Hawk's Babble-Log

I got a letter from my cell phone provider, Cingular, about a “SERVICE IMPACTING ISSUE”. I guess it was serious. Basically, the letter says that I need to upgrade my SIM chip or else. They’ll provide the new 64K SIM chip, I just need to go to a Cingular store. The nearest Cingular store to me is down on Western and Wilshire.

So I reserve a Saturday and ride on down there. The heat was intense, but at least I wasn’t wearing much, and I had the wind. It was hot wind, but it seemed better than none at all.

From the moment I walked in the door, I knew my day had just tanked. There was a line. A big line. A long line. A line which ran down one wall, curved around the corner, and then ran down another wall. I got in the line, but I almost turned around and walked out.

I stood in this line for about _an hour_. I think I could have found better uses for my time, but at least I got some good chess time in. I have chess in my phone. So when I’ve got nothing better to do, I play a quick game against my phone. Usually, I lose. How sad is that? I’m so good at chess that my phone kicks my ass.

By the time I got up to talk to a guy, the line had grown to run down another wall. These guys were _way_ underprepaired for the traffic. Like, a lot.

So I finally reach the guy behind the counter. He asks for my number ‘n stuff, then proceeds to copy all the entries from my current SIM card over to my phone. I asked him about the copy machine, the one which can transfer all my numbers from the old SIM card over to the new SIM card. He said, “It’s broken.”

Let me clarify: The letter I got from Cingualr told me to just pop into a Cingular store and get my numbers copied over from my old SIM card to a “new and improved” SIM card. So far, I’ve had to stand around for an hour (playing chess) only to find out that the whole reason for going into the store was broken. And they didn’t even have a backup machine!

If I were running that store, I would have _at least_ a backup machine! They were completely undermanned as it was. Most of the people working there were standing behind the main central counter, asking if anyone needed any help. Hell yes, we needed some help! Like, a SIM card copy machine or three!

The man behind the counter swapped out my old SIM card for the new one. Since he was helping someone else by this time, I copied all my numbers back from the phone to the new SIM card. Now I had every entry in my phone book duplicated. One entry existed in my phone memory, the other existed in my shiny new SIM card. I asked the guy how to get rid of the duplicate entries and he said, “Delete ‘em.” I asked, “One by one?” He nodded.

So I’m doing it in shifts, a few per day. I have, probably, several hundred entries. If I start from the bottom and work my way up, it’s seven key presses to delete one entry and move the selector up to the next entry. It’s mind-numbing work.

The letter I got from Cingular states, “Cingular is constantly improving our network to provide you the best possible wireless service. In order for you to experience the enhanced Cingular network, we need to upgrade the existing SIM card in your wireless phone immediately.

“At no cost to you, Cingular will provide a new 64K SmartChip SIM Card that will enable your wireless phone to take advantage of the new network upgrades and reduce any potential service interruptions. The process only takes a few minutes and we’ll be happy to transfer your contacts from the old SIM card to the new SIM card at the same time.”

After I got my new SIM card, I made some calls (or received some calls, I don’t remember which) and the service was just as I remember it: crappy. I had one dropped call immediately, I remember that much. Once I got home, service was the same: crappy. I think the little extended antenna is helping, but it’s hard to be sure.

Maybe they haven’t rolled out the new network yet. As is, I get a lot of dropped calls and lousy reception when I’m at home or at someone else’e home. Just last Sunday I was at my sister’s place and got a call, which then dropped. This was with the new SIM card.

So, to summarize: I’m really not impressed with Cingular. Like, _really_ not impressed. They sent me another “deal” for a new free phone if I sign another two-year contract. To hell with that! I made that mistake last time. I think I’ll shop around and see if I can get something better.

Cingular still drops a lot of my calls, and the area I’m in at the time does _not_ seem to affect this. I’ve seen some of their ads, “Fewest dropped calls”. I have a word for that: _bullshit_.