The title, cracks me up folks. I love it. Yes, it is a play on wines, which is fitting for us since we love wine country, and my wife loves wine (I am a beer guy myself). You see my wife and I have been combining our phone services lately. This is supposed to be simple, yet it is nowhere close.
It’s so hard to say goodbye…
After a lengthy discussion we are moving all of our phone service to Verizon Wireless. Why you might ask? So far based on available data they seem to have the best coverage and network availability in our area. My wife is a tried and true AT&T girl, mostly because before AT&T she was a sprint customer. I will leave it at that, and you can draw that conclusion. So earlier today we made a trip to the local Verizon store. It went something like this.
My wife brought with us her iPhone, which while it does eventually need replacing, it will work for now. It has taken a while, but a store associate is finally with us. The associate is professional and courteous, and we are not being required to wear masks (which is nice). Thankfully I am being told our plan will not change, and we can keep everything the way it is. My wife and I are both worried about porting her number, but we are assured it will work. Shockingly I am going to receive a $450 gift card in three months if we keep her line active that long. I am verifying left and right that this is true, because it seems too good to be true. The SIM card he brought out does not activate correctly, so he needs to get a new one.
This is where things take a turn towards “uh oh”. When he returns he explains that the issue is not the SIM card, it is her iPhone. Apparently it is locked to AT&Ts network. Thankfully this does not require me to leave and come back, instead we can setup her new line with her current phone number and activate it later.
This may have been a mistake…
Okay, so just a few hours ago we called AT&T. Turns out her phone is locked. Why is it locked? Because of a device payment plan, which I loath. I only loath it because it is essentially a contract with the carrier, we just call it something else. Seriously people, buy unlocked from the manufacturer, they all offer a payment plan close to what your carrier does and legitimately no contract!
After spending several hours on the phone with AT&T we have learned that we must do the following steps:
- Pay Off the Device
- Insert the new SIM
- Request the Unlock from AT&T
- Enjoy the new phone on a new carrier
Now since we are looking at a late hour right now, we have both decided to attack this tomorrow. I am excited to say that I think we are making a good choice in the right direction. What we thought would be a quick trip and a simple swap has turned into something a little more complicated, but it will work itself out!
That is how you wind up All Hat, with No Cattle.