phone and contract talk

[blue toxin]

Long story short. I'm poor. I want a new phone. Do I need a new phone? Not really. The phone I have now is in decent shape, but it freezes a lot. It's got some software issues. If I open and close it once or twice too fast, it'll flash the screen white over and over and sometimes shut off. It's just more of an annoyance.

There's a new phone out. With a 2 year contract, it's free after mail in rebate. Here's the catch. I don't want a 2 year contract. But they don't sell the phone in the store, it's only available online. Online = 2 yr contracts ONLY.

I've been with Cingular for 3 years. I'm happy. But I like knowing that I can be like... HA! **** YOU! CANCEL ME! If I want... but if I left Cingular, I don't know where else I'd go. Verizon isn't appealing to me at all and tmobile's coverage is poor in this area. Plus everyone I know has Cingular, with the exception of 1 or 2 people...

Sign a 2 year and get a new phone? Or go month to month with what I got?

Keep in mind if I sign for a 2 year, and I get a new phone, I still have this other one... and I CAN put my sim card back in it and use it if I need to for whatever reason. Just fyi.

[misombra]

contracts suck.

i mean REALLY suck.

[jurupa]

Uh get a pay as you go phone, you save money depending on how much you use it and you are not in a contract. The only downside is that you have to buy so many minutes per month, to keep your phone active.

[blue toxin]

I started comparing these phones more and more, and I came to realize they're pretty similar. Both the same brand, just different features.

I think I'll try flashing the phone I have to correct the freezing issue, because I'm positive it's a software problem.

[blue toxin]

Uh get a pay as you go phone, you save money depending on how much you use it and you are not in a contract. The only downside is that you have to buy so many minutes per month, to keep your phone active.

Yeah, paying as I go wouldn't be the best option for me... I absolutely love the rollover. I've got like 1,500 minutes racked up. It's nice knowing I have that pool of minutes there in case I decide to talk for 3 hours one day.

[Gigabitch]

I'm really happy with Verizon because most of the people I know and both of my employers have it and we can all talk whenever we want for free.

[Gribble]

I'm fond of sprint. Nights start at 7 as opposed to 9. Being something of a night owl myself, I rarely call anyone before 7, so it's perfect for me.

[blue toxin]

I have 7 pm nights and rollover.

I just don't know if I want the contract. But the more I think about it, the more I think that maybe if I just got some new faceplates for this phone that I'd be satisfied for a while.

[Ellynn]

I have cingular too. I want to upgrade my phone but it says Im not elgible until June. My phone is ok but it kinda sucks. I want a new one. But, I'm lovin the rollover min. I got tons! My contract expires in Sept. maybe I'll just stick with my phone until then.

[vashti]

Meh, I barely use my phone, much to the annoyance of most people I know. I like my freedom.

[blue toxin]

Meh, I barely use my phone, much to the annoyance of most people I know. I like my freedom.

I used to think that too. Then two things happened.

1: I was coming home from work when I was on 2nd shift and I saw a drunk driver hit 2 parked cars and run off. After following him for half an hour while giving the dispatcher exact directions and speed of which we were traveling, the cops finally caught up. Imagine if he would of hit someone? Or simply even ran off and the folks woke up in the morning to go to work and realized their cars were hit?

2: I was going somewhere within the state, on my way I got a call on my cell. Turns out my grandpa went into the hospital with some severe stomach pain. The following morning he went into exploratory surgery since the doctors were unable to pinpoint what happened otherwise. Let's just say they found something that, if they brought him out of the surgery, he would of had a max of 4 hours of painful life to go. Something to do with a problem with his bowels. Now if I hadn't gotten that call, I wouldn't of been able to see him before he went into surgery. I was fortunate enough to be blessed with that opportunity.

Now, I never ever leave without my phone. I hate talking on it for any longer than 10 minutes, but it's my lifeline, and in the first case, could of potentially been the lifeline of countless others.

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UPDATE to my regular question.

I went to the cingular store. The phone I want isn't available in the store. So I called sales, and it's not in their system. The only possible way for me to get this phone is by ordering it online, which is a 2 year contract. Blah! Again I think I'll just get some new faceplates for this phone and be happy.


edit - Then I talk to people like my mom, who hates signing contracts and being committed to bills. However she looked at me like I was crazy. She was like, well if you say yourself you're never going to switch carriers, why not? She said her and dad have always signed up for 2 yr contracts. *shrug* Now I'm thinking about it, cause it's true. I been with Cingular for 3 years now... Everytime I had a problem I seriously just bitched until I got my way, which in all honesty, is the way it should of been cause it was their mess up. But their customer service has treated me decently. Plus, when it comes to contracts, if something serious happens and they refuse to fix it, my state of mind with contracts is this... if I'm paying x-amount of dollars for x-service, and they don't provide that service, they void the contract and can shove it up their tailpipe. I mean, it's true right?

Anymore thoughts? I'll wait till 2 or 3 when I'm on break at school and order this unless someone else can provide any other opinions.

[blue toxin]

Well, I got lucky. I did some research and could NOT find one of the 40 something phones Cingular offers to be that appealing. Some were, but then I'd read about them on review sites saying stuff like, this phone is great BUT the screen breaks easily, or the sound is terrible, or it hisses in the earpiece, and it seemed like it ruled out every single one.

Then I came across the Motorola KRZR. I just kind of ignored it at first because the RAZR wasn't, well, it wasn't the best phone out there by a long shot. It looked unique but that was it. The KRZR is an update of the RAZR, and where the new line of slim phones from Motorola is going. I did some research, and every review I read says it has great audio quality, no hiss, it's loud, the phone is durable and built well, etc. It also has a 2mpx camera and mp3 player built in with mini sd card expansion. Not bad! Not bad at all considering all I wanted is a decent phone, and this phone I'm getting that plus so much more.

I went on amazon.com and upgraded my contract for 2 years, making the phone to be 99 bucks. Hm, I'm down with it. I first went to letstalk.com but they wanted 99 + my plan wasn't available, I would of had to upgrade my plan from 450 minutes to 900 minutes (20 dollar difference) to get it. I called them like uh wtf? And they said certain deals are only for certain plans, and since my plan was cheap and the phone is a bit more pricey that they just didn't give the discount for it. But at amazon, I found the 99 dollar pricetag for the 450 minute plan I already have.

I'm a happy camper, except for the fact that I paid for 1 day shipping and amazon said it'll take 1-2 weeks to even ship it out. But once it's out, it'll take 1 day. Still sucks. Blah.