Damn right it burns my balls.
The stores locally just blow you off. That was the first place I went to see what could be done to help us out of the storm 1's. The only thing they said they could do was to offer warranty replacements, which they had on hand, and alot of them. The only option was to buy a phone outright, used or deal. We chose to deal but now that we're getting closer I find myself getting ancy. We will not make the same mistakes however.
It's unfortunate that carriers don't use the same network. It's unfortunate that we put them in a position to charge whatever they want and offer horrible customer service all the while keeping us locked in for two years on a contract. If we had devices that could switch from ATT to verizon and then to t-mobile and us cellular, we'd see a huge jump in customer service, and prices of monthly service fall. The flip side of this is you pay full price for your device, however, it's a one time fee and your service provider being held accountable is (in my opinion) worth the extra cost up front. This provided the devices are worth a shit in the first place (I'll never own another blackberry!)
So I guess where I'm rambling to is I'm considering buying phones outright, not being in a contract but the reality of it is is it doesn't really get you anywhere. It's not adventitious because I can't get pissed off about something on the service end and threaten to leave verizon and switch to att even though there's no legally binding contract. Thank you, FCC. You (fcc) could have guaranteed we the people had a decent shot by forcing them to use the same network. You could guarantee now that we are put back in control by forcing devices to be allowed on all networks.
Release all carrier phones NOW! Lets cut the bullshit and let these corporations duke it out with cheap service and good customer service already. Lets make them accountable for their network, their customer reps and their devices. Lets let the people decide, for themselves, rather than a company deciding for us.
One more thing the storm did for me was made me a firm believer that if you're going to lock someone into a two year contract for service you need to provide support for your sanctioned device for the entire length of contract. No more of this, "oops, we ****ed up and gave you a shitty device that doesn't work worth a damn so your options are to deal with it or get a new device! Oh, and btw, sign another two year contract with us please..?" They ditched us storm 1 users and swept us under the rug then turned around and asked us to buy a storm 2. Pricks!
And do not get me started on device makers telling you what you can do with your device and what you can't after the point of sale. We're not renting it from you, we own it and this is America! We should be able to do what we damn well please. Don't tell me what I can or cannot do. This is one more thing that's kept me from getting new devices...
rawr
