AT&T to the rescue!

Collin Nicholas here:

I am a first time blogger on this site. I have blogged before, but it was in Spanish for a class almost a year ago, so bear with me. I have recently (if you call almost 13 months recent) joined the Robinson family (well, my wife, a Robinson, joined the Nicholas family. I guess I recently became eternally connected to the Robinson family, for better or worse haha) and am wanting to share some recent experiences from my exciting life as a new husband and a new dad.

And to be completely honest, my story that I want to share this week has nothing to do with being a new dad and a new husband.  It really just has to do with being a normal 21st century guy I guess.

As some of you may know, and as the rest of you are about to find out, my wife Becca and I joined my family's AT&T Family Share plan together in September.  We received our new Pantech Burst phones with fancy self-designed skins and were ready to live the life as a newly connected family and couple.  (OK fine so I guess it has a little bit to do with being a new husband.  But not much :) )  This was an exciting time for us having phones that we could use to contact each other.  I had given up my phone to my brother and Becca and I shared a phone.  After joining this plan we were paying about the same amount a month for two smart phones as we were before for just one.  And I had never owned my own smart phone so I was very excited.

However, the "honeymoon period" with my phone didn't last long.  It became obvious that Pantech (as I probably should have realized before, despite all of the rave reviews that I had read online) is no Samsung or Apple, and the phone had a lot of problems.  I went into local AT&T stores to try and figure out a solution but to no avail.  I finally called their help hotline and was able to secure a warranty replacement for my phone.  In normal English that means that they send me a refurbished Pantech Burst to replace the first one that I got.  I was very excited that I didn't have to pay for a replacement, and also excited to have a working phone.  When it came in the mail, the newly obtained phone (note, it was not new, but refurbished to meet "the highest standards or quality that AT&T aspires to" in a phone) worked well, and life was good.

Well, turns out that everything was not, in fact, good.  Sure, we had recently had a baby (OK, so now it is about being a new dad as well as being a new husband.  Fine, geez, get off of my back!), we got a new car and sold our old one, school had ended and the summer was an amazing time full of family, weddings, more family, intramural sports and more hours at work (which means more money, which is always good).  But the phone was not.  It slowly started to deteriorate as more apps would freeze, battery life waned, home screens froze, camera apps shut down, and screens stopped flipping from portrait to landscape with a mere flick of the wrist (in fact, it wouldn't flip at all unless the app forced the flip.  Like in Hill Climb Racing, one of the best games on a phone that I have ever played.  It did flip somewhat well, however, while playing Spaceteam.  It was not perfect however, as a few asteroids and wormholes were hit and caused a lower score.  But I digress...).

I (but mostly Becca) was tired of what the frustration from a less than stellar phone did to me.  I decided to see if there was anything I could do to try and get a replacement phone.  Not some refurbished Burst that I would call about in a few months with the same problem.  A different phone.  Any phone. Just a phone that would work the way it would supposed to.  I originally didn't want to mess with an iPhone, which is why I chose the other $0.99 phone that was offered.  But if I had to I would take it.  I just wanted a lower tier smart phone (which is what I was expecting with the Pantech, and maybe more based on all the independent reviews that I had read about the phone before purchasing it) that worked and took advantage of the data and plans that I was paying for.

I talked to my dad about taking over my sisters iPhone 4 that she left here after she went into the MTC.  He said no.

Yeah that was really it with my dad.  No extra story to tell, no extra drama.  Sorry to disappoint.

So I went to AT&T for help.  I called and asked what my options were, hoping they could help me out.  They gave me two options (just like they had given me to replace my first phone): either an early upgrade, which meant paying for a new phone, starting a new contract by myself that day (and being stuck by myself in a contract if my family ever bailed on the Family Share plan or when it was done) or having another refurbished Pantech Burst sent to me to try again.  I said "Dawg! I ain't be doin' any of dem op-chuns fool!"  OK, so I didn't actually say that.  Becca can attest to the fact that I respectfully but forcefully declined those options numerous times over chats and phone calls.

On Monday July 22 I went to an AT&T store to give them one last chance to help me out before I succumbed to purchasing a phone on KSL and hoping it worked.  I told the of my less than ideal predicament and told them of the options I had received and how I felt that they were not justified.  They said that I should call customer care.  They have, according to nice guy with three daughters that we talked to at the store, the power to work with customers in a way that no one else in the company can.  He said that once they even took $1000 off of someones bill, so he was confident that they would be able to help me out.  I called later that night and talked to a guy names Sebastian.  He was really nice and helpful.  He understood my issues and was willing to look into anything that could help me try and rectify the situation that didn't involve a new contract or a new refurbished phone.  We talked about some options that he could get for me.  Using his powers as a customer service representative and his love of his customers happiness he said he could get me a Samsung Galaxy S3 for $50.  Not a refurbished one but a brand new one.  Normally they cost around $200-$250 with a contract.  I was ecstatic!  I know I said earlier that I didn't want to pay for a new phone, but at this price I had to say yes! He shared in my excitement and put me on hold so he could get his manager to approve the deal he was giving me.  As I was on hold I shared the news with Becca.  she agreed that it was a good deal, and Halsey and her had to endure my excited comments like "Sebastian is my boi!  What a great deal!  I can't wait!" (and other comments of that nature).

