sound very convenient....
Did I ask at the store about loaner phones? Hmmmm. Didn't know that was a possibility....
Stay tuned for Part 3.
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Sunday, August 26, 2007
Cell Phone Woes
I've been trying to get a new cell phone, but the cell phone spirits are against me. I had a great Nokia candy bar phone that was pretty high end when I got it in the dark ages of cell phones. No camera but it had great range and was sturdy. So it finally went dead-bad car charger or what, I don't know but it died mid-call and never revived. That was ok, because I wanted something new with more features.
I took myself to my newly expanded Cingular-oh, sorry, AT&T -store and was pretty disappointed in the selection of phones. They had some in special cases that they didn't even carry any more-"We just haven't bothered to take those out of the cases." I wanted another bar phone, so I ended up taking home a Samsung something-or-other-very thin with a big screen. Flat buttons, similar to a Motorola Razr. It was too thin and too light and I couldn't get used to the buttons.
So the next day I took it all back (and the car charger) and looked around again.
This time I picked up the Nokia 6126 a flip phone (not what I really wanted) but it fit into my hand and had ridges around the buttons and a similar Nokia interface to my old phone. This time I got the bundle: car charger, case, and bluetooth headset. And a rebate form. That was on Wednesday. I was getting used to it and even added a photo of Beans to the front display. I was really getting used to it.
Then came Saturday. We went kayaking. I put the phone in a ziploc bag and got a waterproof bag from DH. "Is this bag waterproof?" I asked. "Yes," he said. I clipped the bag to the back of La Chalupa and we headed down the Medina River. In the first set of rapids I got caught sideways and tipped over. Lost the nalgene water bottle, but knew the waterproof bag was clipped in. After coming to calm water and turning everything right side up, DH said, "That bag should have been inside your boat-it's not waterproof like that." Hmm. Either something is waterproof or not, not only waterproof if it's inside another container.....At least that's what I would have thought.
So, the Nokia was waterlogged. I took out the battery and tried to keep it dry for the rest of the trip. When we got home I put a hair dryer on low and dried it for 4 hours. The water condensation in the screens cleared up. This morning I put it back together and plugged in the charger. After a while it actually beeped and came back on. The outside display was working, although dimly, and the keypad lights were on. Could it be resuscitated? The inside display did not work. After making a few noises-rumbles and beeps, it went off and hasn't come back on. I think I put in the battery too soon. Perhaps if I'd read this article last night, it would have helped!
I guess I'm going back to the phone store today. Perhaps the third time's the charm for cell phones.......On the way I'm going to drop the rebate forms at the post office.
I took myself to my newly expanded Cingular-oh, sorry, AT&T -store and was pretty disappointed in the selection of phones. They had some in special cases that they didn't even carry any more-"We just haven't bothered to take those out of the cases." I wanted another bar phone, so I ended up taking home a Samsung something-or-other-very thin with a big screen. Flat buttons, similar to a Motorola Razr. It was too thin and too light and I couldn't get used to the buttons.
So the next day I took it all back (and the car charger) and looked around again.
This time I picked up the Nokia 6126 a flip phone (not what I really wanted) but it fit into my hand and had ridges around the buttons and a similar Nokia interface to my old phone. This time I got the bundle: car charger, case, and bluetooth headset. And a rebate form. That was on Wednesday. I was getting used to it and even added a photo of Beans to the front display. I was really getting used to it.
Then came Saturday. We went kayaking. I put the phone in a ziploc bag and got a waterproof bag from DH. "Is this bag waterproof?" I asked. "Yes," he said. I clipped the bag to the back of La Chalupa and we headed down the Medina River. In the first set of rapids I got caught sideways and tipped over. Lost the nalgene water bottle, but knew the waterproof bag was clipped in. After coming to calm water and turning everything right side up, DH said, "That bag should have been inside your boat-it's not waterproof like that." Hmm. Either something is waterproof or not, not only waterproof if it's inside another container.....At least that's what I would have thought.
So, the Nokia was waterlogged. I took out the battery and tried to keep it dry for the rest of the trip. When we got home I put a hair dryer on low and dried it for 4 hours. The water condensation in the screens cleared up. This morning I put it back together and plugged in the charger. After a while it actually beeped and came back on. The outside display was working, although dimly, and the keypad lights were on. Could it be resuscitated? The inside display did not work. After making a few noises-rumbles and beeps, it went off and hasn't come back on. I think I put in the battery too soon. Perhaps if I'd read this article last night, it would have helped!
I guess I'm going back to the phone store today. Perhaps the third time's the charm for cell phones.......On the way I'm going to drop the rebate forms at the post office.
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