Postcards From My Life

Dear Reader,

Yes, I am now a citizen of the Crackberry nation. Since I left JupiterHosting.com and got off of 24hr call, I’ve made do with small, non-internet based phones. However, with securePHPhosting.com and nashvillewebhosting.biz both beginning to take off, I felt it best to go back to a “device” instead of just a phone.

I am now the proud owner of a Blackberry 8320 and for the first time in 10 years, I am not using Sprint as my service provider. Sprint has been good to me, no doubt, but the last 2-3 times I’ve had to deal with them have been increasingly frustrating. My contract with them is up on the 25th of Feb so I figured I’d look around and see what else is available.

I remembered a post by Terry Chay on how he got a “discount” on an iPhone. In it he mentioned a website called LetsTalk.com. I’d never heard of them before so I decided to take a look. It’s a great site, very usable, extremely easy to find good deals on. I quickly put together a plan that got everybody new phones and get me the crackberry I wanted. (I just had to have WiFi) It also allowed me to correct one of the most heinous parenting fauxpas I’ve made in the past 18 years, I was able to get unlimited TXT messaging for the family. The website was very easy and turned a very complex shopping experience (do you KNOW how many options you have when selecting a phone?) into a stress free experience. I even tried two or three different options before I settled on the right combination. All in all, if all I had to judge them from was their website, I would give them an 8 or 9.

Here comes the fun part. I’m very picky when it comes to gadgets and they lost a point on their web experience because the page describing the Blackberry I wanted did not include a model number. There are three in the 8300 line and only one has WiFi. So, after putting together everything I wanted in my shopping cart, I thought it best to call and place the order so that I can make sure I know what I’m getting.

I clicked on “Place your order by phone and a popup popped up with the phone numebr and a “dial in code”. The menu tree I was greeted with was thankfully short (god I hate those things) and did not require me to speak to the computer, just punch numbers. After about 10 seconds on hold I was greeted by a nice young man who asked me for my dial-in code. After receiving it, he pulled up my shopping cart on his end, answered my questions about the Blackberry (it was the one I wanted) and then just completed the shopping cart for me. I was blown away. He even suggested a change to the plan that saved me even more money.

The end result, I was out of pocked $350 for 4 phones that retailed for $1,500. After mail in rebates, I will be out of pocket $24. Sinanara Sprint, I’m a T-Mobile customer now but more importantly, I’m a LetsTalk.com customer.

Until next time,
(l)(k)(bunny)
=C=