So Stressed

Sigh,  the past few days have consisted of lots of stress.   Stress to the point that I don't remember the last time I was so stressed.   Why am I so stressed? Well, it's kinda a long story but heres go's:

While I was in the USA over summer I switched phones since my phone was dying.  I switched my flip phone with my grandma's old flip phone.  While I was in Texas with family, I found a small problem I was having with my "new" phone.  So I called Verizon support and come to find out, this phone won't even work up in Canada.  Due to some new changes in Verizon policies, Verizon only offers two flip phones that have the ability to work in Canada.  So I went online with my dad and bought one of the two - I love my flip phone!   It's an awesome phone and I absolutely love it! Verizon did inform us that this phone would work in Canada.  They also, when I asked, offered a new plan upgrade for an additional $10/mo I could get Unlimited Talk & Text between the US and Canada.  So we got that deal and I was assured by multiple Verizon representatives that it would work for my phone in Canada.  

When I arrived in Canada, my phone didn't work.  So I contacted Verizon and told them my situation.   After a lot of back and forth questioning, testing, and talking, it was concluded that there was a unusually rare situation that my phone wasn't shipped with a SIM card and it requires a SIM card to work in Canada.   They couldn't do much for me so I asked to talk to a manager.  After much hassle they shipped a new SIM card to my grandma's house in Illinois (since they have a company rule that they can't ship anything internationally).  They paid for the overnight shipping to her place and then gave us $30 to cover the cost of overnighting it to me up here in Canada.  Well that didn't all work out entirely, it actually cost about $42 to overnight it and took about 4 days to arrive.  When I did get it, my phone still didn't work.

So I contacted Verizon again and they had no idea why the SIM card wasn't working.  Then, again after much hassle, came to the conclusion that to be able to activate the SIM card I have to be within range of the Verizon towers (in the US).   I told them my situation, that this was a Verizon error and I cannot afford to take a trip to the US just to activate my phone, but that I do need my phone activated ASAP.   I also told them about the extra charge it cost to ship the SIM card up here.  So they credited the account an additional $12 to cover the extra cost my grandma had to pay to ship the SIM card up here.   But they wouldn't do anything else to cover my expenses.  However they did give me the direct number to Verizon's Global Support.  

I called Verizon Global Support and went though the whole challenge again of explaining my situation and all that.   They told me that the SIM card could of been activated prior to being shipped to me.  That made me more frustrated, because I now have to take 5-6+ hours out of my day to activate my phone in the US because they didn't activate it when they could of.  They did however, credit me $20 to cover the fuel cost of driving down to the border.  Come to find out, they found that Verizon had my phone in their system "activated" with a different SIM card number than the one they sent me - which would of caused lots o frustration further down the road.  Verizon Global Support also informed me that the extra $10/mo plan that I got for Unlimited talk & text between the US and Canada is only available for Smart phones (my flip phone is a basic phone).  I told they lady how I was told by multiple representatives that this plan would work for my phone.  But they said now that it wouldn't.   The best plan that was available was and additional $25/mo (on top of the already $30/mo) for 500 minutes to the US and 500 texts to the US.   This is a plan that I cannot afford in my budget.   I left it at that to think and pray about it and consult with my dad.  Laura suggested that I "fight" them a bit more to see if I can get the original $10/mo plan on my phone for free since I've had all these situations, and false information.  

I made plans to take a trip Friday morning to Buffalo to get my phone figured out.  It was one of the only days off that I have and I planned on leaving around 4-5am to beat the Labour day Weekend rush.   The last Call to Verizon (above) was on Wednesday night and lasted several hours.

Thursday morning I was super stressed - this was the point that I don't remember being so stressed.  I left for church really stressed and I asked for God's help so that it wouldn't distract me from the day ahead of me.   Within 5 minutes of driving with worship music on I became very emotional and within 20 minutes of driving, I was crying pretty hard.  God was speaking right to me, He was there with me in the car.   He spoke truth to me, He comforted me and encouraged me.   By the time I got to Church, almost all of the stress was nowhere to be seen.  Thank you Jesus

Thursday night, I contacted Verizon again to try Laura's idea.  I didn't want to "fight" too much for I had a bit of an uneasy feeling about it in my Spirit for it gave room for the potential to sin and become angry and build up bitterness in my heart - which I don't want.   So I asked God to give both me and the Verizon guy on the other end wisdom, guidance and patience so that His name will be lifted up.  I also asked Him to speak respectfully and without the building of Frustration.

The lady that I talked to wasn't much more help, she said that she couldn't help me much, that I just have to take it and go down to the States to activate my phone - though she was nice and friendly about it.   She also told me that Verizon Global Support was wrong in that Verizon could Not of pre-activated the SIM card before shipping it.  She also told me that the $10/mo plan (which she said I didn't have - though I did buy it) has another catch.  If more than 60% of the plan is used in Canada, then I can no longer us the plan.   Even more frustrating.  When she really didn't listen to me that much and didn't become much help I asked her if I could talk to a manager.  She said that she's been consulting with a manager the whole time.   But after a bit more of back and forth I assume that she was fed up and she transferred me to a manager.  The manager said basically the same thing except he offer me $50 saying that they only way to get what I want is to switch to a smart phone.  (I would rather pay more than switch to a smart phone because I know that I will get addicted to it and I don't want the temptation).   So I accepted, for I felt the Holy Spirit telling me not to push any further.

By the end of the day, they actually transferred $100 into my account.   I shared all this with aunt Laura and my dad.  Laura suggested that I get them to refund the whole thing, my new phone the plan and all.  My dad agreed to the extent of saying, "if there's a cheaper plan" then we'll do that.   I've looked many times before at local Canadian companies, but they have always been way more expensive.   But we looked again.  ...and we found a company called Rogers.  They offered $55 Canadian (vs Verizon's $55 US) for Unlimited texting and calling to Canada and the US (including long distance) with no contract.  Plus I would get to keep my phone.  Praise God.  So I did get this plan and I'm thankful too.  I've always been a proud Verizon user - haven't had much trouble with them before, but now I'm a Roger user.