Patchwork Times by Judy Laquidara logo

Remove the Battery Please

Could you live without your cell phone?  I’m thinking about trying it!  I’m not going to say which phone I have, nor am I going to say which service we  use.  For the past two or three months, trying to use the internet/data while away from home has been pointless.  My friends have different types of phones with the same company I use and their phones always work . . mine does not.  I’ve called them dozens of times, I’ve taken the battery out, as instructed, so many times that if someone even suggests taking the battery out again,  well, I don’t know what I’m going to do  🙂  I’m pretty fed up with my phone.  While eating out with a friend this week, I was going to show her a picture of something on my blog but no . . the phone wouldn’t cooperate.

I decided . . why am I paying for a data plan that I can’t use so I called the company and said “I’m sick of paying for a data plan I cannot use and I want a plain Jane phone with no data, no bells and whistles . . I just want to talk!”  Do you know what they said?  Will you please remove the battery? No!  I will not remove the battery again!  They decided to send me a new phone.  Then they switched me to the warranty man so I could get a new phone and he said “First, I need for you to remove the battery.”  Things went rapidly downhill from there.

Then he told me that I needed to download an update for my phone.  The update came out in February.  I’ve talked to the “customer service department” and I use that term very loosely, dozens of times since February and no one has ever suggested that I needed to download an update.  In fact, at one point, we checked online and it said my phone was using the most current version of everything.  The guy on the phone said “Oh, it says that because this update is so large you have to download it to your computer and then transfer the download from your computer to your phone.”

Why can’t I have a phone that just rings . . I answer it and talk . . and then I hang up and everything is fine?  I don’t even want a data plan any more.  I just want a phone that does everything I’m paying for it to do and all I need to do on my phone is talk . . and I do that rarely.

We’ll see how the new updated version of my phone works but right now . . my phone is not my best friend.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. amen…
    I have a cell phone.
    it stays in the car.
    4 people have the phone number.
    I have it for when I need it on the road….end of story
    I use a prepay package and most years spend a grand total of $100.

  2. Never having had a cell phone……………. Am I the last of a dying breed? I have absolutely no need to talk to anyone when I’m out and about. Nobody needs me and I don’t need anyone else. The only person I would call would be my husband and he always seems to be by my side. Oh well, that’s my life.

  3. I’m not a cell phone geek.
    BUT – when I took mine in they told me I should turn it off and plug it in each night to get the updates.
    They did update it then and there and it seems to be working fine.
    (My computer geek son does a more thorough computer to cell phone update occasionally for me but it’s been 4 months and no problems.)
    I can’t say what phone I have but you might call it an eyephone – and it’s not the most recent version.

  4. It has to be T-Mobile, we have had so much trouble with them in the last year. There is our youngest daughter who has AT&T and we used to be able to send pictures to her then all of a sudden we can’t again. Be to T-Mobile store for over 2 hours and on the house phone to customer service at least 10 times, some times over an hour. Went to Rocking Chair Quilts today for my birthday, but we didn’t make it to Buzz’s.

  5. I feel your pain. I got a new phone the first of March. Everything was fine for the first 6 wks, then I kept getting voicemails and text messages that had been deleted over and over and over. I was not happy. I took the phone told them to dig my old phone out of the trash as I wanted it back. Taking the battery out did not help except to annoy me. The second time I took the phone back to the store the owner was there and she said “Oh, we need to refresh your server.” It has worked fine ever since. Good luck!

  6. I know just what you mean! I hate these smart phones. I don’t need all these apps and bells and whistles either. I don’t like butt dialing and don’t like to recharge my phone every night whether I use it or not. I’d love to go back to my “dinosaur” phone that flipped shut and pretty much only made phone calls. I was forced into this thing because we gave up our land line because of lousy service and the new plan wouldn’t use my old phone. What’s a girl to do?

  7. Judy, I got rid of my “data” type phone last year. I have just a plain and simple LG Accolade flip phone. (Verizon). No more data plan. If you want to access email or websites, or pictures use your iPod. (I think you have one?) If you are near a free Wi-Fi service, it works fine and all the “data” usage is free with your iPod. I have the iPod Classic, the older one—not the new iPod touch. My friend uses an iPod touch to get on the internet free—did I mention free! LOL! The newer iPod touch has a great camera too! She has a plain and simple flip phone as well. We found this free data idea (using iPod touch idea) from listening to a local radio (financial planner) type fellow who was advocating new ways to save money. No more expensive data plans!

