So I tried to buy an iPhone …. I say tried because they are obnoxiously expensive. But when I look around at people on the street, everyone seems to have one; so I thought, there must be some way to get an iPhone at a reasonable price.
And in fact there is, if you want to have a 2-year contract then the iPhone is only $199 vs. $650 if you don’t get a contract. And this is all fine and dandy if you plan on living in the US for at least 2 years, but unfortunately (or rather fortunately) we are planning to move back to Canada in a year and a half, so a two year contract doesn’t make much sense because of the high exit fees.
So I phoned the Sprint people to see what they could do for me. And the answer is ‘not much’. In fact the phone people are enabled with absolutely no power whatsoever to negotiate. I highlighted that I was willing to move to a more expensive plan, and that if they didn’t work with me to come up with a solution that they were basically leaving money on the table, but alas the 12-year old from Kentucky that I was talking to had no ability to do anything different than offer me one option.
And while this frustrated me enormously, what was most appalling is the lack of willingness to listen. Now I know their jobs have to be excruciatingly boring, but seriously …. Try actually listening to people ….
Here is a verbatim from our conversation to highlight what I am talking about:
Me: So is there any way that I can get an iPhone for $199 without a 2-year contract.
Salesperson: Yes. You can get an iPhone for $199, which is the reduced rate when you sign a 2-year contract.
Seriously…..
I am astounded recently with our society’s inability to listen to others. I have recently enrolled in improv classes and one of the key things that we are learning is how to listen to people and pick up cues to move the scene further. Again, I am constantly amazed at how little other people hear. I think society has done a significant disservice to everyone by not focusing on “listening” as a core educational skill that needs to be taught and practiced.
If society had I might have an iPhone.
That’s my rant for today.
OMG I had a pants crap of joy when I saw your blog entry. Yay!
ReplyDeleteHere are my comments.
1) Pinpointing graduation to within half a year seem comically optimistic. You forgot the FML supplement of 6-18 months that will inevitably occur. That being said, at that stage it's probably easy enough to move away (I did).
2) Apple makes me really angry. Get an android. Much more hackable and even had Arduino compatibility! (In some sense - search Amarino) Great for any nerds in your life.
3) You could think about getting a second hand one.. I bet that lots of iPhone 4s rolled onto eBay when the iPhone 4ss came out. And then they might be jailbroke or off-contract or whatever the kids call it.