Since we all started carrying cell phones a few years ago, I handled the purchasing/account setup and made sure my parents ended up with good phones. Both of the prior times that we've upgraded it was through the Amazon cell rebate plans, which let us get nearly top of the line hardware for free (when the rebates processed 4 months later). Those phones lasted quite a long time and had no issues until they started to wear out.
Last summer my father's phone broke and he went to the T-mobile store. Without consulting me he decided to get a new phone since his 2 year discount was ready, and ended up with a really shitty Nokia. Apparently bad enough that the front flip panel flexes into the internal buttons and calls people when it's in his pocket.
In the last couple weeks it's been time for my mom and I to upgrade as well. After a couple days of research I knew which ones would be best, and picked one for myself. I called mom to let her know what I found and which phones I thought would be the best option for her. To my surprise, she'd already found an article in Consumer Reports that recommended exactly the same phones I'd picked out. So she had a couple in mind, and I let her play around with the one I bought (it was a slider). Problem solved.
Well, she apparently went to the store to get it and was told that they had a "special promotion" running on a "flip version" of that phone ...hook, line, and sinker. She sounded happy with the choice, but I was skeptical. There's nothing online about any special offer, except for a somewhat similar model which is 1) completely different from the phone she was there to purchase and 2) has piss poor user reviews, most notably because it overheats and shuts itself off.
Now I can either tell her to go swap it, making her feel stupid and costing a $15 restocking fee on a free phone, or just let it go and hope she doesn't run into problems. What the fuck.
Last summer my father's phone broke and he went to the T-mobile store. Without consulting me he decided to get a new phone since his 2 year discount was ready, and ended up with a really shitty Nokia. Apparently bad enough that the front flip panel flexes into the internal buttons and calls people when it's in his pocket.
In the last couple weeks it's been time for my mom and I to upgrade as well. After a couple days of research I knew which ones would be best, and picked one for myself. I called mom to let her know what I found and which phones I thought would be the best option for her. To my surprise, she'd already found an article in Consumer Reports that recommended exactly the same phones I'd picked out. So she had a couple in mind, and I let her play around with the one I bought (it was a slider). Problem solved.
Well, she apparently went to the store to get it and was told that they had a "special promotion" running on a "flip version" of that phone ...hook, line, and sinker. She sounded happy with the choice, but I was skeptical. There's nothing online about any special offer, except for a somewhat similar model which is 1) completely different from the phone she was there to purchase and 2) has piss poor user reviews, most notably because it overheats and shuts itself off.
Now I can either tell her to go swap it, making her feel stupid and costing a $15 restocking fee on a free phone, or just let it go and hope she doesn't run into problems. What the fuck.
