Unlimited Texts, Limited Intelligence
(After purchasing a cell phone a few hours ago, a teenager and her mom return, saying they’re having difficulty.)
Me: “What seems to be the problem?”
Customer’s Mom: “She’s having problems sending a text message to her dad.”
Customer: “Yeah, it keeps saying that it doesn’t recognize his phone or something.”
Me: “Oh, that’s odd. Here, show me.”
(The customer types a short message along with her dad’s number, and hits send. After a few moments, a message reads ‘Error: Your message was not sent. Address is not a recognized mobile device.’)
Me: “Oh… are you trying to text it to his home phone?”
Customer’s Mom: “Yes! Why does that matter?”
Me: “Because only cell phones can receive text messages. It’s not going to work.”
Customer’s Mom: “What? Since when? Well, she’d like a plan that can do that.”
Me: “I’m sorry ma’am, it’s not up to me. That’s just how phones work.”
Customer: “But it’s an unlimited texting plan!”