h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Some time ago, my phone contract expired. I didn't particularly care about getting a new one. This one still works as well as it did when I got it, and I'm not one of these people whose identity relies on always having the newest fashionable thing, so I was perfectly content with it.

But then they got greedy. "Wahey!!! They thought. That contract has expired. We can charge whatever we like!"

So I cancelled it, and took out a cheaper one, which entails a shiny new phone they needn't have given me if they hadn't tried to take me for a fool.

So their greed has contained within it the seed of its own destruction. I pay less then I did all along, and they have to give me a new phone for the privilege of paying less . And brother gets my old perfectly nice phone with plenty of bells and whistles gratis, into the bargain.

I'm happier about their questionable business practices shooting them in the foot than I am about getting a better deal.

Hoist with their own petard

I'm desperate for a new phone now... mine has gotten very roppy and misbehaving.... but I cna't face the complexity of searching for a new contract/supplier... and... in a very old fashioned way, I rather like the people who work in the phone shop in town, near my house, who I have the contract with... which is annoying, as they're deals don't seem... too great

To be honest, I've shopped around a lot before and found that it's really swings and roundabouts. There's not as much difference between all the different deals as they like to pretend. That one was as good as any until the contract lapsed and turned into month-by-month contracts. I'm sure they make quite a lot of money that way when people just stick with it out of inertia, or don't keep an eye on their monthly bills or whatever.

I got my mobile on a contract-free basis, which meant I had to pay for the phone but it only cost me about $25 anyway cos I wanted a basic phone, no smarts. I decided to do that because I didn't want to be pinned down to a two-year contract if I found out the company was a pain the bum (as they almost all are), but that was five or six years ago and I'm still with them, still using the same phone, and my monthly bill has hardly changed during that time

So they'll probably be sending someone round to knock on my door like the ISP did a few years ago to try and blag me into something that's going to make them more money Which I was silly enough to fall for, as a result of which I can no longer get them to give me a straight monthly plan like I had before.

I had a very comfortable arrangement - a connection speed that suited me fine and a very nice monthly charge that had hardly changed in several years despite them increasing the speed several times. Then I was offered a quintupling of my speed for only a few extra dollars, but only at that price for a year, when it go up to a price I thought, at the time, I could still afford, and I had to add basic cable TV, which I never used because I don't have a television and don't want one. But then I couldn't afford it, and then they increased all their prices, so I called them a few weeks ago to get something more suitable to my pocket, and no matter how much I told them what I wanted they were determined to get me 'a deal', In other words, the same kind of thing I'm trying to get out of - a discount on something for a year, after which it'll go back up to the normal charge

Unfortunately they're the only people I can get broadband from, unless I move out of an apartment complex into a house and get gigabit fibre from Google, so I'm stuck with them

These convoluted ways of trying to pull a fast one really annoy me. They rarely catch me out, because I usually read small print and all the rest of it. But it just annoys me that we have to play the tiresome, time-wasting game. It's like some silly tango we have to dance before purchasing any goods or services.

Life's too short to waste like that - can we not just cut the crap and deal frankly and bluntly?

I'm reading a charming book called "Arcadia," in which the main character -- Bit Stone -- grows up in a commune in the 1960s, and never really embraces the outside world after the commune dissolves a couple decades later. Case in point: he won't get a cell phone. He relies on a rotary phone because it seems more authentic.

the thing about these contracts is you do have to keep an eye on deadlines and then cancel them on time.

With our phones I go just when it's about to expire and get a new phone and stick to my usual requirements. I get a spiffy upgrade on my phone and because you can't do sales flannel on someone who works (or has worked) in sales, I usually find my monthly fee either stays the same or goes down for more service (usually faster internet)

I have to keep an eye on Sky. We only really have it for the footy, but it helps that films and modern series are broadcast in German and the original, so it works out really well for us. Especially since I subscribed in the Borussia Mönchengladbach fan shop and got the good deal just before Christmas, which is basically their full packet (without HD) of wall-to-wall sport and films, plus the equipment, plus a football shirt (cost to buy: EUR 75). We pay half the regular price for 2 years. And if I cancel on time, they'll offer me the same packet at the same price or cheaper, because it's all about bums on seats with companies like Sky whose real revenue comes from advertisers.

Everyone's happy (except me, because got the footy shirt)

That's what I mean. I've come out of it better off, so did you, but we still have to go through the silly motions. It's like The Life of Brian where they insist he has to haggle.

I seem to have gotten more, too, on teh contract, for less...; half the time, it sif you end up on a non-standard package, the price goes up, then you add more; which takes it to an actual package, and the 'grouped' price, overall falls... still kinda tempted by getting a unlocked, sym free, just so ... can have it exactly as i want, and get rid of all the opperator packaged junk on the phone itself,... but, its still a lot of money, just to be able to do that, unless I go for a second hand, or recon phone I'm due an upgrade soon though, so may just end up with whatever the newer model of my Samsung thing is... It seems to work OK, though this one has gotten slow, as its got older, and not coped so well with the updates to software, which arn't relaly designed anymore, for a phone that's as low spec as this, I guess...

tbh I don't mind going back and having to cancel or haggle or whatever. Actually I don't really haggle I just say what I want, and if I get it good, if not I cancel.

Sometimes, depending on my mood and available time, I like to let salespeople try to sell me stuff i know about. When I bought my TV it was amusing enough that people stopped to stare, until arrived and told me to stop playing with my food

You have too much time on your hands.

(Or a very strange definition of leisure )

I'm definitely with Sho on the subject of letting people try to flannel you with stuff they think you know nowt about. I've just had it done to me by someone who's the beer equivalent of the record shop assistant. The one who thinks everything they like is so and everything you like is so . Or at least, they know far more than you do about whatever it is.

Tripped him up and sent him flat on his face, metaphorically speaking

Well yeah, I can see how it's fun to do it - it's just that there are so many bullshit artists these days that if you argue with all of them, you'd never get anything else done.

You have be selective, it's true. Life's just too short otherwise.

Selective is right.
For example - when my old CRT TV blew up on Easter Saturday 2 years ago, I had funds available to buy a replacement. I also had very little time. Plus I work for a company that makes the displays.
So I went to the local electronics store, looked at the 3 TVs at the top end of my price range. Dismissed 1 immediately as too ugly then had to choose between a 40" from one company and a 46" from another. Went for the 46" because - well, I just did. So within 2 minutes I'd chosen and was paying for it. the guy was trying to sell me the features and I was saying: look, husband is in the queue for the car park, I've told him to drive round to the delivery point. Get in on the computer so that when he gets there he can just load it.


When I was buying one with my mum, I let them flannel around because I was waiting for her to arrive so I had a bit of time, plus there was a bit of an audience, and sometimes I'm a show off.

My eyesight isn't what it used to be and the glasses I wear when I'm looking at the monitor aren't exactly the right strength, so each time I see the subject of this conversation listed on my postings page I think it says 'diabetic'

but... it does say that... doesn't it? *rereads*
oh. I think I've entirely missed the point of this thread