The Prisoner of Cell Phone-Landia

You might be asking yourself; are all the gripes on this blog legit?  Well, my fellow customers, the answer is a resounding yes!  It seems that every day I am astounded by the lack of real concern for the needs of customers.  You know, the customers, the people who spend their hard-earned money and in return expect a decent product or service.  Every day I am finding that concept to be a fantasy.

Here is the most recent, bad experience.  I own one of the newer releases of the most pop culture cell phone on the market (the one with the piece of fruit on it).  After downloading one of the (strongly) recommended updates, I lost my entire list of contacts.  I am not saying that it was a voluminous list, but it included addresses, email, and phone numbers and was large enough to be a hassle replicating it.  So, after recovering from the stunned anguish and anger, I began my trek to recover my list.

I did register the phone online (again, as recommended) to store all the device’s data.  Well, along with the update of the device, the web-based program database updated also, changing its format and operating structure making it very difficult to find the lost files.  After numerous attempts to locate it on the updated site I called my cell phone savvy friends and they could not solve the issue as well.  Finally, out of frustration, I called CSI Las Vegas, they couldn’t find it either.

So, that left me only one choice in resolving this matter—my provider.   I loaded up my device and headed to my local provider store in the hope of finding a solution.  Upon arrival at the store, I was instructed to take a number and was assured that someone would be with me shortly.  An hour later (an hour of life that I will never get back), I finally got my turn with one of the masters of cell phone intellect.  Surely, they will not let me down, the answer to this puzzling riddle will be solved right?

After doing my best to explain this problem (not like it was complex), the young person behind the counter looked at me as if I had asked for an organ transplant.  The customer representative looked at me again and said, “I don’t know how to fix that”, you’re bullshitting me right?  These people are the experts, aren’t they?  If they don’t know how to fix this what is my next option, scale a mountain and ask a wise old man?  The store associate let me know that they would check with a manager to get help with my issue—oh goody!

The associate came back with an answer that still has me reeling, “we cannot help you with this problem because of privacy rights”, you heard it correctly, the people who voluntarily gave me their phone number with the express permission to call them would have their rights violated.  I guess I would have to get written permission from each person to once again to contact them.  I did, finally solve the problem myself with the help of several online forums and was able to restore my contacts.

The bigger issue here isn’t the lost contacts (I have most of my contacts email addresses anyway), but rather the fact that these updates always change how things function, especially with cell phones.  And there is never any correspondence explaining changes or how to use the updated system.  What frustrates your ass even further is the lack of training of customer service reps, who then cannot help you with your issues.  Once again, who ultimately suffers is the customer, the person who pays their hard-earned cash just to be treated like shyte!

Talk To Ya Later

The Grumpy Old Fart Customer @2019 All Rights Reserved