Chamblee54

It started when PG saw a cell phone for four dollars at a yardsale. The antique Nokia had been dropped, had keys that got stuck, and did not text out. If PG wasn’t the slacker that he is, the Nokia would have been in cell phone heaven long ago. The Motorola seemed like a good bet at four dollars. It was in a plastic bag with Disney cartoons on it. PG thought that the phone was made for little girls to talk on. If this was the case, it would be a sturdy piece of equipment.
The first call was to T Mobile. PG said “agent” after entering his phone number, which he thought would bypass the voice activated system and get a live person. “Agent”, while golden with AT&T, is useless with T Mobile. PG has a short temper when dealing with voice activated robots (VAR). After much anger, he got to talk to a person.
PG talked to several “Ladies of the World”(LOTW) while dealing with this issue. They were all very kind, but did not completely understand English. The first asked for the PIN. PG vaguely remembers using a PIN when he set the account up, but had no clue what it was. He went and got the papers from setting the account up, to no avail. The lady suggested he call 611 and set up a new PIN. (The first call was from a land line, the second from the Nokia) This entailed another round of VAR, and pushing the wrong button to land in limbo. Meanwhile, the human representative hung up.
PG then tried to dial 611 and set up a PIN. The robot said that you could call another number for a direct connection. When he got to the point of entering the new PIN, PG punched in what seemed like a good number. He was asked to repeat the new PIN, the 6 key on the Nokia stuck. When he pressed the 6 key to get it to work, it repeated the number twice. The backspace button is one of the non functioning buttons. PG hung up in dismay. Another call was made to 611, on the Nokia. PG made friends with the VAR long enough to get a PIN.
The next call was to T Mobile. PG said “representative” as suggested by LOTW one. The VAR was not deterred, but continued to ask questions. Finally, another LOTW took the line. It was suggested that PG take the SIM card out of the Nokia and put it in the Motorola. The Motorola said it was an invalid SIM card. The LOTW suggested that PG call Motorola and get an “unlock code” to make the thing work.
At this point, the land line rang. It was a stupidvisor from the days of working at Redo Blue. It seems like a friend of PG’s, a lifelong bachelor, had gotten married.
Back to the telephones, this time to Motorola. The VAR was less persistent, and yielded without protest to the LOTW. Before long, PG was told that Motorola could not unlock the phone to allow it to use a T Mobile SIM card. He would have to call a company called Trackfone.
The last call of the day was to Trackfone. Before a LOTW was available, PG needed to wait on hold for a few minutes. Finally, the representative was on the line. It seems like the SIM in the phone that PG bought had been suspended for non payment two years ago. Trackfone would need to send a new SIM card ( which was free of charge). It was not possible to unlock the Motorola to accept a T Mobile SIM. The new SIM should arrive in three to five days, although it may take as long as seven.