Can you hear me now?

I am trying to decide about my phone issues. I had for the longest time this Motorola phone. It was basic-no camera, no internet. It really served its purpose. I endured it, battered and bruised. Then, in December I went in to our Mobile Provider's store. I was adding my mom to our family plan. I began looking at phones. Those gleaming new phones, with a world of new capabilities....beckoned to me. I worked with the salesman to choose a new one. I settled on a RAZR. Cool deal, I got it for like $19.00 after my 30 dollar rebate. And it is modern, sleek, and up to date. Seems like a win-win....

Not so. I am clumsy. My body is constantly banging into so wall or door (seriously-not the classic abused wife story...). In addition to the poor personal space issues, I drop things. All the time. Sadly, this includes my phones. The 1st phone mentioned did very well with this. It explains the bruising. But that phone took a kicking and kept on ticking. I cannot say the same for the Razr. I have owned it for about 2 months now. It looks worse than the other one. It actually is broken at the hinge and is all cockeyed. I think I damaged the speaker too...it is especially crackly.

Today I went in to investigate my options. I could a) take a loss and revert to the old phone. b) invest some more money even if it extended the contract a bit more. c.) see if there were some way to get the thing exchanged for an exact same thing, only new. d.) finagle a repair job.

The salesman who helped me last time was the one who helped today. That was nice, as he was sympathetic and extra helpful. He looked things up, and learned that I wasn't eligible for anymore cheapy deals. Bugger. Then he did see that I could get this one for $39.99. I had my 30.00 rebate from the Razr. That cost me $9.99. Not a shabby pay out for abusing my electronics. I went for it, especially since he threw in a free car charger (all my other stuff was set for motorola...).

The problem now? I am not sure I like it. There are a ton less functions....texting is horrible, and the menu sucks. I can't seem to make shortcuts happen. I DO like the size. It is a handy little phone and probably is pretty durable. It happens to be the one I got for my mom. It is a cute green color. I could care less about the lack of camera. It is fun to play with but not at all something I use on a regular basis.

So what now. I could return it, pay for the charger and give that to my mom. I think there is a 7 day return limit (need to read the fine print). I really hate plugging money into this crap, as well as creating more e-waste. I also hate being confined by a company. However there is much to be said for product reliability and quality. I guess I will see if I can't slip over there tomorrow and see what they will (can) do for little ol' me.