  8. Judy, my phone isn’t “smart”, I don’t have a data plan and I don’t miss it. My cell phone is only on when we travel otherwise we use our house phone… oh and I don’t text or receive text. I carry my phone with me though cause I work night and never know when I might need it.

  10. When I went to get a new cell phone I told the clerk that I wanted a phone just to talk on…no camera, no texting, no internet… just a phone. Her response…We don’t have anything like that. However the one I got is pretty simple and I just don’t use all of those other features…I just make phone calls!

  11. If you decide to ditch the “service” you’re getting at some point, I have had good experience with my TracFone. It doesn’t do much – you can talk and text, and it does take pictures although I’ve never done that. It costs $105 for an annual fee, which includes all the minutes I ever need. That’s it for costs, after you’ve bought the initial phone for about $20. It’s definitely not “smart,” but I feel like too many gadgets in my life take up too much of my valuable time. Plus I can use the money I save for quilting!

  12. I have a wonderful cell phone (Droid X) and it works really well. HOWEVER, I am very tempted to go back to just a plain old regular cell phone. I have a laptop computer with MiFi – if I really need a computer, I can take mine along with me. I have a GPS in the car. Do I really need all those features on the cell phone? I don’t think so, but it IS a really cool toy. I only have a cell line — I don’t have a home phone anymore, so I know I couldn’t do without the phone, but I think I could get by without the bells and whistles.

  13. Sounds like a blackberry. I LOVE my iPhone. It is just plain fun to use and it works in lots of places.

  14. I could easily live without a cell phone. I rarely use that function and only 3 people have the number. It’s the internet that I can’t live without. My Droid has become a permanent extension of my arm!

  15. I had horrible problems with my phone ov the years. They even asked me once what my house was made of since I couldn’t get calls inside!

    I got really really mad one day, threatened to cancel my service with them and looked at other companies. Then I decided to stop in and tell the manager to his face I was dropping them.

    He listened , for the first time, and said, why don’t you just get this simple phone. I did and have been very hAppy ever since. For 1/3 the price of my old plan!

    glen

  16. That’s why I have a pay as you go phone. It rings, I answer it . People text me, I ignore it. All for $15 a month.

  17. I’m like Donna. I have a pay as you go phone too, and love it. I never turn it on unless I need to make a call or when I’m traveling. I bought an iPod Touch last year and liked it a lot until it lost all the data from the apps I was using. I bought the iPod Touch with the intention of using it instead of a Palm Pilot (that I’ve used for 10 years) and there’s no easy way to transfer my addresses. It makes me crazy!

  18. Cell phones are a pain in my back side! I have one ONLY because my husband thinks I need one. I almost never leave the house unless he or one of the (over 21) kids are with me. The only time the text function is used is when one of the kids text me.
    Seriously, I got along for years without a phone on my hip. When I leave the house I don’t want to talk on the phone. I also hate listening to all the people in Target or the grocery store talking on the phone. I really don’t care that someone’s husband just doesn’t understand her, or her kids are driving her crazy or his mother is crazy and overbearing.

  20. I hear ya! My hubby had the same trouble with his phone, they kept saying battery, download, yadda, but it was just a way to get rid of him. So he switched to Tracfone, which is what I have, a plain LG flip phone, it costs us $129 a YEAR for each phone and it’s plenty of hours for us. I cannot imagine how much people who walk around with phones in their ears all day long have to pay, it’s crazy!

  21. Sure you can live without a cell phone – I’ve never had one. 🙂 But if you’re used to having one, you would probably be lost without it and with your traveling about, it’s probably a good thing to have. Although I do have to laugh (okay usually cringe) when the guy who rides the same bus I do every night at the exact same time, calls every night to tell someone he’s on the bus and on his way home. But then maybe he’s just giving his wife a heads up to get the gigalo out of the house before he gets there. 🙂

  22. I didn’t want a phone to be anything but an instrument to use for making and receiving calls. I am VERY happy with my JITTERBUG phone. It works oh so well anywhere and anytime. It is very cheap. Our service is with Verizon. Can’t say enough good things about it.

  23. You might as well use your willingness to downgrade as leverage to get the phone fixed (as in, let the retention department escalate your call to someone who’s actually good at their job).

    Your “I didn’t want data anyway” sounds like sour grapes to me. These problems all do have solutions; it sounds like you want to backup your address book, and then a visit to a kiosk who can do a full reinstall of the software, plus a hardware diagnostic on the device.

