I gave in. I was weak. Vain. (Perhaps even yuppy-ish if that word didn't make me sound old). Yet strangely justifiably pragmatic. So I keep telling myself.
Yes, I swapped my cell phone for a Blackberry device at the local 02 Phone shop today. My last phone was okay and would have gone on for a while, but the back casing went missing somewhere en route to/from Iowa and looked/acted a little worse for wear. After speaking to my colleague Alison Jones at the Batman junket and finding that she'd got her Blackberry as a free upgrade for being a loyal 02 customer, I realised it had been a while since my own 02 upgrade and so trundled into town today to see if I could net myself something free and shiny and probably a bit useful. If my brother can have a shiny electronic book thingy, I can have a shiny phone thingy. So there!
I went into one 02 shop where the guy said I really needed to contact 02 on the phone or the Net to see if I was eligible for the upgrade. I knew this was rubbish, but as the guy seemed to be more interested in selling those new fangled I-Phoney things to sixteen years old with more money than tanning lotion, they lost my custom. So I went to the other 02 shop in Leeds and they were much more helpful. (Yes, Mr Mosby, we can give you what you want. Shiny new Blackberry phone, the sort that has it's own tiny keyboard and screen and it's free - just a slight upgrade on your tarrif per month) I'd now pay between £30-35, rather than between £25-30!) I checked several times about what that covered and then signed on the dotted line.
When I get home things don't seem to set up right so I do the obligatory call to 02 and find that, (Oh no Mr Mosby you were misinformed, if you want to be able to get e-mails on the move then it's a £10 bolt-on(ie: extra £). Sorry, but that's the deal and we're very sorry you were misinformed at the shop, but not our fault. We suggest you go back and complain...)
Maybe not. I calmy explain that by my reckoning their calculations mean, regardless of being wrongly informed at the shop, I would now be paying around £20 MORE for getting a phone that did exactly what the last one did, but which looks nicer and has a few bells and whistles, none of which are worth the extra outlay.
And oh, *cough* did I mention I edit a national magazine?
Quick scurrying at 02 later and: (... oh looksee, sorry.... let's see what we can do. Okay, you've now got the 'bolt-on' for free and the Blackberry should be up and running tomorrow and is that all ok, Mr Mosby?')
Yes. That should do nicely.
It's good to talk.
.
