i did it, i dumped verizon

about 11 or 12 years ago my parents bought me my first cell phone for x-mas. it was way back before smart phones and color screens. i was psyched. i remember reading my new phone number and memorizing it instantly (it was an easy number.... 2014240606, that number's gone now, so feel free to prank call the next dude who gets issued that number).

the phone was put under my stepfather's name cuz i didn't have credit. i was dealt the immense responsibility to keep current with the payments cuz if i didn't, i'd be messing things up in his name... not my own.

i kept this number and this contract, under my step dad's name, for years... up until this month actually. sure i could've changed the name on the phone, but i'm lazy... very lazy. so i never did. i just went with the flow and ended up 30 and still using a cell phone under my step dad's name.

throughout the years and several phones i had through verizon, i could never complain about the reception. verizon always had great reception and they knew it. they used that as an excuse to never cut me any slack. throughout my 12 years as a loyal verizon customer, the only special offers i ever received were discounts on new phones every 2 years.. but i'd only receive the discount if i renewed a contract with them for another 2 years.

as the years went by, the plans verizon had to offer for the extensions got more expensive. what had started out as a $40 a month commitment back in the day was now averaging somewhere in the mid $80 area. i had let verizon nickel and dime me the whole way... just accepting it, figuring that's how things are. if you want the phone with the good reception, you gotta be willing to pay the price.

and throughout the years, anytime i'd log into the verizon wireless website, i'd see awesome deals for the hottest new phones for new customers. NEW customers.... here i was, 10+ years in the game, never seeing these sorta prices offered to me... even when they offered discounted phones every 2 years.

sometimes i'd try to act tough and call customer service to try and get a cheaper price. each time i tried, they'd offer me cheaper plans. but the cheaper plans always sucked. it was always for a ridiculously low amount of texts and minutes that i'd definitely go over. so i went on, paying the high prices, accepting it as fate.

this year things started changing. metro pcs's stared popping up everywhere. they started offering $40/month, unlimited text and call plans with no contracts. i figured that was because the reception sucked. but one day i was hanging with a buddy of mine and we went to a metro pcs store to check it out... he needed a new phone. he bought one and went with their plan. i checked in with him periodically to see how the reception was, and he'd always reply that it was good.

this opened my eyes. i started seeing other hard to believe plans from other carriers. i started to feel like a big sucker for sticking it out with verizon. i was comparing the whole thing in my head to someone who sticks around in an abusive relationship and says, 'things will change, it'll get better. i won't always get fucked over.' meanwhile i had to sit in jealousy and watch all my friends find themselves in new, healthy cell phone relationships that made them happy and saved them money.

it was around this time that one day i woke up and my cell phone wouldn't turn on. it had shut off and it wouldn't come back on. i messed with it all day trying to get it to work, but to no avail. i had a broken phone. i took this as a sign.

i took a few days off from owning a cell phone (i highly reccomend the few day long cell phone break. it's nice to get off the grids and not be easy to find sometimes). gave myself time to think about it. googled other plans. then on the way home from work one day i noticed a new virgin mobile store around the corner just about to open its doors for business. i took that as another sign and checked out their website....

BOOM!!! $25 a month, unlimited text, data, and 300 minutes talk time (i don't think i've ever gone over 300 minutes in a month, i'm way more of a texter). i immediately felt like this was the start of something good. i checked out their phones online. they had a rogue touch for $150. it had internet and a touchscreen. shit i've never owned before in a cell phone. i was sold.

so a few days later i went to a local radioshack that sold virgin mobile... got the phone, got the plan... that was about a week ago... and i'm happy. way happier than i was with that wicked bitch verizon.

the kicker is that i had to pay an early termination fee to get out from verizon's evil grasp. $95... well spent. almost like they say in the movie, 'a bronx tale,' forget it, it cost me $95 to never have to deal with them again. with the $25 a month price tag for virgin mobile, it'd all pay off in no time anyways.

later verizon. we had some good times. but we were younger then. i grew older and grew apart as you grew larger, more corporate, and more greedy. sure, your reception improved and got better over the years, but you used it as an excuse to treat me bad. you expected me to just stick around and never leave.

well i left. you may find other customers, but me and you are a thing of the past. and i'm better off without you...

josh
+
virgin mobile
4eva
(or until virgin mobile grows larger, more corporate, and more greedy)