Andy Laub

Andy Laub is a designer & developer in the Twin Cities.

Published Dec 04

E-O-T-Y »

Well, here is the finale for 04. It was what I would call a moderately exciting year. Here’s the best stuff:

Events:

  • January – I bought my Powerbook and became a full circle Mac user
  • February – after months of waiting, we finally move to our new apartment
  • March – I got promoted at work, bought a PS2
  • August – I decided I couldn’t function without a car
  • December – CellOne is done, and I am happy with Sprint

Music:

  • The College Dropout – Kanye West
  • Franz Ferdinand – Franz Ferdinand
  • Super D – Ben Folds
  • The Spine – They Might Be Giants
  • Pressure Chief – CAKE

Movies:

  • The Incredibles
  • The Butterfly Effect
  • Napoleon Dynomite
  • Kill Bill
  • Shrek 2

Games:

  • GTA San Andreas
  • Half-Life
  • Burnout 3: Takedown
  • Katamari Damacy
  • Sly 2: Band of Theives

Cars:

  • Acura TL
  • Chrysler 300C
  • Land Rover LR3
  • Porsche 997
  • Ferrari 612 Scaglietti

Stuff We Bought:

4 Years Old »

Is the age of the site as of today. It’s had almost as many visitors.

We watched Collateral last night, and I really enjoyed it. I wasn’t too excited about the ending, but there’s really no good ending to a situation like that. I also finished Half-Life (by cheating, of course). I really thought it was a neat game, but again, the ending just wasn’t too great. Once you leave the planet, you’d better have some really outstanding destination and Xen is not.

Happy birthday to me.

Phone Phrenzy »

Update: I added the Samsung A620 because Paul has it and thinks he deserves special treatment or something.

Well, on a lighter but still phone-related note, my Samsung came yesterday. I like it so far, but have yet to actually talk on it since service doesn’t start until tomorrow. The only criticism I’ve found thus far is that it doesn’t have a snooze button like my Nokias did. However, it more than compensates with its total assload of other features in what I can only imagine is one of the smallest still usable phones available.

I am still amazed at the size, which made me wonder how it compares to a) my old phones (3360 & 3560) and the other phones I was looking at (V400 & V600). Then I figured I’d throw the $500 V3 Razr on there just for fun. The results are pretty astounding. The only one that has certain dimensions smaller is the Razr. However, because it’s so thin while still having so many features, it had to be both widened and lengthened to compensate. I just don’t see how it’s the “it” phone. It’s neat, but not great. And if it’s anywhere as reliable as other Motorolas, expect to be spending a lot of time with a loaner Nokia 3595.

But I digress. Here, in reverse alphabetical and forward numeric order, is how the 7 phones I mentioned stack up. Bold denotes best in comparison.

Phone Length / Width / Thickness (in) Weight (oz)
Samsung A620 3.50 1.90 1.00 4.48
Samsung A680 3.30 1.80 .87 3.50
Nokia 3360 4.50 2.00 1.00 5.30
Nokia 3560 4.65 1.97 .91 3.80
Moto V400 3.50 1.93 1.00 4.40
Moto V600 3.50 1.90 .90 4.30
Moto V3 Razr 3.86 2.08 .54 3.35

More than a few times, I’ve wondered whether switching was a good idea. And I’ve been reassured everytime. Good things so far:

  • really fast shipping
  • an exact date and time when my number will switch (12/16 @ 6:43 AM EST).
  • I get a discount from work which I will in turn use to pay for the majority of the PCS Vision package I can now afford to add.
  • a really, really good deal. If you can, order now. I got my phone for $65. This is amazing when you consider it’s $280 with no contract and normally $130 with a contract.
  • a very helpful website and fast customer service.
  • a really helpful ordering staff. The person I was ordering with said the additional $80 discount was not supposed to be available in my area, but because that was the online price, he matched it.
  • if you transfer your number, they’ll refund your activation fee ($36).

Cell One Responds (Very Nicely) »

First, their response:

Dear Mr. Laub,

Thank you for contacting Cellular One. I apologize for the way your were treated by our sales representatives and that you were not informed about our GSM promotions. A copy of your email will be forwarded to the Wausau store manager for review.

As you are porting your number out to Sprint, your service will cancel after the port has been completed. Any applicable early termination fees will be applied to your final bill. We are sorry to lose you as a customer.

And mine:

I appreciate your timely response. I am genuinely not trying to be unreasonable, and I appreciate that you’re forwarding the information to a local authority.

I am aware for the termination fees, and although at this point I don’t see myself switching back, we’ll see how everything is in two years.

Thanks again,

Andy

Dear Cell One, »

I’m writing to let you know that I’m finished.

When I first signed on for your service, I was very pleased. This was back in 2002, when everything was TDMA. It was relatively simple to find a plan that fit – your home coverage area wasn’t the best, but with the Minnesota/Wisconsin plan I was very happy (I was commuting to Stevens Point at the time, so I needed a plan that worked south of Marathon County.

As time passed, I was still pleased, and would readily recommend your company to others. I was excited when one of your employees told me GSM was coming in early 2004. Unfortunately, I’d still have to wait another year before my contract expired to switch to GSM. Because of this, I went ahead and bought a new (TDMA) phone in March of 2004 to replace my aging Nokia 3360. I was happy, although not as happy as I would’ve been on GSM. Not two weeks later, my roommate got GSM from you. I was confused, since his contract hadn’t expired yet. I learned that you had a special offer where customers could switch to GSM, get a substantial discount on phones, and get a discounted monthly fee. I would’ve loved to have that, but I had just bought a new phone. That made me wonder why the person I bought the phone from (at your kiosk in the Wausau Center Mall) hadn’t told me about GSM at all.

