What is Digg?312 Comments
- stealth45, on 10/10/2007, -81/+330His last name is Overclock. Dugg.
- salpairodice, on 10/10/2007, -11/+188Headline should be, "Multi-Billion Dollar Company, AT&T, Fleeces Seniors - Here's How..."
The government seriously ***** up when they let AT&T reassemble itself. - snuffulupagus, on 10/10/2007, -2/+139Wishful thinking, I'm afraid - it's Overlock, not overclock.
- ArenaRon, on 10/10/2007, -8/+111Benefits of leasing - "These included the next-day replacement service cited by York, as well as assurances that a leased phone will have "a real bell ringer" and be hearing aid-compatible. In addition, said the recording, "You can be assured that your lease supports jobs right here in the good old U.S. of A!" There is also a "lease rewards card" that offers discounts on prescriptions and hearing aids."
Sounds to me like they are deliberately trying to screw the elderly, go to hell *****. The ***** us with cell phones and then they ***** grandma and grandpa with ***** like this. These people live on fixed incomes, target another group not grandma and grandpa. - scabbers, on 10/10/2007, -6/+95Still cheaper than an iPhone.
- RunawayElf, on 10/10/2007, -6/+72When replying to a comment use the reply button instead of starting a new comment. Learn to digg.
- ravan46, on 10/10/2007, -0/+64And he doesn't even get to keep it.
- dotdan, on 10/10/2007, -0/+59It's sort of sad to think that they won't let him keep it--he's had the phone for 55 years, and AT&T will probably just trash it.
- Empyrean, on 10/10/2007, -2/+57Ring ring ring, BANANAPHONE!
- djpants428, on 10/10/2007, -0/+54I like those old phones, the handset or base is heavy enough to bludgeon someone with... Let's see your $7 wal-mart phone do that!
- subxero37, on 10/10/2007, -7/+4355 years * 12 months * 4.42 USD = 2917.2, to be exact.
I'm not a perfectionist, but the actual cost (by my calculation) is $117 more. Significantly higher, I'd say. - Rostin, on 10/10/2007, -0/+36I'm close to the same age. My parents still have one, but they no longer use it. My dad called the company a few years ago and asked if he could buy it (he valued it as an antique/heirloom... his grandparents lived in the house before us, and it was theirs), and they said no. They wanted to phase them out because they draw more power than a modern phone. My dad had a flash of cunning and asked what would happen if the phone was stolen. They said we'd be charged a small fee and the whole thing would be forgotten. Mysteriously, the phone disappeared a short time later. :)
- Rylock, on 10/10/2007, -2/+37I doubt he paid $4.42 a month back in 1952, so it's not quite how much he paid it, but yeah, he got screwed.
- kevinrose, on 10/10/2007, -2/+33Did you go into 'Global Settings'? (see link at top)
- inactive, on 10/10/2007, -10/+39And this is the company Apple partnered with. Nice job Steve Jobs.
- HenvY, on 10/10/2007, -3/+30Good advice, but I suggest you take it and learn to read the reply button. People in glass houses shouldn't throw stones.
- joebob, on 10/10/2007, -1/+28Beyond amusing they actually want people to mail back the 'rented' phone. The prepaid shipping on those old clunkers is probably as much as a new touchtone basic phone.
Fun with math moment: He got the phone in 1952, pays 4.45 a month... 56years x 12 month x 4.45 = 2990.40. For that the damn thing shouldn't be just gold colored it should be solid gold. - psykiv, on 10/10/2007, -1/+28I just find it more than amazing that the phone has lasted over 50 years. How many of you can say that about your phones? My cell phones are lucky to last more than 18 MONTHS or so (and I try as much as possible to take good care of them). Even the landline phones we have need to be replaced every few years.
- Egoist, on 10/10/2007, -13/+40He's had a chance to voluntarily get out of his lease since 1984. I'd hardly fault AT&T over someone who hasn't been able to keep up with current affairs for the last 23 years.
And commence digging me down for posting a logical comment. - Pimptastic, on 10/10/2007, -1/+26My Grandma leased a phone for 40 years before she passed away. We didnt give the phone back.
- TheRemoteViewer, on 10/10/2007, -0/+23We used to have that exact same phone when I was a kid, no lie. And I'm only 30.
- WebWorker, on 10/10/2007, -2/+24Year - CPI - Relative $1 - AVG $1 - Rental Amount - Relative Rental
1952 26.5 $7.86 $7.45 $424.32 $3,162.18
1960 29.6 $7.04 $6.21 $530.40 $3,291.58
1970 38.8 $5.37 $3.95 $530.40 $2,095.15
1980 82.4 $2.53 $2.06 $530.40 $1,093.58
1990 130.7 $1.59 $1.40 $530.40 $743.81
2000 172.2 $1.21 $1.11 $371.28 $410.31
06-07 208.4 $1.00 $1.00 $26.52 $26.52
Average Cost of Rental in 2007 Dollars = $10,823.12!!!
They should sue. - jimohagan, on 10/10/2007, -3/+25Yeah, he leases a rotary phone, but he's a level 60 wizard in WoW.
