Getting rid of our telephone woes

Like a large portion of the people in America, we own a cell phone. Once upon a time, we only had our land line. At that time, we had a long distance package for which we paid a set price monthly, whether or not we used all the minutes purchased, Looking back, that wasn't the best deal because we invariably failed to use the maximum plan minutes. Finally, our telephone company increased the package price without informing us.

Enraged, I told Mr. Incredible what had happened. We decided that we would cancel our long distance package and keep only basic local service and Caller ID on our home phone. After asking around, we discovered that our phone company offered a long distance plan that included 30 free minutes per month without a monthly fee. The catch (there is always a catch, don't you know?) was that, after the 30 free minutes, long distance calls cost $.15 per minute Monday through Friday and $.10 per minute on the weekend - not great rates.

Not wanting to lose our money business, the telephone company completed a cursory telecom audit but, as we expected, failed to find any way they could save us money. We signed a cell phone contract and have enjoyed the best of both worlds ever since, the convenience of a cell phone and the security of a land line, all for the same price we had been paying for just our home phone.

What, you may ask, is the moral to this rambling story? If you are not satisfied with the service you are receiving, check to see what other options are open to you. You never know what you can end up getting just because you asked.