Friday, September 15, 2006
Verizon hell, cont'd
So my most recent phone bill from Verizon is for $338.14. My "calling plan" was $79.95, and my "usage" was for $172.55. Turns out the calling plan included no usage. Or roaming. It was the roaming that got me. Had 493 minutes of that. I had no idea the plan included no roaming. You'd think, huh? Anyway, the "calling plan" was just one "monthly charge". Others were "Current data plan" for $30, "WPP Insurance - Lock\Line" for $4.99, "Unl Pda/Rim W/Voice Tethr" for $15 and "250 MSG Camera" for $5.00. Total: $134.98, before we get to a minute of calling. Plus whatever it cost me in the first place for a Treo 700p that has never worked reliably, tethered or via Bluetooth, as a bridge to the Net.
Turns out I have a "very old plan", the person on the *611 (service) line is telling me. I got it in April. I guess that's old in telco time. I'm waiting on the phone while the service person tries to "get the computer to work". Meanwhile she says I can get an "America's Choice" plan for my typical minute count for $119. And it will include everything. Supposedly.
I'm getting rid of the data plan and the Tethr thing, for a $45 savings right there. That means the bluetooth bridge to the Net through the Treo will be put out of our misery. Here's hoping the $57/month (for 2 years) EVDO plan will continue to work okay. I'll get rid of the text/picture thing, because on an a la carte basis they charge $.10 to send and $.15 to receive text messages; and unless I become a young person I doubt I'll go over $5 per month for that. They charge $.25 apiece for sending or receiving pictures, and I never do that at all, so ... fugget about that one too. Losing the data plan means I'll pay $.15 per kilobyte of data. Wonder what that will be for looking at a River of News? Because that's about all I use the Web for on the phone now anyway. It sucks for everything else.
I'm still on the phone. It didn't work, apparently because I have a Treo and not a Blackberry. But it's not clear. "Not going through" the service person says.
Now, she says, it works. "And this should save you some money on next month's bill." Still wondering why, when I got the Treo and the plan in April, and I told the guy at the store what I was doing (flying all over the country and in need of maximum coverage) that I got a plan the service person just told me was "sporadic". Was it one of the other plans listed here? She doesn't know. What a freaking mess.
Did I mention that the 0, */z and 8/c keys inermittently no longer work on the Treo? So far the only upside of the Treo is its sound. Credit where due: Calls both in and out sound better than on any other phone I've ever used. Which is not a trivial matter with me.
Okay, enough. Call's over now. Back to actual work.
(Lucky to be) live reporting
Outfoxing Firefox
Is there a way (or ways) to edit or alter the stuff Firefox's automatic form-filling and auto-complete (or whatever it/they are called)? I've been looking around and missing it.