I had to get a replacement phone recently.  Actually I’m on my second replacement phone.

I have a Samsung GalaxyS 5.  There are several iterations of this phone and I’m thinking it’s on number 7 now.

Jacob and David have Galaxy 4’s, so we don’t frivolously exchange phones.  I have the five and they have the 4 because I did something to mine; dropped it and broke the screen or dropped it in the toilet or something equally silly and had to replace the 4 when it sighed and died and wouldn’t work anymore.

When we bought my phone, David said he thought since I’d had bad luck with my phones, that I should buy insurance.  You know, pay them $10 a month and they agree to replace it if I do something, like drop it in the toilet.  And lo and behold, that was just what I needed.  I’ve gone a long time (almost 30 months I think is what they said) with this phone without using the insurance even once.  Jacob on the other hand promptly dropped and shattered the screen on his phone, but it was not insured.

Anyway, I went by the T-Mobile store recently because I wasn’t happy with the battery performance on my phone.  No matter what I did.  Not matter how many apps I deleted or forced to turn off, the battery would be gone by mid-day with just a regular amount of use.  Turns out the T-Mobile warranty doesn’t cover the battery.  But  it does cover that little do-hickey at the bottom of the phone that is suppose to make it water resistant.  So the guy at the store recommended I replace it because that’s the bit that keeps it watertight in case I drop it in the toilet again.

They overnighted me a phone.  A “new” replacement phone doesn’t include anything except the body of the phone.  I had to use my phone back, my sim card, my battery.  Nothing was new except for the body; my guess is that was refurbished.

So, I began the process of moving everything over.  Downloading apps.  Deleting apps from my old phone.  Wiping that baby clean.  I got the new phone on Tuesday and by Thursday, I’d gotten it all done.  I boxed the old phone up to return it to T-mobile and dropped it off at the UPS drop-off on my way out of town to pick up Jacob from STEM camp at OSU.  By the time I’d returned from Stillwater my screen had gone yellow.

So, I went back to the T-Mobile store to ask them what to do about it.  They said I needed to request another new replacement.  Which I did.  But it didn’t come on Monday when they promised.  When it didn’t arrive on Tuesday I called bout 9:00 pm Tuesday night.  They told me they didn’t know what they problem was (I get that a lot from T-Mobile whenever a problem crops up) but would put in a ticket to find out.  Interestingly, the tag says it was packaged and shipped yesterday over-night and arrived the afternoon of the same day.  Coincidence?  I’m sure my T-Mobile rep would say so.  Me?  Not so much.

So I’ve picked up another “new” replacement phone.  I’ve not had the time or energy to do everything that needs to be done.  But I’m working on it.  Then I will begin the process of removing the old stuff from my phone.

First world problems, I know, but it is what it is.