On the cellular level

When I bought my present phone (2018, I think) the carrier was Verizon.  The salesman was better than most in terms of making an effort to find common ground with PG and me.  He didn't do all the talking, listened to us and our story, and at the end of the session, I had a nice new Galaxy 9+ for a few hundred dollars less than the list price.

But when the first bill came in, I also had a double-digit charge for insurance that he had not even mentioned, let alone asked me to approve.  I went back to the store and was told he was off.  I asked when he would be back on, came back at that time, and was told again that he was off.  The persons on duty acted as though they were listening when I told them why I had come, but there was no contact from store management in the aftermath.  

They also said they couldn't take off the charge and directed me to their customer service phone number, which did remove it... eventually.  The guy on the other end of the line wasn't nearly as slick as he thought he was.  He kept arguing that I should have it, nay, that I needed that insurance.  What if, what if?  After a minute or two, I told him that I didn't have to convince anyone and repeated my request.  

In the years since, Verizon has worked fine and I've paid on time every month.  We kept out of each other's way.  But late last year, when inflation was affecting everything else, I found a new $12 charge on the bill.  Evidently, I am bound to the terms of the service contract, and they are not.  Just a grab for more money, and I have no doubt that their legal department has a carefully-worded clause that makes it all lawful.  But it's not right, and I'm done with Verizon.

Searching and researching pointed to a short list of good replacements, and I chose one.  The customer sales rep was good, setting me up for what I asked and, for the rest, taking no for an answer with a minimum of pushback.  I'm cautiously optimistic that this cell phone experience will be better.  I already know it'll cost about half of what Verizon was charging.

That makes a good bit of action in a short time.  The replacement password manager after LastPass spit the bit, the learning experience at the car dealer, and now this.