Phone troubles
Aug. 20th, 2009 11:06 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
raloriaHad a sucky Thursday. *sigh* Where to begin?
Went out in search of cell phones for mom & I to use up in Vancouver, since my cell phone is AT&T and their prepaid phones don't roam in Canada. Bah. So we decided to check out T-Mobile, since their prepaid phones do roam up there. And thus began the endless day of driving to stores and getting conflicting info. at every turn.
* Went to one T-Mobile store - We were told there's a 7 to 8 business days wait for any phone to be unlocked for use in Canada. Peachy. That'll mean we'll be able to use them by the time we get home! Keep in mind it says nothing about this wait time on their website! We could buy phones up in Canada, but we wouldn't be able to use them once we bring them back home to WA.
* Went to another T-Mobile store - Heard the same story about the 7 to 8 business days wait for unlocking of the phone. However, this guy said if we bought phones up in Canada, we'd be able to use them down here, just put in new SIM cards. Okay....
* Went to one Best Buy store - Same 7 to 8 business days wait for unlocking story we kept hearing all day. This guy suggested walkie-talkies, since we only need to talk to each other from our hotel to the convention hotel, which is 5 blocks and under a mile from each other. Problem.....because it's downtown and walkie-talkies work on line-to-sight, all those buildings will block the signal and they might not work! *sigh* Onto the next store....
* Which was a Radio Shack. Sadly, the guy there didn't know much of anything about cell phones and even less about T- Mobile phones because they'd just gotten them in 2 days ago. :(
* Our last stop was another Best Buy store. Same talk about the 7 to 8 days to wait for unlocking. But this dude said T-Mobile prepaid phones didn't even work in Canada! WTH??? He also suggested buying cell phones up in Canada, but that they wouldn't work here in the states. *sigh*
This is turning into a nightmare! All we want is some way for me to call my mom and my mom to call me while we're in Vancouver for VanCon! I'll be walking from our hotel to the convention hotel (and back each evening), so she wants to make sure I get there okay. Keep in mind, my mom is not technologically gifted and has never used a cell phone before. She wants something simple. Try and find that. It was nothing but endless disappointment today. I don't know what we're going to do. It's looking like the only option left is for me is to find a pay phone to call her once I get to the convention hotel, but I don't like the fact that she won't be able to call me if she needs to.
I'm not even sure we'd be able to buy phones in Canada without a lot of trouble. After a little online research, it all sounds like more trouble than it's worth. Especially for only 5 days! Gah! This sucks!
To top it all off....I smashed one of my fingers in the new wheelchair we got my mom a few days ago. Owie! So I'm dealing with that too. :(
Went out in search of cell phones for mom & I to use up in Vancouver, since my cell phone is AT&T and their prepaid phones don't roam in Canada. Bah. So we decided to check out T-Mobile, since their prepaid phones do roam up there. And thus began the endless day of driving to stores and getting conflicting info. at every turn.
* Went to one T-Mobile store - We were told there's a 7 to 8 business days wait for any phone to be unlocked for use in Canada. Peachy. That'll mean we'll be able to use them by the time we get home! Keep in mind it says nothing about this wait time on their website! We could buy phones up in Canada, but we wouldn't be able to use them once we bring them back home to WA.
* Went to another T-Mobile store - Heard the same story about the 7 to 8 business days wait for unlocking of the phone. However, this guy said if we bought phones up in Canada, we'd be able to use them down here, just put in new SIM cards. Okay....
* Went to one Best Buy store - Same 7 to 8 business days wait for unlocking story we kept hearing all day. This guy suggested walkie-talkies, since we only need to talk to each other from our hotel to the convention hotel, which is 5 blocks and under a mile from each other. Problem.....because it's downtown and walkie-talkies work on line-to-sight, all those buildings will block the signal and they might not work! *sigh* Onto the next store....
* Which was a Radio Shack. Sadly, the guy there didn't know much of anything about cell phones and even less about T- Mobile phones because they'd just gotten them in 2 days ago. :(
* Our last stop was another Best Buy store. Same talk about the 7 to 8 days to wait for unlocking. But this dude said T-Mobile prepaid phones didn't even work in Canada! WTH??? He also suggested buying cell phones up in Canada, but that they wouldn't work here in the states. *sigh*
This is turning into a nightmare! All we want is some way for me to call my mom and my mom to call me while we're in Vancouver for VanCon! I'll be walking from our hotel to the convention hotel (and back each evening), so she wants to make sure I get there okay. Keep in mind, my mom is not technologically gifted and has never used a cell phone before. She wants something simple. Try and find that. It was nothing but endless disappointment today. I don't know what we're going to do. It's looking like the only option left is for me is to find a pay phone to call her once I get to the convention hotel, but I don't like the fact that she won't be able to call me if she needs to.
I'm not even sure we'd be able to buy phones in Canada without a lot of trouble. After a little online research, it all sounds like more trouble than it's worth. Especially for only 5 days! Gah! This sucks!
To top it all off....I smashed one of my fingers in the new wheelchair we got my mom a few days ago. Owie! So I'm dealing with that too. :(
