After years of being dicked around by Sprint and their ever-changing policies, my contract was up and I was free to take my digits elsewhere. With the new G1 making a splash across the internet, I was ready to upgrade. I checked reviews, tutorials, plans and options before I stopped in the T-mobile store across from my work the other day. I signed myself right back into another 2-year contract with them to get the discount, so we'll see how that works out. But it's definitely been an interesting ride so far.
I walked into the store about a half hour before close, which I normally wouldn't do, but I was eager to make the switch. I got set-up by a trainee-supervisor combo with all my predetermined options mapped out. They both were friendly and helpful but I rolled out before I logged into my Gmail account on the phone. This was a crucial error. You see, in order for the G1 to operate on any level at all, it must be synced up with a Gmail account. So as I'm walking down the street I'm continually trying to sign-in and repeatedly getting rejected. I pull a 360 and jog it out back to the store. It wasn't quite 5p yet but the glass door was locked so I just stood in front of it while the Manager pretended not to see me. I held out and attempted to make eye contact with the Trainee. He came over and let me in, much to the Managers chagrin.
So here I am with this tubby bitch Manager pouring sweat over the till while this n00b is checking the system for any errors. They've got nothing. It happens with all these new G1s... No, only if you bring a new number... Or if you're not an existing customer. Whatever guys, I'll just call customer service, go home and spoon your Princess Leia cut-out.
I'm back on the street and navigating the audible maze of options spit at me with that oh-so-sexy digital slur. To T-mobile's credit, it was relatively easy to speak to a representative and that's pretty important. Now, Wen is on the line and he's trying to explain this phone number transfer procedure to me. It seems as though Sprint has to release my number and send it to T-mobile. Obviously they're in no rush to do this so it could take up to 24 hours. Tomorrow is Sunday, Wen assures me this is not a problem and it will still only be a few hours til this useless piece of $200 junk in my pocket gains some utility. All the while, I'm standing outside the pub the feeling the crisp breeze of early winter as I watch my friends raise pints inside. In an attempt to break his automation I ask him if he's working tomorrow and inform him that I will be calling him if this plastic box doesn't start working. I don't think he got the joke.
I continually tried to sign in beyond the 24 hour deadline with constant error messages as I geared up for round 2 with the customer service reps. I was out of Wen's territory now and speaking with Francis about what the issue may be and she wants to check my Sprint account number. I don't have it handy so I ask her to hook me up with a direct number back to her line. This was not a direct number, but that's a good thing. I end up talking to Nikki who was the only beacon of light in this soulless robot labyrinth. Her kindness and friendliness threw me off guard and I complacently hung up after she took my Sprint account number and informed me I would receive a text and experience dual-service in two short hours.
After 2.5 hours of patiently waiting by my phones, I got nothing. Round 3. Fight! But I'm not a prick, I know the best thing to do is calmly and politely explain your situation no matter how many times you're forced to rehash the exact same processes. So now I'm informed that Nikki actually re-submitted the number transfer request because the original account number was wrong and it would be another 24 hours before I could use the fucking phone. I'm seeing red. They transfer me to Britney in the PDA department who I could hear loud and clear but apparently she could only catch my voice intermittently and swiftly ended the call as I yelled "NO, NO, PLEASE DON'T HANG UP!" into the receiver. I decide to avoid both my Sanyo phone and my G1 for the next 24 hours and try to take this loss in good stride.
The next day I took my Sanyo phone to work and left the G1 at home. When I got back that evening I was finally able to sign-in. I had a ton of text messages waiting for me on my G1 so I must have had dual-service for a couple hours. I toyed with the system as I transferred my phone book the old fashioned way, by hand, between my two phones being sure to trim the fat from my contacts list. Then I launched the web browser and checked my favorite sites. Everything loaded super quickly and the menu feature allows for a plethora of options and actions to be displayed for each application.
I haven't had much free time to play with all the apps I downloaded from the marketplace but they were all free and some were incredibly unique. So is it worth the hype? That's still to be determined but the feeling of carrying a mini-computer in my pocket is almost enough to block out those first 50 or so hours of uselessness.
More to come!