  24. I could not do without my cell phone. My daughter and her husband live many miles away but it seems so much closer becuase we keep in contact by text and pictures. I always say, “My daughter lives in my phone”. I could do without the internet part. I have a blackberry and the screen is too small. I wish I had the Fascinate with a much bigger screen.

  25. What happened to Ma Bell? I use a land line and use the computer to communicate. I even hand wrote a letter to my sister the other day. I had one briefly and I decided I didn’t need all the drama that goes with one. I have unlimited long distance and my trips away from home have the ones I love with me. Life is simple in my house.

  26. I considered when people first got one it was a status symbol. then we got a tracfone and consider it the simplest form to use. We got a name brand to get more options, and kept it for one month. I dont get why someone wants to be tied to a cell phone constantly. they walk out of their house with it stuck to their ear, get in their car and put us all in danger. Then whereever they are in public, they are talking and we all have to hear it. Man I use mine for emergencys when I am out in public, and for chat when I am home. I dont recall when my parent got a phone, maybe in 1957, party line, black heavy thing. Now adays
    its constant chatting. when do they have a life? I would rather paint or sew! LOL

  27. Oh mine! I live in the country, Lake Gaston Lake, Littleton, NC. I have to drive to Raleigh NC or Richmond VA to get good stuff—so rural. I have Droid X and Verizon. I love, love, love it. It saves me money —when I shop I use the bar code app, and compare prices right there in the store. When I went to my local community college to buy plants, perennials, and veggies (tomatoes, etc), I just googled the names to know what it was and if it was the variety I wanted. People were coming up to me to check their plants too! So funny! Like having a computer right there with you and so small and easy to carry around with you. I have the bible reading plan app, and it reads it to me!! (I use McCheyne plan–an old Scottish preacher designed it). Or you can read it yourself—taking notes, choose your version of the bible you want, etc. If we want a Kroger, for example, I just go to Places and find it real quick. I can’t imagine not having this “computer” with me at all times. I have had since Dec 2010 with not one problem. So many apps to choose from—flashlight, Pandora music, facebook, email, color notes, no games for me thought as I just don’t play them. Love it and hope everyone finds just what they need. I don’t have an ipod. This was 199 at Best Buy and they have the most amazing sales people. I would never go to the Verizon store as they have zero help and they charge much more.

  28. I’m with you, Judy… I have a phone so I can call out – I don’t even care if anyone calls me (except DH). We even had the text feature deactivated… the only texts we ever got were from the phone company that WE had to pay for.
    :>(

  29. Tracfone – or other prepaid phone. I do not text, take pictures, etc. with my phone, although I think those might be options that are available.

  30. We have a TracFone, too, and just buy minutes annually. We never use that many minutes because we only use it when we are away from home. (We live out in the country.) We discovered about six years ago that we can’t find a pay phone when we need one. I don’t even know if there are pay phones anywhere anymore. It’s also been handy to have at the scene of an accident, etc.

  31. My phone only talks… sometimes I wish it did more, but for the most part it works – oh except when it dies (or on the island…)

  32. We live in a “hole” that has no cell reception unless you walk out into the middle of the road and hold your phone up in the air. So I use a tracfone. 100.00 a year for service and a bunch of minutes that never get used up as I use the landline at home. Works great.

  33. We have a prepaid phone through AT&T and every August we go in and buy more minutes. Ends up we always have “carry over” time when we purchase more, which is testament to the fact that we use it very sparingly. We also did not want all the gadgets, whistles and plans – we just wanted to use it for emergency and convenience. Sometimes we even forget to turn it on when traveling to daughter’s – she gets upset with us. OhWell !!! Judy C

  34. I have a cell phone to use on Saturday’s when I deliver packages or when I go somewhere in case of car trouble. That’s it. I don’t text; I don’t do email. I have a very cheap plan that I got a very long time ago — they don’t even have that one available for new subscribers any more. I don’t plan on upgrading. My sister doesn’t even have a cell phone and, more importantly, doesn’t want one! I see there are a lot of people who feel as we do. My land line works for me and I don’t have dropped or lost calls. If it’s important, people can leave me a message on my answering machine and I will return their call promptly.

  35. Judy, I have an iPhone. I use the phone itself rarely, maybe 6 times a year? Talk about a waste of money! As for all the other cool features, the only thing I use and ADORE… is my grocery app. My contract is up next month. I believe I’m going to drop it and go to a prepay package on a plain jane phone.

