Sunday, April 24, 2005
This cell-phone business is a racket
This cell-phone business is a racket. The cell-phone companies know we need their products and services, and that's all they care about.
Think about it:
We, the adult consumers, are the ones who really need cell-phones. We need them for business. We're the ones who go with the service providers' most expensive - I should say, OUTRAGEOUSLY over-priced - plans. We almost never choose pre-paid plans. And we always, always pay our bills, because if we don't, we lose service. And it's service in this extremely competitive world we so desperately need.
PHONES FOR FUN!
Yet the cell-phone companies design the phones for kids, with tiny numbers we can't read (and if you have man-sized fingers and have to dial a number in a hurry, forget it, YOU ARE GOING TO DIAL THE WRONG NUMBER. Period). Oh, and then there are the cutesy little ring-tone options, cameras, and all sorts of other bells and whistles no one needs... all designed with the kid in mind.
Yet, the kids often go with the el-cheapo plans. They often don't pay on time. Or Mom and Dad - either or both - are paying the bills.
Of course the argument among many paying parents is, "We need our kids to have cell phones so we can keep track of them."
Huh?
Folks, think about that for a moment:
If you NEED a cell-phone to keep track of your kids, you have no business having kids.
Granted, it is a comfort to know your child's voice is only a speed-dial away. And it certainly is a convenience. All you have to do - while your lazy rear-end is stretched out on the sofa watching Jerry Springer with a six-pack of cool ones and a family bag of Doritas - is pick up the phone with your free hand, punch a pre-set button and ta-da! You are in instant communication with your daughter who may be roaring down the highway in a stolen car with some dope-smoking, unemployed ex-con ten-years her senior. And she'll still say, "Hi Mom [or Dad], I'm fine. I'm with friends, and I'll be home soon."
PHONES FOR EVERYONE!
Getting back to who the phones were designed for in the first place.
Anyone and everyone has a cell-phone these days. For some segments of society it is considered some form of status symbol. You can always pick out the ones who see it as a status symbol. They're the ones chatting openly and loudly on their phones in public. They want you to see that they have a cell-phone, too.
I even once witnessed a woman in the post office, phone to her ear, going on-and-on about how she was going to kick someone's a** when she got home. All of sudden, the phone rang. It startled her so bad, she dropped it.
Of course, my point being... before the phone rang, she had not been talking with anyone, but was performing for the rest of us who were not at-all impressed.
CUSTOMER SERVICE? ARE THEY KIDDING?
Now, let's take a look at customer service.
Customer service in the cell-phone industry is a joke... the customer services reps (CSRs) have minimal training. They have no authority to correct problems (You almost ALWAYS have to speak with a supervisor to get anything done, so you have to explain the problem twice, sometimes three or four times). One CSR will tell you something completely different from another. And the "hold" times are simply laughable... or cryable depending on how you wanna look at it.
That's how I feel about cell-phone companies (Though I must admit, that woman doing the little Tommy TuTone 867-530-ni-ee-ine dance for Cingular's TV Ad was pretty hot!).
Now, DON'T get me started on my recent "customer service" experience with "the tightest ship in the shipping business."
WTSjr
Think about it:
We, the adult consumers, are the ones who really need cell-phones. We need them for business. We're the ones who go with the service providers' most expensive - I should say, OUTRAGEOUSLY over-priced - plans. We almost never choose pre-paid plans. And we always, always pay our bills, because if we don't, we lose service. And it's service in this extremely competitive world we so desperately need.
PHONES FOR FUN!
Yet the cell-phone companies design the phones for kids, with tiny numbers we can't read (and if you have man-sized fingers and have to dial a number in a hurry, forget it, YOU ARE GOING TO DIAL THE WRONG NUMBER. Period). Oh, and then there are the cutesy little ring-tone options, cameras, and all sorts of other bells and whistles no one needs... all designed with the kid in mind.
Yet, the kids often go with the el-cheapo plans. They often don't pay on time. Or Mom and Dad - either or both - are paying the bills.
Of course the argument among many paying parents is, "We need our kids to have cell phones so we can keep track of them."
Huh?
Folks, think about that for a moment:
If you NEED a cell-phone to keep track of your kids, you have no business having kids.
Granted, it is a comfort to know your child's voice is only a speed-dial away. And it certainly is a convenience. All you have to do - while your lazy rear-end is stretched out on the sofa watching Jerry Springer with a six-pack of cool ones and a family bag of Doritas - is pick up the phone with your free hand, punch a pre-set button and ta-da! You are in instant communication with your daughter who may be roaring down the highway in a stolen car with some dope-smoking, unemployed ex-con ten-years her senior. And she'll still say, "Hi Mom [or Dad], I'm fine. I'm with friends, and I'll be home soon."
PHONES FOR EVERYONE!
Getting back to who the phones were designed for in the first place.
Anyone and everyone has a cell-phone these days. For some segments of society it is considered some form of status symbol. You can always pick out the ones who see it as a status symbol. They're the ones chatting openly and loudly on their phones in public. They want you to see that they have a cell-phone, too.
I even once witnessed a woman in the post office, phone to her ear, going on-and-on about how she was going to kick someone's a** when she got home. All of sudden, the phone rang. It startled her so bad, she dropped it.
Of course, my point being... before the phone rang, she had not been talking with anyone, but was performing for the rest of us who were not at-all impressed.
CUSTOMER SERVICE? ARE THEY KIDDING?
Now, let's take a look at customer service.
Customer service in the cell-phone industry is a joke... the customer services reps (CSRs) have minimal training. They have no authority to correct problems (You almost ALWAYS have to speak with a supervisor to get anything done, so you have to explain the problem twice, sometimes three or four times). One CSR will tell you something completely different from another. And the "hold" times are simply laughable... or cryable depending on how you wanna look at it.
That's how I feel about cell-phone companies (Though I must admit, that woman doing the little Tommy TuTone 867-530-ni-ee-ine dance for Cingular's TV Ad was pretty hot!).
Now, DON'T get me started on my recent "customer service" experience with "the tightest ship in the shipping business."
WTSjr
# posted by W. Thomas Smith, Jr. @ 9:02 PM 