That’s where the ship started to sink.

After that I was kind of disappointed, being stuck with a new phone that I could only use for TDMA service. I called your store in Rib Mountain to find out whether there was anything I could do, but I already had used my phone for more than 30 minutes so I was stuck with it.

Time passed, and I started to count down the months until my contract expired, so I could get a new phone. The thought entered my head to sign up for GSM in mid-summer, figuring that I’ll just suck up the cost of another new phone. However, the offer was gone. I was unhappy at the time, but now I am thankful because this brings me to another point–

From the point of view of a Nokia-user, your GSM phones are awful. I mean, the Motorolas are contenders, but a friend of mine bought a V400 that, admittedly, is very cool, but also seemingly very buggy, since every other week she had a loaner phone from you. The V600 is nice but costly. The Nokia selection was abyssmal then and still is. The two camera phones you carry look absurd and are something I’d actually be embarrassed to use. Speaking of absurd and embarrassing, there’s the Curitel Identity. I hope that’s a joke, right?

Anyway, I kept hoping that maybe you’d have nice Nokias in by next year, so I could buy a nice one when the contract expired. At the same time, though, I was starting to think that maybe I’d be better somewhere else. Your new GSM plans are nothing to be excited about (from somebody who is currently paying $34.00 a month including tax), and the service isn’t that impressive (yet). I wanted a company that was nationwide and acted like it. By this I mean it would get the newest phones when they came out, instead of deliberating on whether anyone would buy them. Sprint came along. They did this one better, in that people actually make phones just for them. And they’re good phones.

Finally, yesterday (Saturday 12/11/04 in the Wausau Center Mall), I was so bored with waiting that I went to the mall to find out how much it would cost if I left your service that day. The person gave me the figure, and asked why I was leaving. I told her that was going to Sprint because they have better plans and better phones. I guess this set something off with her, because she became immediately defensive and condescending, as though I didn’t know what I was talking about. She responded that you have the same plans as Sprint. Not true. Sprint has a plan that I wanted more. I wasn’t in the mood to argue with somebody about my decision, so I just responded, exasperated, that I still thought they had better phones. She launched into a speech about how you have fourteen new phones (good for you, but they’re still not Nokias). I responded that I liked Sprint’s phones better, and just received an angry look. I told her about being unhappy with the general service, and how I bought a new phone in March and was not made aware of the GSM sale. She said it was because you weren’t advertising it. I responded that it was still very frustrating.

It is frustrating still. I can understand having a sale and not advertising it in newspapers, but when someone comes up to buy a phone that you know is practically obsolete, why not tell them something better is available. If that had happened, I wouldn’t be writing this letter right now. What bothers me even more is, everytime I mention it to someone within your company, the response implies that I’m at fault for not constantly asking what your special offers are. Isn’t that why they’re called offers — because you offer them to people?

And on the subject of the representative I spoke with yesterday: awful. Making a customer feel stupid is not a good way to handle things. Here is what might have made me stay:

If she had said, OK, well if that’s the problem, I can sign you up with GSM right now and give you the new contract price on a phone, I mgiht have considered. If she had sent me to the Rib Mountain store, that would’ve been fine too. But she didn’t try. She was losing my business and she didn’t care. I guess I am not surprised, because companies such as yours seem to be more focused on signing on new people than keeping your current customers happy.

I actually went over to the Rib Mountain store to ask about switching again, but I didn’t talk to anybody there. I am glad, because I would’ve ended up with another mediocre phone, at best, and at worst would’ve just been talked down to again.

It is for those reasons that I ordered a Samsung VM-A680 and a two-year contract with Sprint PCS yesterday evening. That phone is one of the highest-rated phones available and I’ll be pleased to be using it instead of my outdated Nokia 3560.

That’s the end of the story. Thanks for 1.5 decent years and 1 mediocre one. A response is welcome,

Andy

»

I went to the Twin Cities Friday. Then I came back. I bought pants. I bought a coat. I read that Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. We went to Olive Garden. We looked at Acuras. We bought curtains at IKEA. I have no Christmas shopping done.

Xmastime »

It’s officially time for the XMASLIST. Here goes:

  1. A car would be nice. Like this one. ($$$$$)
  2. Maybe an Xbox. And Halo. ($$)
  3. A G5. Loaded or not. + Cinema Display. ($$$ – $$$$)
  4. Clothes. Shirts, pants, I don’t care. Shoes too. ($$)
  5. Since it’s a wishlist, how about some local Cingular service? (-)
  6. And a decent phone. ($$)
  7. What’s a wish list without a TV? ($$$$)
  8. Drums! ($$$)
  9. Money ($$$$$)

Since the move earlier this year, we’ve acquired much of what we wanted. Abe made the excellent point that with most of the stuff we want, we just buy it. I need to stop doing that or start making more money.

Speaking of money, I’ve been sent a lot of fake credit cards as of late – you know, the ones that look real but say “YOUR NAME HERE.” Well, Discover sent one that’s almost not worthy. It’s made of cardboard, kind of to simulate plastic. That is really probably the most pathetic thing I’ve seen. It wasn’t even attached to anything, just floating around in the envelope.