<p>Yeah, I’m serious. Very first month of freshman year, the lovely young lady ran the cell phone bill up to $800. I paid it, and informed her this will not happen again, from that moment forward she was in charge of organizing and contracting for the family cell phone plan, she was required to transfer all service into her name and take responsibility for the credit reporting, etc., I would continue to pay the bill, however, the very next time the bill ran over, I would not pay it, she would have to rob a bank, get a job, or otherwise figure out some way to pay it, and also be the recipient of any negative credit reporting. </p>
<p>In the five years since, the bills have been perfect, and I have paid them. Other people are on the plan of course but we’ve never had a single issue. </p>
<p>So, her birthday is coming up, and she’s using some weird, old left-over phone from high school, on account of she dropped her phone in the ocean, and, the way it was related to me, her phone doesn’t become eligible for “upgrade” until end of 2007. </p>
<p>So off I go to our provider’s local store, thinking I’ll walk in, buy phone, surprise her on her birthday. I only put enough money in the parking meter for 15 minutes, thinking this’ll be quick. </p>
<p>But it turns out it’s not that simple. The phones of interest are like, $400, which makes no sense at all because I am certain they are manufactured in some other country for 17 cents. UNLESS I “upgrade” hers, which somehow results in something bad happening (a new contract)? But my phone is eligible for upgrade now. But if I upgrade, I also trigger two more years. Or something. Oh, and there’s a third person on the plan who also has an upgrade-eligible phone, however, that triggers something different with the contract too. I have no idea how or why it is possible to have disparate contracts under one plan. I thought a plan was sort of like a “master service agreement” and everyone functioned under a single contract. </p>
<p>So the tolerant man at the store said go to Best Buy or somewhere like that and buy a phone. I asked if that was less expensive, and he said “I really don’t know”, in sort of the tone sales people sound like they do, in fact, know exactly. </p>
<p>Anyway, I come home, go on line, and cannot see how to buy a phone at Best Buy either, unless it’s bundled to a plan. But even so, the phones are no less expensive, or at least that’s how it appears online. </p>
<p>I have NO clue how this works. All I know is that I’ll say “I need a phone”, and, a fully programmed phone arrives. Somehow my numbers all get put in and it has a non-obnoxious ring tone and life is good. And I pay a very predictable, reasonable bill every month. Beyond that, clueless, here. She also said something about her sim card was malfunctioning, which would seem to preclude buying a phone by itself, because the sim card is something else entirely, right? </p>
<p>Bottom line, is my only option to pay hundreds of dollars AND initiate and extend a new contract, especially given that a sim card doesn’t work correctly? I’d really like to get her a new phone, and there aren’t too many other practicable options when one has a birthday so close to Christmas…</p>