Can You Hear Me Now?

I switched to Vonage several months ago. It is about half the cost of using the local land line provider. Since voice mail is a free feature, I no longer have to use an answering machine. Of course, since my cell phone now rings simultaneously, I can answer calls that I would have otherwise missed. I also like that my monthly bill amount is fixed. In addition, as it is extremely easy to view my call history online, I do not even receive a paper bill.

I am still receiving multi-page paper bills from my land line carrier. I had had a credit of sixty-seven cents for the last few months. Only recently did they send me a refund check. I will bet that I will receive at least one more bill. They probably wasted more than the amount of my credit balance just in postage.

Now that I receive more calls on my cell phone, both for personal and professional use, it is important that I am actually able to receive calls. Rachel and I have noticed that our cell phones’ battery life has become severely diminished. I used to get about three days of use on a single charge. However, lately I had been having to charge it daily just so I could accept a single call.

I tried to purchase batteries online. But, they were either cost-prohibitive or out of stock. I broke down and went to a local Verizon store last Friday. We were in the store well over ninety minutes. After much searching, they could not find any replacement batteries. So, they decided to replace our phones for free. I am not complaining that we got free phones. But, I wish they would let us choose the replacements. I would have been willing to kick in the difference for a different phone had they asked.

I do like the new phone with one exception: It has buttons on the front. My old cell phone holder does not fit the phone. So, I have been keeping the phone in my pocket. Unfortunately, I keep hitting the buttons on the front. At least the battery life is good. I have not charged it since Friday night and the battery is still three quarters full.