It started Saturday. We decided to use GPS to find the funeral home in Lake City. It could not understand me. It was at Lampe Funeral Home. Would not recognize it. No way, No how. I have never had a problem with it before for GPS. So as we are headed for Texas that is a problem. Also, my letter cee on the keyboard does not work. Have you ever tried to type without the letter cee or any of the other 26? Not fun.
First thing Monday morning I called the Verizon place in Des Moines where I had been before and asked a few dozen questions. I talked to John and he suggested we go to Carroll as it is mutch closer (28 miles) and ask for Mitch. Be sure to ask for Mitch. We walked in and 4 men were in a group and I asked for Mitch and said we were supposed to ask Mitch to help us. Mitch stepped forward pointed to a woman and said, "She will get you started." He then continued his visit with the other 3 men. Butch told me later, they were talking about high school football. He blew me off!!! The lady he passed me off to was knowledgeable but was unable to help me get any kind of a deal. John had told me I could get up to a $300 trade-in on my phone. In Carroll, she told me I would have to request a box from Verizon, send it in, and they would determine how much of a discount I would get. I said I think that is a poor way of doing business and I am not happy about that. Also I wanted a Google Pixel and they did not have one. The Samsung Galaxy S7 was the next best choice and a hundred dollars higher in cost. I proceeded because I was feeling the push of time and wanted to get it done. Butch came over once in the process and asked if I was happy with what I heard and I said, "Not really." That was supposed to be my clue to get up and leave but I did not pick up on it. And we were too far into the process. So after one hell of a long time and too much money I walked out with my old phone and a new one.
While waiting we witnessed a female employee get her butt chewed from across the room by Mitch. A major jerk of a guy. He never once said another word to me the entire time I was in the store. I did tell the woman who helped me that I did not appreciate being blown off one tiny bit.
In the car Butch chewed my butt. Told me the TV was on Fox News in the store. Adding to the list of negative incidents. After talking it over we decided to drive to Des Moines and see if we would have fared any better. So we went to a corporate Verizon location in the Jordon Creek Mall. They listened to my tale and had all kinds of things they could have done for me but since my purchase was made at a 3rd party dealer I would have to return the new phone to them.
I was told I had 14 days to return the phone.
So as early as we could this morning, we returned the phone to Carroll and that was all A-OK.
Came back to Jefferson, I kept a doctor appointment at 11:30. Then we met up with Donn and Peggy at Tojo's in Jamaica Iowa for a tenderloin. They are famous for them. Yes, that is the same Donn and Peggy we spend the winter with in Texas. They were making a swing through Iowa to visit family on their way to Texas. We had a great visit!
So then we decided to tackle the phone issue and go to a corporate Verizon location in Ames. Closer than Des Moines. I told my story one more time. Was able to get a Google Pixel, and a $200 trade in on my phone, and they were offering an ASUS zenpad for $50. Butch's kindle has some serious age on it and this will make a nice replacement so we took the bait. My monthly fee is a few dollars less. I have the phone I wanted and we walked out happy.
Lessons learned? Only go to a corporate store. They are the only ones allowed to "deal" with you. So we have put a few miles on the car the past two days but we incorporated a stop at Costco and finished off an audio book. "The Life We Bury" It was worth the listen.
They tell me the camera on my new phone is "AWESOME" so look for some really cool pictures in the near future.