  36. I have a cell phone just for talking..emergency esp. on the road. We gave up our land line and often traveled from TN to KY to visit family. Thirty miles out from home NO SERVICE the entire trip because of no cell towers or some such and KY was the home state of the service!!!!
    So we switched to another. Better check TX and see what service is used most where you will be and adjust accordingly. We don’t have that trouble any more.
    I can’t text anyway but don’t want to and all those other things on phones..no use for. I just have a phone for talking and sometimes a photo.

  37. I got a cell phone because I worked 3rd shift for many years. If I had car trouble, I called home. I could very easily become cell phoneless. When looking for a job, I would receive more calls on the cell than home. We switched phone companies recently due to poor customer service. Either we were being pushed to add lines(there are only 2 of us) or the service person was rude (in the store and on the phones). I do believe that customer service is going downhill even though most companies push the we have the best customer service. It doesn’t matter where or what it is. Even at Target, The next person is being checked out before you have your card back in your wallet and your things picked up. How hard is it to wait just a minute and smile and say hello, nice day. Thanks for letting me vent and I hope that your phone gets better especially after moving. Take care.

  38. I have an iPhone, and I LOVE it. I needed a new phone, and needed a new ipod, so decided to spend only ONE chunk of money. I have a 32GB, and it is FULL with music, audio books, reg books, games, apps, etc. I use it all the time. We never had service at home but AT&T has a Microcell thingy that you hook up to the internet, and now we have 5 bar service and internet. I watch tv in bed sometimes, or play solitare till I fall asleep, listen to audio books, mpr, or Pandora while sewing. It is awesome. I rarey use it for calls, (unless I am on the road, and sometimes that can be a lot) and have the smallest plan, but I have never gone over on data or minutes. And didnt want one until my hub got one for work. I have never had a problem with it, and AT&T so far has given us great service. Next-and iPad, well, I can dream….

  39. My phone rings….I answer it…I talk and then hang up… That’s it.. I even had them put a ban on all text messages cause I was getting spam…

  40. I can’t imagine what I did before my iPhone. I’ve saved so much time by fielding text messages from DH, kids and teachers telling me “don’t pick me up until 4” or “I’ll get the kids on the way home” or “class has been canceled tonight”. I use my “maps” app for directions to anywhere and to see where traffic is backed up so I can take another route. I viewed a great photo of my DIL’s new nephew on Easter morning one minute after she took it. I learned my daughter got ‘the offer’ 2 minutes after she did (YAY!) while I was in a meeting and wouldn’t have been able to take a phone call. I could make an emergency call while hiking in the sticks. I keep lists, stats for sizes and amounts of fabric I need, photos of fabric I need more of, vital statistics, addresses, and can even play a game while I’m waiting in a long line. . . ALL in a 3″ x 5″ x 1/2″ device. No, I’d never go back. iPhone/AT&T–magic!

  41. We actually had iPhones for a couple of years, and we really did love them. But then I just started to feel like I was tethered to my phone all the time (and that DH was REALLY tethered to his!!!). Plus we were concerned about the radiation levels, etc.. So, we got rid of our iPhones and now we have just regular old phones that don’t do anything special. I’m really happy. I thought I’d never be able to live without my iPhone, but I think our whole family is happier now. No more texting, no more e-mail, no more phones all the time. Just us, doing what we’re doing. It’s great.
    ~Angela~

  42. If you need help quick, use PlanetFeedBack.com. You can use the site to make a complaint to upper management, you will see fast results as they don’t want negative comments about their company online. I had a problem with our Gateway computer, had a brand new one with upgrades in less than 2 weeks. As far as cell phones, we’ve switched to Tracfone, we really don’t have a need for the gadgets, we just buy minutes, and add it to the phone.

  43. I’ve been going back and forth on whether or not I need a phone with a data plan, I guess I don’t. My cell phone keeps dropping my calls now and it has no bells or whistles. And the “helpful” people I call are worthless and tell me to check their website…for what? I guess a new expensive phone. 🙂 Hope you figure it out soon!

  44. I don’t know how I lived before my iPhone…. my kids and family (most) have AT&T so it doesn’t go against my minutes to talk and I have unlimited data. I use it for EVERYTHING!!!
    I can’t imagine life without it. Now I am waiting to upgrade to the 4g iPhone.
    BUT I know what you are talking about- my phone before this one on a different service provider I threatened to throw the phone out the window of a moving car coz it NEVER HAD SERVICE.
    Good luck.

Discover more from Patchwork Times by Judy Laquidara

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading