Yesterday I switched over to Cingular for my cellphone service. I was with AT&T for several years now. AT&T was a decent carrier I suppose- I had heard people complain about it, but I think I have low expectations for cellphone reception and service, so there was really no problem. My contract had expired, and I had a phone I liked a lot, a t68i, so it was not something I lost sleep over.
The a couple of months ago, I get this new phone in the mail. I of course call up AT&T customer service to see whats what, and get some subcontracted call center where they read from scripts. The new phone was a replacement for my little t68i, as AT&T was abandoning the old GSM spectrum they were using, and so were giving replacement phones to the customers who were using the old spectrum. (The t68 series was not designed for the new spectrum, despite being trimode phones.) This is all well, fine and good, but the phone they sent was a big step down from my old one, and the woman on the phone was powerless to do anything except read her script. The equivalent phone at the time was the t610, which I read AT&T was getting rid of anyway, so I am not sure why they were not willing to make the substitution. Anyway, I need my Bluetooth like a drunk needs gin, and the phone they sent had none.
So to make what I am sure is a dull story a bit shorter, I tossed the new phone in the closet, and continued to use the old phone. Over the last 2 months, my reception has been getting worse and worse, as the cell towers in Manhattan were being retrofitted for the new spectrum. My office had always been in a dead spot for service anyway, which was inconvenient but not a huge deal. (stepping out to use the cell was always a nice break.)
Finally the other day I read that Cingular had the t637, a sexy new phone, so I decided it was time. I figured that by switching now I would get the new customer incentives, since Cingular is in the process of buying AT&T, so I would be on Cingular by the end of the year no matter what. If I had waited for the transition to happen, they would have just sent me another crappy phone, I am sure.
So far I am quite happy with the new phone, although these new polyphonic rings take some getting used to. (There is always that period with a new phone where you don't recognize your own ring yet, and have people pointing out to you that its your phone that is going off.) I'll try and post more pictures to my much neglected photomoblog.