Title?

So if you scroll through my archives (which I'm sure you all do multiple times a day) you will see that I often give a shout out to great products, services (like Brian at OTB) or retailers (Costco). But I don't think I've ever used my blog as a rant on bad products, services or retailers. Which is a shame if you ask me because truly, before I try anything I go online and try to read about what other people are saying about it...like are they happy, was it everything they expected, has this product entirely changed their life, you know the usual stuff :)

WELL, I am so SUPER annoyed with AT&T I can't resist. My phone broke. The screen is black. I had this super neato phone that I got at Costco (swoon, I love Costco) they were selling it with a coupon for only $10 regularly $115! What a smokin' deal. Well the phone LOOKS cool but has never been a real champ of a phone. It doesn't get the best reception (which truly, I've never thought AT&T has the best reception) and the buttons are pretty weird, they look cool, but it turns out they aren't really that functional....not a huge deal since I am a pathetic "texter" anyway.

So anyway, I bought Matt a new phone for Father's Day, early so that I could steal his phone and replace my broken one ;) Well, when I get said new phone, they INSIST that I buy a "protection package"....sounds like a good idea right....yeah, except it only covers the phone if there is a software issue or internal battery malfunction. No coverage if it is damaged by Matt...or Ryan (let's be honest here). SO BASICALLY I am buying protection so that if the phone you are selling me turns out to be crap all on it's own you will give me a new one....SO IT'S PROTECTION from you selling me a crappy product? AND I GET TO PAY EXTRA?!?! Awesome. I buy it anyway and go on my way. Annoyed. Not annoyed enough to rant about it on my blog....that comes later.

Then I find out yesterday that I had bought the phone one week later it would have been $100 cheaper. Yum. That tasted good with my breakfast (thanks Chris Uno for calling me and eagerly reporting this fact!). Annoyed. But hey that's technology....what can you do?!

Well it turns out the phone I "stole" from Matt totally sucks. Honestly, not sure how he has been using it. Seriously. It's a problem. As in it sounds muffled when I talk to people (if I have EVER talked to you, you know I'm like one of the loudest talkers known to man) and they can't hear me. The buttons are stupid and weird and I can't find anything and its dumb and I hate it. So my dad says isn't your phone fairly new...like only 8 months old? Why yes, yes it is! Call warranty. Cool.

Just spent an hour with them on the phone. They transferred me all over Timbuktu (and I think it literally was Timbuktu because I'm quite sure I wasn't talking to anyone in America) and will not be sending me a new phone. They will only send me a new one if they can repair my old one. Like with a software up grade. Oh good, so the warranty on this phone is only good for software issues. Good thing I didn't have to pay extra for that!! Since I'm pretty sure you can't hack into a phone that isn't a smart phone!! And the worst part is that they keep transferring me to some one who can help me....I end up talking to a dude in billing who has no idea why we are even on the phone....we said good night and hung up. Whatever. I'm annoyed. Less annoyed as I finish this post. And kind of sorry to all those that have to read it. Matt isn't home to listen to me rant and I OBVIOUSLY can't call anyone to complain about it since my malfunctional phone will probably push me over the edge. So I will get over it by posting this LONG post on my blog.

Summary. I don't recommend AT&T I have never been satisfied with their service. Customer service and phone service. (The only reason we have them is because we get a awesome discount through UPS). So, if you are thinking of switching carriers...think about NOT switching to AT&T. You won't be happy in the long run.

In other news, I have been wanting to throw a shout out to Publix. I love that store. Not as much a Costco ,but a lot. I'm starting to think that they may drug their employees as they truly are the happiest people on earth (probably the only real competition is the people who work at Disney). I would grocery shop everyday if it was always at Publix. The free cookies. The stickers. The car carts. The carry-out service (which is a Publix service and they explicitly ask you not to tip them). The woman who runs to get Ryan a new box of Goldfish after he dumps an entire box all over the floor in front of her check out and then she only charges me for one. Love that place. Seriously. One time I said excuse me to one of their stock boys and he was like "oh excuse me ma'am, this is Publix where shopping is a pleasure, not an inconvenience." And he was serious. Seriously. And shopping there is a pleasure. (For those who don't know, the tagline is: Publix. Where Shopping is a Pleasure.) Never has a tag line meant so much.

Sorry for all the time you have wasted reading this post. Next time I will post about something fun. Like our trip to Florida perhaps....