Cell phone tango

So Marshall and I have been with Verizon for most of our marriage. Him for all. Me, I started out keeping my cell from single days with AT&T.

But during the first summer of our marriage, AT&T gave my number away. That's right. For a whole week other people were getting my calls and I was getting calls for a "Tori." If Marshall dialed my number he got someone else, and my phone didn't ring at all. And I had no clue what Tori's number was, so it's not like I could give her number to people as my new contact info. Anyway, AT&T was super less than helpful, refused to credit me during that whole mess, and told me I was just being whiny and difficult. Uh, yeah! I haven't had use of my phone for a week, and a stranger has been receiving my personal calls! I'd say I'll be as whiny and difficult as I want!

So I dropped them and joined Marshall on Verizon, getting a family plan. Awww! Cute newlyweds with a family plan!

Since being on Verizon we have consistently felt we were paying too much and have always talked about riding our contract out so we can switch to a more economical service. I mean, we are on Verizon's 700 minute plan and we don't go over our minutes, so we must not talk much! 700 minute plans with other carriers are pretty cheap. But Verizon keeps sucking us back in with those dang free phones. You get a new phone after 10 months, but then your contract extends by 14. It's a never ending cycle.

Well, we finally just rode it out with our existing phones. We've resisted the urge to get new cute free phones, and have ebayed when they have died. We finally made it to the end of our contract this week! Freedom!

There are so many options. I looked at plans from Tmobile, AT&T (I'm forgiving), Sprint, Cricket, Alltel, etc. The last step in securing our freedom from Verizon was to review my bill to see the breakdown of minutes/texting/charges etc, so that I could see how much the same package would cost elsewhere.

What I discovered humbled me a bit. Yes, we use less than our 700 minutes. However we REALLY talk about 2500 minutes a month, but most of this is with other Verizon customers. Which isn't counted. Which are free. With that factored in, we can't afford any of the other carriers. Some have numbers you can add to talk for free, but not at the dinky 700 minute plan level.

2 things:
- I talk to Kiernan waaaaay too much! (Is there really a too much, Kier?)

- I could have had a new cool phone long ago.

We adjusted our attitudes, renewed with Verizon, and anxiously await our new cool phones arriving tomorrow. All of you with Verizon should be happy. Because apparently I talk to you a lot, and had I switched it would have hit your pocket book too.