Truebluetitan - Internet Entrepreneur Journey

After one month with the Apple iPhone I can easily say that it isn’t the answer to all things in the universe (that’s 42). No it hasn’t helped me discover the cure for cancer or revolutionize my life to the point where I can quit my day-job, but one thing is for sure: It’s the best damn phone that I’ve ever used.

Goodbye Verizon Service

I prefer to be on the cusp of technology and am willing to pay the premium required to be an early adopter. However, when it came time to switch to the iPhone, I couldn’t do it…well, not initially, anyway. My Verizon plan didn’t expire until December ‘07, and I really enjoyed the many years of service that they provided me. Not once did the words “I hate Verizon” ever come out of my mouth. Their “Can You Hear Me Now” advertising campaign is spot on. The service just works. I could make a call anywhere at anytime.

But when a co-worker told me that the she was unhappy with her iPhone purchase I decided to jump at the opportunity of buying hers at a discount. So I made a phone call to Verizon, but before I called I made a promise to myself: The only way you can buy this phone is if you can get out of your contract for less than $175″. Verizon assesses an early termination fee to anyone who cancels their service before the contract expires, and since I was going to plop down a couple of hundred dollars to buy an iPhone I didn’t want to spend even more to switch services.

How To Cancel Your Verizon Service For Less Than $175

My angle was simple: Tell them that you’ll never be back unless they lower the fee.

I was a faithful, happy customer of Verizon’s Wireless Network for many years. I had continuously upgraded my plans as my needs increased. I bought ringtones. I bought games. And I also bought new phones fairly frequently. In addition to my personal use, my work supplied me with a mobile phone and air card that used Verizon. I lived and breathed their service pretty hardcore for many years, and if they didn’t take this chance, and let me out of my contract for less than $175, I would end my years of good Verizon memories on a sour note, and we all know what would stick out in my mind the most then.

Luckily, Verizon’s customer service is, and has always been, a topnotch user experience for me. Their representatives are always easy to understand, patient, and willing to hear me through. The gentleman that I spoke with that day was no different. He listened when I talked, retorted with intelligent questions, and ultimately let me out of my contract for $75. “This is fair,” I thought. I’m sure that I could have bargained for a cheaper termination fee, however, like I said, I was very pleased with their service and was not out to scam them. So, by the end of my conversation I was writing a check out to my coworker to purchase a slightly used iPhone

The Woes Of Purchasing A Used iPhone

Purchasing a used iPhone is just not something that you hear too much about…well, it wasn’t until the device was unlocked. So my Internet Searches on how to proceed after you buy a used iPhone returned nothing. I figured that it can’t be too hard, seeing as how all you have to do with a new iPhone is activate it through iTunes. That’s not the case if it’s used.

Any geek probably equates opening an Apple product for the first time to a woman opening a gift in the blue box from Tiffany & Co. (who seem to be undergoing a new site launch at this moment). It’s an experience in itself. Everything looks like it’s placed in the box with care that only a mother could give, and the box itself is always a thing of minimalism and beauty. So much so that I haven’t thrown away a single Apple box, and I’ve bought a lot The iPhone’s packaging was no different.

Once I stopped drooling over the fact that I now had my very own iPhone I attempted to activate it through iTunes. No luck. The simple instructions weren’t working as the SIM card in my phone already had a phone number burned into it. And so I got to make my first technical support call to AT&T. Instantly, I could tell that my experience was going to be much different than with Verizon. The technical support woman was intelligent about the subject matter, however, I couldn’t understand her at all. Her accent was thick, and she was getting frustrated with my inability to understand her slang. If it wasn’t for my thirst for new technologies, I would have given up here.

The end result of the conversation was that I needed to visit an AT&T store to retrieve a new SIM card. Now fast-forward 4 hours and several trips between AT&T’s and Apple’s store. I now had an activated iPhone…for the most part. Now I fast-forwarded through those 4 hours to spare you of the monotony of the process, but the key learning of that experience was to go to Apple first. Even if it’s a problem with your AT&T SIM, Apple knows more. They have intelligent eager technicians with iPhones scattered throughout the store, while AT&T’s technicians smelled of salami and cigarettes and the iPhones were hidden in the corner as if they were a problem child placed in time out.

It took SEVERAL days for me to be able to make a call over AT&T’s network, and it took even longer for me to be able to retrieve voicemails and send/receive text messages…a lot longer.

AT&T: You’re No Verizon

Have you ever seen the Cingular commercials where two people are having a conversation over their mobile phones and the call drops leading one person to think that the other person is speechless resulting in some hilarious situation? Well, it’s not too funny when you experience it regularly….more than daily. AT&T: You’re no Verizon.

I constantly encounter several “dead spots” in-between my house and work, and it makes for a frustrating commute as I usually use the time in the car to return missed phone calls or catch up with friends and family. If only the mobile phone industry in the United States was like it is in Europe. I would unlock my phone and beg Verizon to take me back.

To Be Continued

When I started writing about my iPhone experience I had no idea that it would be this long, but then again, it’s been quite the experience. Be sure to subscribe to catch part 2 of my experience with the Apple iPhone.