A reader reports that a Bellevue, WA AT&T store is trying to play it like the company-wide iPhone price drop is a “manager’s special.” When he called the regional manager, our reader was told the signs were the brainchild of the regional marketing department.
cellphones
Cellphone Battery Designed To Fail At First Drop Of Water?
By 9.22.07
Does one of the LG cellphone batteries have a sensor on it to cause cellphone failure after the first touch of water? Even though no significant amount of water has penetrated the actual battery or cellphone itself. That’s what Tim wonders after conducting a little experiment and paper hack following dropping his cell phone into a tiny bit of coffee.
Cell Service Coming To NYC Subways
By 9.20.07
The New York CIty subways are going to get cellphone service, according to the Daily News.
Customer Catches McDonald's Refilling Milkshake Machine With "Soiled Towels Only" Bucket
By 9.20.07
Cellphone cameras may well be the downfall of fast food: A McDonald’s customer in Orlando witnessed employees refilling the milkshake machine from a bucket market “Soiled Towels Only” and snapped a picture with her cellphone. She sent the photo to Orlando’s WFTV.
Verizon's Style Book For Deploying "Can You Hear Me Now" Guy
By 9.19.07
You know the Verizon “Can you hear me now?” guy? Of course you do. Verizon has been pouring branding equity into the lil fella for years. You can’t leverage a character across a big company like that without developing a special “style guide” Verizon developed to govern how his likeness is used in various marketing campaigns. It’s quite hilarious, and a former company employee sent it to us to share with you.
Helio's "Total Happiness Guarantee" Evidently Uses Alternative Understanding Of The English Language
By 9.18.07
Helio offers a “Total Happiness Guarantee” which says that if you don’t like their phone or service for any reason you can return it within 30 days for your money back, no questions asked. However, their customer service staff is poorly trained and could try to tell you don’t get sales tax refunded, blogs LifeClever. It’s also going to take at least four months for the refund to process, he found, along with other annoying fun plot points.
Schwarzenegger Signs Bill Banning Minors From Using Cellphones While Driving
By 9.17.07
Sorry, kids. It’s now illegal for you to talk on your cellphones while driving in California. Why? Because you’re bad at it, and let’s face it… you’re not that good at driving in the first place. Sadly for you, it’s much easier to slap a ban on you (rather than your parents) because you don’t vote and you have limited rights. Ha, ha, ha.
Teens cited under SB33, authored by state Sen. Joe Simitian, D-Palo Alto, face a fine of $20 for a first offense and $50 each time after that. Officials said traffic officers will not be allowed to pull drivers over simply because of a cell phone infraction, and violations will not count as part of the traffic safety point system. Emergency calls will be exempt.
Opt Out Of Verizon's Scheme To Sell Your Personal Info To Marketers
By 9.14.07
Verizon Wireless customers who don’t feel like having their personal information and account information sold to marketers can opt-out by calling 1-800-333-9956. A notice tucked into our recent bill told us we had 30 days from receiving the notice to do it. Considering that Verizon just sold 1,000,000 old accounts to a debt-collecting agency who tried to bully people into pay debts that were already paid off or never incurred in the first place, calling this number might be a wise move.
Claim Your $100 Early Adopter iPhone Credit
By 9.14.07
If you bought the iPhone before the price drop, Apple has an easy site where you can claim your $100 credit.
Which Cellphone Company Is Best About Fighting Text Message Spam?
By 9.14.07
Cellphone text message spam is still rare, but annoying, especially as each one usually costs you. If you’re experiencing a deluge, often the only way to fight it is to turn off text messaging entirely, but which providers let you?
When Travelling Internationally, Pop Out The iPhone SIM Card To Check Email Without Huge Roaming Charges
By 9.10.07
A handy tip that could’ve saved a couple people a few thousand dollars *cough* And This Is Your $4190.76 iPhone Bill *cough* iPhone/AT&T $3,000 International Roaming Bill Serves As Cruel Warning…or you can always just get a prepaid local SIM card, providing you’ve already unlocked your iPhone, of course.
Introducing The Most Impressive Cell Phone Bill Of The 110th Congress
By 9.8.07
Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) recently announced plans to introduce our wet dream of a cellphone bill. The bill realizes our wildest legislative fantasies: a world where cellphone companies stop inventing official-sounding fees and levying harsh ETFs, and instead allow their customers to take unlocked phones to the company with the best reception according to precise coverage maps provided free of charge.
Lost Cellphone At Credit Union, Would They Turn Over The Surveillance Tapes?
By 9.6.07
“I went to my Credit Union last night to pay my car payment. I think during sometime between getting out the appropriate papers and leaving the place I must have misplaced my phone. On my drive home, I realized I didn’t have my phone.
California Moves To Ban Teen Driver Cellphone Use
By 8.31.07
A bill banning drivers under 18 from using cellphones passed the California Assembly today. It doesn’t even allow hands-free device use. The Highway Patrol asked for, and got, the offense classified as a secondary infraction, which means you can’t get pulled over simply for breaking this law.
T-Mobile Refuses To Process Your Credit Card Order, Then Processes It Anyway… After You've Gone To Another Company
By 8.29.07
T-Mobile refused to process reader Lucas’ girlfriend’s credit card because she couldn’t verify some of her personal information (she’s moved a lot and doesn’t remember the addresses of old dorm rooms, ect.). After she was rejected she went to another company for her phone… only to find that T-Mobile decided to process her order.
AT&T Stops Pretending To Be The Network With The "Fewest Dropped Calls"
By 8.25.07
AT&T is no longer claiming to be the network with the “fewest dropped calls,” according to a company insider. The assertion was widely panned as a lie:
The ad campaign, which launched last March, was based on a Telephia report that actually noted AT&T Wireless (then Cingular) did not have the most reliable network in New York, Chicago, Houston and Los Angeles. A recent JD Power report gives that honor to T-Mobile in most markets. Similarly, a report from Consumer Reports placed Cingular/AT&T at the bottom of their rankings for reliability and satisfaction.
AT&T will instead boast that they have: “more bars in more places.”
Executive Email Carpet Bomb Also Effective Against Cell Phone Spammers
By 8.25.07
I want to share a recent experience that involves a cell phone spammer. I would never think I’d be writing to tell you a positive story, but in the light of what happened I think it would be worth sharing. Last week, on 8/16 to be exact, I was spammed with an unsolicited text message to my cell phone. I recall reading a post on Consumerist about the Attorney General for Illinois along with Cingular would be suing a cell phone spammer. I also recall your Executive Email Carpet Bomb postings and decided to try it out.
Former Rep Kvetches About Sprint's Lax Identity Theft Protection
By 8.21.07
“We took pride in shredding all information of the customers and being as mindful as possible to their security. Something that always blew my mind was that right on the computer screen, available for anyone to see (depending on the store layout), was the customer’s social security number, date of birth, license number and more. Incredible! I never understood that. My store had two registers in the front and two in the back. A customer could stand behind us at the front register and get a full peak at everything we were doing. Where is the protection?”
