Phony

A few days ago I noticed my phone was acting wonky. Every time I tried to make an outgoing call, an error message would pop up telling me my "SmartChip registration failed", whatever that meant.

I finally checked my facebook messages and there was one from my sister, suggesting that perhaps it was time I finally "cut the phone cord" and got on my own plan. Yes, it is pathetic, I know- a nearly 27 year old STILL attached to her parents' phone plan. But it's only $10 a month! And it's not as if I'm walking around with a freakin smartphone....though I am craving one now...

So I replied with a slightly embittered message, only to discover in her next message that actually, someone had hacked into my parents' account and activated three iPhones all on our numbers (hence why my phone wasn't getting any service). Using Joe's phone I was finally able to talk to my parents and my mom explained that I needed to go into the AT&T store ASA&P so that they could remove the false iPhone from my account and reactivate my phone. Go into the store....gulp.

I've heard enough horror stories about people trying to explain screw-ups to busy and uninterested salespeople and waiting ungodly numbers of hours just to get things straightened out (it just so happens this is the precise thing that happened to MY parents when they went in). Plus, I feared the ever-popular excuse used by some phone salespeople, "Oh, we can't take care of that HERE. You need to try a corporate store...", so needless to say I was looking as forward to this as I am about getting a cavity filled.

Still, I knew that was the only way to get it all squared away, so after work I hopped into my car and headed for the mall, the nearest corporate store I could think of.

I walked in and noticed the place buzzing with people. Correction- buzzing with customers. For the 15 or 20 people in the store there were 4 or 5 employees, all of which seemed focused and busy. There was a customer service desk with a guy on the phone, and though it didn't look like he was wrapping up anytime soon, I took the opportunity to practice what I was going to say a few more times in my head.

When he finally was finished with the customer he walked away and headed over to a sign-in sheet. Seriously? A sign-in sheet? They aren't even f-ing around, they're really trying to treat these places like doctor offices.

He called out a few names and when he realized they had either left (or weren't paying attention) he offered to help me. I began by smiling, easing into what I expected to be a long and arduous explanation, and apologizing, when he kindly cut my off and said, "I'm actually not even a customer service person, I'm just a salesperson."

Grrreat.

He asked me what my mom's pass code was, and when I replied with a blank stare, all he could do was hand me a new SIM card and told me to call customer service for help.

Call customer service. CALL customer service. Let's let that logic marinate, shall we? How am I supposed to CALL someone when my PHONE ISN'T WORKING!

I mean I was able to finally just use Joe's to clear everything up and get my phone working again, but that logic still floors me. It's like when Comcast cuts off your Internet and while you are on hold for the 3rd hour the recorded message keeps saying you can receive help by going online...what??