Cell Phone Sellers Don't Need Deals
The young girls in front
of us screamed and jumped up, cheering as if they had actually
watched the really great combination lateral and forward pass that
scored a touchdown for the Port Charlotte Pirates football team.
They were among many of attendees at the game who were there for
something even more socially important: The Great American Cell
Phone Flip and Call Contest!
Cellular phones were
everywhere, especially in the crowded lawn between the stands and the
ticket booth. No one could see the game from there, but no one seemed
to care. The social interaction under the old oak trees on this
beautiful early autumn evening was at an epidemic proportion.
Chatting and laughing, punching numbers on tiny, lighted telephones
and plugging fingers into open ears was the order of the evening.
Rarely was a group of kids seen without at least one member being on
a cell phone. Sometimes every one in the group had a cell phone held
tightly against their head, totally oblivious to the world around
them. The sea of youthful exuberance represented what cell phone
companies love, a sense that if you didn't have a phone, you need to
get one.
With the saturation of
the domestic U.S. cell phone market changing the way cell phone
manufacturers and service providers market and bill their customers,
many of the old incentives for signing on with a given company are
gone. The old free phones with signing a long term contract has
crept up to now only partial reimbursement for a phone, often less
than 50% rebate for signing a contract. Often the phone itself is an
obsolete model that won't be offered next year.
Some special deals are
based on one or two-year contracts, but read the contract carefully.
The charge for breaking a contract seems to be an industry standard
of $175.00.
Most cell phones have a
one-year warranty, so be careful with a two-year contract. A special
warranty or insurance package for the telephone is usually around $6
a month in addition to your regular service charge, but there may be
a $50 deductible for a replacement telephone, depending on your
policy. Without the insurance, the replacement telephone is strictly
up to you. You just can't buy any cellular phone and expect your
cell phone service to work. The phone has to be one the carrier
services. You can bring your old number to a carrier, but not your
old telephone.
If you haven't signed up
for a wireless calling plan, check the J.D. Powers page for a
customer satisfaction survey about wireless service at:
http://www.jdpower.com/cc/telecom/index.jsp
According to the J.D.
Power survey released September 9th, 2004, "overall satisfaction
performance with wireless service providers has increased 5 percent
over 2003, the first time a significant increase has been achieved on
a year-to-year basis in three years."
The survey also states
the average reported per-minute cost has lowered to 14 cents. Tell
that to the parents who foot the bill for the newest, must-have cell
phones when the first bill comes.
George Mindling
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