Interesting Random Bits

Well. Possibly interesting. Possibly you'll think, "she's insane." But you usually think that anyway.

I just changed mobile phone services. I used to have Cingular, which got bought by AT&T, and for various and sundry UNinteresting reasons, I held on to them until this spring. Then I knew Number One was going to Holland and would need an easy way to call home and AT&T has the easy way, plus the most ranging service. But she's back, and so am I, so I changed. And I learned a few things.

1. I have had the same long distance service for 15 years and 10 months.

Pretty impressive, no? Back in 1992 I worked for a company that did customer service and billing for a small reseller, Working Assets Long Distance. They are a socially responsible company who donates millions every year to charities, as well as enabling their customers to send letters to politicians and other people about important environmental, social, political, and economic causes. (No, I didn't really do sales, though there was an element of that to my job.) I switched my service to them when I started working there and never switched away. There's never been any reason to. My long distance use is so low I only get billed quarterly, and that's usually less than $20.

2. Sprint's network sucks eggs.

It's not like I didn't already know that AT&T wasn't lying when they say "more bars in more places." I had a full signal in the sub-basement of the hotel in SF, while friends with other services (*cough*T-Mobile*cough*) didn't have service in 90% of the building. (Or, you know, whatever.) But I get two bars in my house and the conversation cuts out every two seconds. Really annoying. I have a 30-day window to decide if I want to stay without penalty. We'll see how it goes.

3. If you tell the nice CSRs that you used to do their job, they will be tickled enough to send you coupons for free Ben & Jerry's.

Those coupons have been the gimmick for Working Assets (now Credo) for decades. Refer a friend--get a coupon. Get a credit card--get a coupon. Yummy reward.

*thinks* I thought I had more non-phone random bits, but I can't think of them now. Number Two wants to go school shopping, so I'm off.

Well, I'm always a LITTLE off.