An open letter to the AT&T store

Dear AT&T store,

I have a soft spot in my heart for you, since my dad worked for AT&T his entire career. However, I'm kind-of annoyed.

You see, my husband just had a birthday, and his gift to himself was an iphone. This means, to stay on a cheap family plan, I also needed a new AT&T phone. Adios 3 year old Verizon flip phone. Maybe you only made phone calls, but you worked just fine.

Salesman: Are you getting an iphone too?

Me: Noooooooo.

Salesman: What kind of phone do you want?

Me: The free-est phone you have

Salesman: Well, we have this phone here. It's $50, but you get a $50 refund in the mail.

Me: That sounds free enough for me!

Fastforward 2 hours later. Yes, I said TWO hours later. We were at the AT&T store all freaking night!

The salesman rings up my $50 phone. Then he said, "oh, this 2G something-or-other comes with it. It's $20."

Me: I don't want that. I'm not paying $20 for that.

Salesman: It comes with it.

Me: I DON'T WANT THAT. Why would I pay $20 for something I don't want?

Salesman: *looking at me with a lost puppy dog face* This comes with the phone.

Me: What part of "I don't want to purchase this item" don't you understand. What kind of business forces me to purchase an item?

In order to get the heck out of the store in under three hours, we ring up the lame 2G thingy.

We have to go back to the AT&T store to get our Disney discount anyways, so plan to duke this out with the manager.

Sure, it's only $20, but it's the principal of the thing. Why are you forcing me to buy something I don't want?!? That makes the customer happy!

Sincerely,

Amber