Samsung – 2, Me – 0

Not having a cell phone creates a problem when you don’t have a landline.  My phone is only five months old and is a Samsung Galaxy 3 and according to all the reviews a great phone.  Even the personnel at Best Buy who sold me the phone were using it instead of an iPhone.

I used it and was very happy for a while.  My phone began to act up and then decided to die a silent and very sad death.  At first I was only missing some sounds and then the phone would randomly power off and on.  But one day it went off and never came back on. 

Let me take a moment to address why I own a Samsung Galaxy.  I purchased this phone BEFORE my issues with my television and did some research.  Plus, my good friend was getting the same phone at the same time.  It was sleek and you could get different colors with a cool case that covered the screen without interrupting calls.  It was a good alternative to the iPhone.  The biggest advantage the android phone had was the ability to Swype.  I’m a huge texter and I LOVE this feature.  I’m always a bit disappointed when I use my iPad and have to punch in all the letters.  At any rate, I am locked into a 2-year contract with Samsung and my carrier unless I win the lottery to break it.

After my phone officially died, I took it back to Best Buy.  Because the phone gurus there think they deal with idiots, they tried everything to prove I was wrong, including repowering the phone with the new battery and handing it back to me.  I looked at them and handed it back and told them to “wait for it…,”  about two seconds later, it unpowered.  The phone gurus said I then needed to go to the geek squad line.  This was at the first Best Buy where the people really didn’t care and though I stood in line for 15 minutes the girl at geek squad did the exact same things that the phone gurus did.  I took my phone and opted to go to the Best Buy closer to me.

I went to the second BB and the customer service was leaps and bounds better.  Because I have my warranty through Best Buy and not my carrier, I had to jump through the hoops to get it fixed.  This is actually the FIRST time I have had to turn my phone in, other times when I have had issues with a phone, my contract was already expired and it was time to upgrade.  The geek squad was really nice, but they had to send my phone out.  I asked if I was getting a “crappy reburbished phone” because I felt 5 months for a phone to stop working was ridiculous.  Just as ridiculous for a TV to stop working after 3 years….

They said the phone would not be refurbished but it would be “refreshed.”  Refreshed means the phone would not have been used by anyone but a part may have been replaced.  Like if the phone was damaged in transit and the screen or case cracked, they send it back.  Since I didn’t have a choice I had to agree.

I asked if they could transfer my info and they said they could as long as I had a memory card.  Guess what I didn’t have?  They sold me everything else when I bought the phone, not sure why they didn’t push the memory card.  Lesson learned.  Next time get the memory card.  The drawback with using BB is that it takes about 3-4 days to get your phone back and in the meantime they give you a loaner phone.

The worker that picked out the loaner phone for me was commenting about how cool it was because it was like a Sidekick phone.  Um…what?  I’m giving you a smart phone and the “comparable” phone I was given wasn’t even a Sidekick but “like a Sidekick?”  Hilarious.  I kind of thought they were kidding and laughed it off until they started programming it.  Oops. 

This phone was probably popular back in 2008, which, I know wasn’t THAT long ago, but from phone technology standards it was.  In fact, they cancelled my data plan because the loaner phone didn’t have the capability.  The phone was much smaller and the screen for texting still used old school texting.  At least I was saving some money without using a data plan for 4 days.

The first night I realized how much I actually use and depend on my phone for everything.  Alarm, social media, texting, etc...  Not to mention that I only could recall one actual phone number.  How sad.  I had to tentatively answer my phone calls and ask who was on the other side.  Since I was only keeping the phone for a short time, I had no reason to get invested in the phone.  I basically ignored it.  It ended up being a quiet time for me as I am usually on the phone in one aspect or another. 

It was the happiest of days when I went to pick up my “new” phone and turn in the loaner.  I had to spend awhile getting everything back to the way it was and to organize all the apps I had before.  I wish I could say this new phone is working perfectly, but it is not.  I am hoping it is just my carrier but I will keep you posted. 

I’m hoping the “refreshed” Samsung phone redeems itself, evening out the score.  But maybe I am still holding a grudge because of the (still broken) TV….