The one where Radio Shack rocks my socks...

So, remember when I broke up with Blockbuster? *sighs, gazes wistfully out the window* Well, I still miss them. I've been seeing Redbox occasionally and I'm hooking up with Netflix as soon as I buy a wireless router so we can stream movies to the TV, but I still miss visiting Blockbuster and strolling the aisles. Just like I love the convenience and free shipping that Amazon offers, yet I miss the Borders and Barnes & Nobles days of touching the books and losing myself in the stacks. But I've developed a new affection.

In the old days, when I first got my cell plan and those first phones, I got them from Radio Shack. Signed my contract there, picked out free phones, ect. And Radio Shack was good to me. The Shack took care of me, so a lot of subsequent upgrades were made through them. They changed sales associates often and managers sometimes, but there was always someone there who really knew their stuff and was eager to help. Then Best Buy moved to town. The array of electronics, the stunning display of cell phones, the quantity~ it was heady stuff. How could I not be taken in by it's absolute star quality? Everything about the store yells "look at me! I have everything! Bigger and better!". And for awhile I lost myself in giddy abandon. I purchased 3 upgrades through them. But I was less than satisfied. One phone had to be replaced 3 times before we got a good one. The lines were long and sometimes you spent an hour there when you just ran in for a quick question. But then I found the phone I wanted for my upgrade. At&t's new Backflip. The At&t rep happened to be there the day I was and completely convinced me it was the phone for me. And also said they'd wave my upgrade fee. Score!

This phone does amazing things. It syncs all of my social networking sites (FaceBook, Twitter, ect.) and gives me updates as they happen. I can enter all of my email addresses and get emails in a universal inbox as I go. It's on the android network so web browsing is fast and the browser window is much bigger than most phones. It has a touch screen, but also a pull out qwerty keyboard. And tons of apps. You can see it here. I call him Raoul. And it was only $49.99 with the upgrade. But alas, I had to wait til mid May for my upgrade. So I eagerly rushed to Best Buy the day my upgrade was available. And *gasp* my phone's price had gone up to $99.99. Plus $30 for the screen protector and $8 for them to put it on for me. WTF? So I told the guy I was going to go to Radio Shack and see which phones they had and what prices they were. He told me he could pull it up on the computer and price match. Sweet! Turns out Radio Shack had my phone for free! But after a quick call he realized they didn't have any in stock at the Shack, so he wouldn't price match. I stormed off dramatically. Grrr...

So I dropped into Radio Shack myself a few days later to see if they had gotten some in stock. No luck. However, the manager said they could still do the upgrade and ship the phone direct to me. Awesome!! I told them the rep said to cancel my upgrade fee as well. We went through the upgrade process (takes forever) but when we got to the price screen...&79.99. WTH? The manager (a cute guy by the name of Jesse Simpson) then realized that the "free" offer was only on the Internet. Not in the stores. (Why do companies do that??!). I told them I was sorry for making them go through all that, but I couldn't do it that day at that price. They started to undo everything. Then they called the rep. She told them to call the district manager and ask him to price override and give it to me for free. They told me not to get my hopes up. But they called him and he came through. So I got my fancy new shiny phone for FREE. It came in the mail two days later. I took it in to the Shack, bought a screen protector for $8 and they put it on for FREE. Take that Best Buy!!

Seriously, this is one of the best examples of customer service I've ever seen. They really went above and beyond to make sure I was happy. And I am very happy! I stopped in yesterday because of an issue with the screen protector and Jesse happily put a whole new one on for me. (Again, for free) Best customer service ever! I would like to thank Jesse, Megan, the other employees and Anna (the AT&T rep) for their commitment to customers. Jesse asked me yesterday if I wouldn't mind telling my friends where I got my phone. I told him I would do him one better- I would tell the world. And better yet, I'll be getting all my upgrades there from now on. Thanks guys. You rocked my socks. I'm sorry I left you Radio Shack. Sometimes bigger isn't better. I'm all yours again.

♥Spot