- suprememilo, on 10/10/2007, -4/+25i want a phone like that!
- futureb, on 10/10/2007, -2/+20Don't think that AT&T doesn't do this on purpose. They are well aware of this generous "revenue stream". Crooked bastards.
- EarlOfLade, on 10/10/2007, -3/+204.45 x 12 x 55 = 2937
Expensive phone! - bigteebo, on 10/10/2007, -0/+15Another satisfaction is the "DING!" you get when you slam the phone down so hard after an angry phone call, just like in the movies.
- Alexa42, on 10/10/2007, -0/+15Why would you screw with an old man? That's ***** up
- MateyO, on 10/10/2007, -0/+15Funny, that's about my family's annual cellphone budget.
- modpancake, on 10/10/2007, -0/+14But you have to take inflation into account. The rate has probably been equally relative all along, so really, it is that much if you were to peg it to today's dollars.
- isntreal, on 10/10/2007, -0/+14You're going to hell.
- blacklint, on 10/10/2007, -0/+13Yes, I do. Or rather, according to TFA, you have to mail it back in a prepaid box to actually cancel the lease.
- modpancake, on 10/10/2007, -1/+14Can I have your autograph?
- bolerobell, on 10/10/2007, -2/+15It's a problem because the elderly man is not an a position to undertstand the changes in the industry and the options that he has available to him. It's also malicious, because by this time, that old man has paid for the phone several times over. At a minimum, Verizon should have sent him a notice in one of his bills decades ago and said "Since you've been leasing this phone since 1955, and since these phones are no longer made, we are ransfering ownership of the phone to you as a way of saying thank you for your patronage. If you would rather to continue leasing a phone with the same great service you have had available to you since 1955, please allow us to send a new phone to you with these new features......"
Of course, no large multinational corporation is going to do that, as it requires an understanding of customer service. - fnaqzna, on 10/10/2007, -4/+16He wasn't a senior when he got the phone. He paid because he didn't pay attention.
- RubberBinder, on 10/10/2007, -5/+16According to comedian Dimitri Martin, only people in glass houses should throw stones because throwing stones is rude, but if you were locked in a glass house with a stone, you should throw it to get out.
- r2pro, on 10/10/2007, -0/+11If he was 84 a year ago that means he was 62 when phone leases stopped being mandatory in 1984. So he was a senior when he had the option to switch to a purchased phone.
- jorelvo, on 10/10/2007, -1/+11with inflation it's under $7,000 actually (assuming 2.5% average annual inflation). of course if he had invested that same $4.42/month for 55 years in a mutual fund it would be worth over a quarter million dollars.
- zekolas, on 10/10/2007, -0/+10Exact same thing happened to my parents. They bought a lake cabin back in the early 80's and had the exact same phone, it came with the cabin. They didn't pay much attention to the bill until I looked at it about 2003 and realized they were charging us 4.95 a month retail fee, what comes to $59.40 a year. Once we found this out we asked around found other people at the lake and several of them also were leasing their phones and did not know it. I bet this still is not all that uncommon.
you can buy a cordless phone that has all the features (re-dial, answering machine, caller id, speaker phone,,,ect) for $45 - grungegbunny, on 10/10/2007, -4/+13My mother walks with a neighbor when she learned that this older woman was still leasing her phone from like 30 years ago. We got her out of it.
AT&T are crooks to the elderly for not informing them. - futureisours, on 10/10/2007, -6/+14I dugg you down for not having any sense of humor.
- r2pro, on 10/10/2007, -2/+10Yeah but whatever he paid back then was equivalent to 4.45 in today's dollars so its all relative.
- DokGonzo, on 10/10/2007, -0/+8And this is his address:
http://www.411.com/search/ReversePhone?phone=207-848-3229
And this is the view of his house from space:
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&hl=en&geocode=&saddr=Hermon,+ME&daddr=553+Fuller+Rd&sll=44.82568,-68.88951&sspn=1.32468,2.570801&ie=UTF8&ll=44.830035,-68.918886&spn=0.001294,0.002511&t=h&z=19&om=1
The Internet scares me. - speaker219, on 10/10/2007, -3/+11Site is getting slow. Mirror-
http://speaker219.joolo.com/phonelease/cellphonedude.html - Sil369, on 10/10/2007, -0/+8Dugg for "bludgeon". I never heard it before but it sounds dangerous used in this context.
- nreynolds, on 10/10/2007, -0/+7you've never heard the word bludgeon? How old are you(if the answer is > 8, you have lost this game of Digg).
- knugen, on 10/10/2007, -2/+9So you obviously know people don't care / don't like. Why bother?
- bradmac, on 10/10/2007, -2/+9Oh man. I go to school at Umaine (one town over) and don't have one bit of trouble believing this. There are some interesting people in the area, to say the least.
- ukoa, on 10/10/2007, -3/+10Dugg just because I live in Hermon. I went to school with his granddaughter.
- NormalVisual, on 10/10/2007, -0/+7If they don't send it back within 30 days, they'll be billed retroactive to the date they cancelled and have the lease reinstated.
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