OK, so here’s how it went down with The Phone Co. 

(If you haven’t read last weeks blog you’ll need to if you want to keep up) 

I can report today, much to my relief really, that no sculduggery was happening with TPC…well,hardly any. 

What I found was that, other than the cash that I may (or may not) put down on the phone when I upgrade, I don’t pay anything for it. Nothing, Nada. Basically, what’s going on here is that TPC makes so much money on my monthly service fee that they can afford to give me a $500.00 iPhone for just two years worth of my business. So… I don’t get a reduction in my bill when my phone is paid for because I was never paying for it in the first place. It’s a gift from Big Daddy Telus for the pleasure of my company for another couple of years. 

Let’s dance. 

Admittedly there’s a little vigorish there for TPC if I don’t immediately roll over for a new model on the expiration of my contract but, as was so elegantly stated in ’The Grifters’, not so you’d notice. 

It seems, however, that I am not the only customer to have inquired about this mildly murky practice. 

A new plan has just been introduced (so says the ever-so-pleasant female voice that’s been laying out for me just exactly how the dippsy-doodle does work) to satisfy those of us feeling somewhat misled. It’s for people who wish to continue using their antiquated technology, for those of us who tend to become personally attached to expensive devices that are paid for but still work, indeed, for all of us who want to use our old phones until they completely crap out. Old Phonies, that’s what we are. 

Anyway, the plan is called BYOP…Bring Your Own (or old) Phone. The idea is that, if you raise a fuss, they’ll give you a discount on your rate of from 5 to 25 dollars. The $25 is only for those who have ‘premium’ contracts. 

 I could have saved $5. 

Still, over a year and a half, that’s ninety bucks. 

But what’s a man to do? You see I have three phones on my bill, all expiring at different times. Do I shell out or sell out? 

…aww shit! 

I wish I’d never asked. 

It’s not that I feel ripped off…I’ve been gently torn that’s all. 

A little here, a little there…not so you’d notice. 

T