We’ve been using Verizon Wireless for the past four or five years for our cellular service. Overall the service was decent, but not spectacular. Their coverage area left something to be desired, and the available options, especially lately, were lacking. Our phones were more than two years old, so we decided to look at what new technology was available, and researched all of the major cellular providers – Verizon Wireless, U.S. Cellular, Sprint, T-Mobile, and AT&T.

It was pretty clear from the start that Sprint had a lot of the features we were looking for, plus some cool gadgets to go with it. Unlimited Web, minature cameras built-in to the phone so we could send each other funny pictures, digital service, and a wide coverage area. So, I decide to call Verizon Wireless and find out when our contract expired. We were pretty sure it had already expired, but we wanted to double check.

Liars

Verizon Wireless told me that our plan didn’t expire until February of 2004. They told me this on three seperate phone calls to them. Something didn’t compute. That would have put us buying our last phone while we were in the middle of the move to our new house. I smelled something fishy. On my third call to them, I asked them to tell me the start date of the contract. They came back with February 26, 2002. Impossible, because we knew we bought our phones in December, because we had received a special in the mail that expired at the end of the year. I tell them to look back further, and after much grumbling the guy finally admitted that our contract had, in fact, expired in December of 2002, leaving us free and clear to cancel with no cancellation fees. And that’s just what I did.

We went with Sprint and bought two Sanyo 8100 units. Compact flip phones with all the amenities, including the camera, full-color LCD, and extended battery life. We’ve only had the phones for a few days now, but already I can tell that the quality of the service is far and above what we received during our stint as Verizon Wireless customers.