Cell phone frustration

My blood pressure must have shot up 40 points. My face was flushed and my aggravation point was at its peak. All because of a wireless cell phone.

Actually it was the prepaid minute card that started the whole thing.

All I wanted to do was add more minutes to my existing cell phone account.

My time to activate new minutes was running out If I failed to activate in 24 hours, I would lose all my accumulated minutes.They would be erased. I didn't want that to happen.

So I trapsed to Walmart to buy a prepaid card, just as I have done for three years.

"Sorry," a store associate said. "We don't carry that card anymore."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes ma'am. That's all we have," she said, pointing to a display.

She was right. My card wasn't there.

I went to two other stores and called another.

No dice. They didn't have the particular card I requested.

So I decided to call the company and speak to a nice representative.

I dialed, then listened while a recorded message told me over and over again about the good values they could offer me in their latest services. I was told that customer service was experiencing heavy volume and would require a wait. (This was on a Sunday afternoon.)

I hung up and tried later.

Same song. Although I was on hold for a long time, no nice representative answered. All I heard were recorded options, but no representative.

I grew more frustrated, then hung up..

I decided to check the Internet.

After much searching, I found the site I wanted.

Turns out, my cell phone plan no longer exists. They now offer a new plan and a new card to replace mine.

It was a totally different card. Now how was I supposed to know that!

I tried to register online but that failed.

After filling out the online registration about four times, I gave up.

It kept informing me that my credit card was invalid, which it is not.

So I tried another credit card.

Same thing. Invalid, refile.

Because I was getting irritated, I decided to wait until the next day to call the cell phone company.

The next morning I dialed the number again. Again I listened to my options.

A recording said that I could stay on the line and speak to a representative, but their customer load was heavy. I could expect a 10 minute wait. I waited five minutes, then hung up.

I tried later in the morning. After listening to my options again, I stayed on the line for an operator. This time I was told I would have a one minute wait.

Hey, that sounded encouraging.

A real person came on the line and listened to my complaint. She said that I had the old plan and offered to switch me from the old plan to a current one. That plan required a different card. I said okay, switch me.

Then I went to Fred's to buy the required card. Yes, they had it.

When I got home, the just-bought prepaid minute card wasn't in the bag. I searched and searched, but the card was missing.

I called Fred's.

"Ma'am, you don't get a card. You just use the checkout receipt we gave you to add minutes to your account. Just follow the instructions on the receipt."

Since when?

In the past, I had always brought the card home, then called the cell phone company to activate the minutes. All I had to do is supply the pin number on the back of the card, along with my wireless cell phone number. That, too, had changed.

So I called the cell phone company again.

This time a recording answered in Spanish, not English. All I got was Spanish. So I hung up and tried again.

This time an English-speaking voice was on the line. Of course, it was a recording, not a live person.

The voice instructed me on how to add my minutes.

I did, and the minutes were added, just in the nick of time.

Thank goodness after several hours of frustration, it was done.

At least until next activation time.

My question is this: How was I supposed to know about those changes?

Was I supposed to be born knowing these things?

My daughter wasn't sympathetic.

She fussed at me. "Get you a real phone, not a toy one."

At least, the representative was nice.