As I was on hold, however, the thought came to me that this deal was too good to be true.  I thought there was no way on earth that I was able to get this deal.  I decided that when I was back on the phone with Sebastian that I would verify the deal.  I wanted to make sure that with no new contract and no additional fees that I would get an S3 for $50.  So when he got back on the phone with me I asked him to verify that I understood the deal correctly: $50, no new contract and I would have my new phone.  He sounded disappointed when I asked that question.  He said "actually, that is with a new contract. Also I can't give you the phone for $50, but I can do $99."  I was crushed.  Not just because I was missing out on an S3, but because I felt like my boi Sebastian has betrayed me.  Where was all the understanding, the bro love, the "I completely see why you would be frustrated with those issues" that I was hearing?   I clarified (again) that I didn't want to pay for a new contract, and that this deal, as good as it was, was not for me.  He replied that this information was a game changer, and offered me and LG Xpression for $40 without a contract.

Here is a picture of the LG Xpression.  It's a nice phone, don't get me wrong.  I actually used to have a LG phone similar to this one when I first got back from my mission.  It was a pretty darn good phone (until I ran it through the washer...but that's another story) but its not a smart phone.  Now don't get me wrong, I don't HAVE to have the latest smart phone.  I don't even have to have a smart phone at all.  Its nice to have one, but when it comes down to it I don't NEED one.  I just felt like I paid for one, have a plan that uses data which means I almost need one (the LG Xpression uses data but doesn't run apps so its not quite the same).  I paid for a basic smart phone that works and I feel like if I paid for it I deserve one that works, whatever that one is.  (And yes, checking Facebook, playing games and having my scriptures on a phone is something I would find hard to live without now that I have it haha.)

But I digress.....again :).  Sebastian heard out my concerns with the LG Xpression and said "why don;t I call you back tomorrow and you can make your decision then."  I thanked him for his help and said that I would await his call.

I discussed things with Becca and we decided that the LG, though a nice phone, was not the phone for me. We thought that going to warranty exchange route was best (free, no new contract, I get a different phone that hopefully works.  And if it doesn't, I can give them an even harder time in a few months when I would have to call again.) I waited all day for a call from Sebastian on Tuesday and never got one.  The next day (Wednesday) was Pioneer Day, the which was filled with fun and merriment.  But I will spare you the details.  Because of my gallivanting in joy and wonderment during my day off of work I was unable to call AT&T back to give them my answer about the phone.  I called during my lunch break on Thursday to see if I could speak with Sebastian.  the lady I spoke with didn't know him (I think i called a different department) but offered to help.  I said that I was looking to do a warranty exchange for my phone.  She said she could't help me right then because I was calling on my phone (the one with the issues) so I asked if they could call me back after I got back from work on Becca's phone.  They agreed and we set a time for 6:00 to have them call back.

We went over to the Hawks' for dinner (a Thursday tradition, but I won't go into it here) which started at 6:00.  Becca's  phone starting playing the sweet tunes of a generic AT&T ring tone, signifying that someone from AT&T was calling me back to help me with my warranty exchange.

I don't remember the gentleman's name with whom I had the pleasure of speaking, but he was also very understanding of my issues and concerns and was willing and eager to help.  I told him that I wanted to exchange my Pantech Burst for a refurbished Pantech Burst, and we started the process.  He was very nice (even asking me about the weather.  I told him it was hot and dry here in Utah.  He said it was the same for him.  I asked him where he was at and he told me that he was in Albuquerque, NM.  (Which makes me fascinated, now as I write this, how spread out things are for a company trying to cut down on travel and shipping costs and trying to run things in the most efficient way possible.  My original calls were taken from people on the east coast (they kept referring to things in eastern time) and my next call was from NM, and later you will see how Texas gets involved here.  Interesting.  But I digress for a third time...).  We did all the mandatory checks on the phone, for water damage, cracked screens and certain ID numbers for the phone.  He said that the phone seemed to be in good shape for all the problems it was having, so we started to process the order to have a refurbished, like new Pantech Burst sent to my place of residence.

When all of the sudden I am blindsided my the kind NM man on the other end of the line:  "I see here [in your file] that you were offered other devices to be sent in place of a refurbished Burst."  I was confused, but I began to explain what had been offered me before: and early upgrade with a few phones at a discounted price.  He said "no, you have like 3 devices you can chose from for free."  I was blown away! I couldn't believe what my new boi (i don't remember his name) was saying!  I asked him again, "this is a new device without a contract? do I have to pay anything?"  He said "Nope!  This is just like your warranty refurbished replacement, but you get a different refurbished device instead of a Burst.  This is a really great deal!  I don't know who set this up in your file for you, because I don't have the rights to give you an offer like this.  But since it's here then I'll finish it off!"  He then asked me if I would like a Galaxy S3, an S4 or a Galaxy Note 2 (the Galaxy S3 was the big new Samsung smartphone a year or so ago, the S4 is the new, slightly bigger version of the S3, and the Note is an even bigger version that is supposed to be the hybrid between a tablet and a smart phone).  I asked the dude whether he would get an S3 or an S4 (I had heard that the S4's had a lot of problems) but he said that the S$ problems are now fixed, my refurbished S4 would be fixed and updated so he would go with that one.  So I decided on a black refurbished S4.

The phone was shipped much to my delight (may I remind you free of charge and free of a new contract) and is currently in Vernon, TX (according to the UPS tracking information.  Vernon, TX is near the Oklahoma border and the east side of the Texas panhandle.  I worked in Texas, see!)

So suffice it to say that I am extremely excited for the estimated arrival time of Wednesday evening.  Becca has already threatened that if I spend too much time on the phone that she will take it and use it.  We will make sure that doesn't happen :)

Updates and pictures of my new phone to come soon!