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I shouldn't have been surprised. I mean, we booked 'free' flights with our air miles and got charged thousands of dollars in taxes, airport fees, etc.
I've renewed (and tweaked) my cell phone plan and was told that I was entitled to a free upgrade. My phone's decided that I'm not cool enough to use the text function (LIKE I WANTED TO ANYWAY!!!) and doesn't have the slidey thing so you had to press a button three times to get to a letter and I never did grasp how to make it do numbers or correct a mistake.
So I toddled into the local store and asked for my New!Free!Shiny! Phone.
Turned out that Bluetooth, which I daringly asked for without having a clue what it was except it means I can go hands free in the car after spending lots more money, and a slide out keyboard are now bog standard.
Kewl.
He then asked what I wanted and when I said 'Simple. Very, very simple. I use my phone rarely and text three times a year, if that.' he sold me the latest (only been out four days!!) Sony Ericsson Vivaz Pro. It was $50, but there was a $50.00 rebate so that means free, yes?
Nope. That means $100 in extras and stuff that only got revealed when the thing was out of the box with my old sim card in (it didn't transfer all my numbers over either, though there're only about six of them so not to worry.
It's touch screen and keeps trying to connect me to the net which even I'm not naive enough to think is free. Hmm, let me see what this teeny-tiny writing says. No, it's $25.00 a month. I don't THINK so.
Being ahead of the techie curve is way expensive. I'll be over in the corner prodding helplessly, hopefully at it and trying to turn it on.
I've renewed (and tweaked) my cell phone plan and was told that I was entitled to a free upgrade. My phone's decided that I'm not cool enough to use the text function (LIKE I WANTED TO ANYWAY!!!) and doesn't have the slidey thing so you had to press a button three times to get to a letter and I never did grasp how to make it do numbers or correct a mistake.
So I toddled into the local store and asked for my New!Free!Shiny! Phone.
Turned out that Bluetooth, which I daringly asked for without having a clue what it was except it means I can go hands free in the car after spending lots more money, and a slide out keyboard are now bog standard.
Kewl.
He then asked what I wanted and when I said 'Simple. Very, very simple. I use my phone rarely and text three times a year, if that.' he sold me the latest (only been out four days!!) Sony Ericsson Vivaz Pro. It was $50, but there was a $50.00 rebate so that means free, yes?
Nope. That means $100 in extras and stuff that only got revealed when the thing was out of the box with my old sim card in (it didn't transfer all my numbers over either, though there're only about six of them so not to worry.
It's touch screen and keeps trying to connect me to the net which even I'm not naive enough to think is free. Hmm, let me see what this teeny-tiny writing says. No, it's $25.00 a month. I don't THINK so.
Being ahead of the techie curve is way expensive. I'll be over in the corner prodding helplessly, hopefully at it and trying to turn it on.